Damali Ssali fits in the formidable mold of extraordinary ladies whose works have highly impacted and transformed several markets across the continent, PSFU should be supremely excited that she joined their senior executive recently.
With her, are continued interactions and trust with some of the world’s biggest hedge funds, agencies, and public and private foundations such as the Gates Foundation, Rocker feller Foundation, MasterCard Foundation, and World Bank who believe that her works with a great team should positively change even more lives.
Ms. Damali Ssali recently joined the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda as Chief Programmes and Projects Officer reporting to the CEO. She is continually passionate to work on programmes that support and include everyone especially through creating decent entrepreneurship and employment opportunities, particularly the low-income women and youth.
At PSFU she is in charge of the Programme Management Unit (PMU) which is responsible for the identification and design of new programmes and projects, fundraising, program management, and measurement, and tracking of results and outcomes.
Damali joins PSFU with a wealth of experience traversing over 20 years with over 15 years in senior management roles. She is an Afro-optimist with a natural interest in financial services, trade, business, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
She is also a Ugandan Ambassador to the United Nations Women Entrepreneurship Day Organisation, a board member of HiPipo Foundation, an Advisory Board Member of the African Council for Trade, Tourism, and Investment (AfCOTTI), and a member of the Africa List.
Her career journey started off in the United Kingdom, as a professionally trained chartered accountant, a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and a career peak was as a Finance Director in the financial services industry, in the City of London, working with one of the world’s largest hedge funds.
In 2013, Damali relocated back to Uganda and transitioned her career into trade development. This was after obtaining a Master’s in Business Administration, from France’s Grenoble Graduate Business School, with a specialisation in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Technology Management. Also, she is an Alumna of Harvard Business School where she specialized in Executive Leadership.
Damali is an integral member of the FinTech network in Uganda, she is engaged regularly to provide her expertise and input on financial services, trade, and policy aspects in FinTech. She has engaged with the Ugandan FinTech community for the last three years.
Over the last eight years until June 2021, Damali as Country Director led the team at Trademark East Africa (TMEA) and during this period, working with the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives supported the Ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Ratification of the World Trade Organisation Trade Facilitation Agreement and the Bilateral Trade Agreement between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Also, working with the Ministry of Works and Transport, she supported the delivery of the Cross Border Trade Facilitation Infrastructure portfolio of five One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) including Malaba OSBP, Busia OSBP, Mutukula OSBP, Mirama Hills OSBP, and Elegu OSBP and on commenced the construction of the Gulu Logistics Hub and the two border posts with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ntoroko Lake Port, and Goli OSBP.
With the Uganda Revenue Authority, she supported the delivery of the Uganda Electronic Single Window and the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System to enable the automation of trade process and ease the movement of cargo on the Northern Corridor from Mombasa Port and the Central Corridor from the Dar Port.
Damali is a lover of nature, Ugandan coffee, and photography, and she is also an author/writer. She is also the Founder of the Ideation Corner which is a social impact fund that seeks a Uganda where innovative young entrepreneurs, especially women, have access to capital to scale their businesses.
“Working with a multi experienced team and being the business and finance expert with a passion for ideas, innovation, and technology that fosters Financial Inclusion, Amb. Damali Ssali will sure do Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and Uganda justice.” Hon. Eng. David Karubanga commented about her appointment.
