People & Partners

An internationally recognised government and politics specialist, ‘Kort’ operates at the intersection of public policy, market forces and client objectives.

He has held the positions of Executive Chairman (Australia) Africa Practice; Executive Vice Chairman (Global) at Gavin Anderson; CEO (Australia) Burson Marsteller; Co-Founder and CEO of KORTLANG; and CEO and Founder of Global Development Services, a Zambia-based development consultancy operating across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Kort was appointed as the Director- General of the Department of State Development in the New South Wales Government and the inaugural President of the Australia-Africa Business Council Kort served in the Australian diplomatic corps in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Zambia, and the OECD in Paris.

Andrew is an experienced advisor to government and commercial entities on international relations, committed to promoting intercultural understanding and its application to diplomatic, commercial and community contexts. He is a globally focused and progressive executive leader bringing a strategic mindset to investment, trade and international relations.

As Founder and CEO of Hunter&Co, Andrew has worked on a number of complex projects in a number of African countries. In developing with colleagues an eco-system that transcends mining, processing, finance, and government, Andrew has delivered outcomes for clients in a range of jurisdictions including Namibia, DRC, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, and Cote d’Ivoire. 

Andrew previously served as Senior Advisor for International Engagement for the Premier of South Australia, Director at Minderoo International, a leading globally focussed philanthropic foundation. Andrew is an effective advocate for mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships.

A graduate of Yale (Bachelor of Arts), Harvard (Master in Public Policy), and 2023 Impact Leader In Residence at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative focused on global water accessibility, sustainable investing, clean energy, and resilient infrastructure, Monty has spent the past several decades at the nexus of impact investing, catalytic philanthropy, and innovative social finance to build and scale high-growth, purpose-driven commercial and philanthropic initiatives that serve millions of at-risk Afghans, and activate sustainable aquaculture and fisheries that improve the lives of millions of women, men and youth in the Global South.  

He worked at UNDP in Kenya early in his professional career, and previously served as Vice President, Business Development and International Investments for the Bayat Group, a frontier-market focused family office, leading investments in emerging markets in Africa, Middle East, and Asia. 

François van Schalkwyk is an accomplished executive, strategist, and emerging markets specialist with a strong international track record across both corporate and government sectors. He is widely regarded as a thought leader with a diverse skill set spanning investment promotion, strategic growth, and cross-border advisory.

François currently serves as President for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Hunter&Co, where he leads the firm’s expansion, partnerships, and investor engagement across the region. In this role, he draws on a wealth of experience in advancing strategic initiatives, building high-performing teams, and enabling investment into high-potential markets.

Until recently, François was Executive Director of Investment at the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), a national agency within the Office of the President of the Republic of Namibia. There, he led the country’s investment attraction strategy, working with investors, policymakers, and international offices to position Namibia as a competitive destination for sustainable, inclusive investment. His portfolio covered investment enablement, sector development, economic participation, policy design, and the oversight of NIPDB’s international footprint.

He has extensive experience implementing growth, start-up, turnaround, and transformation strategies in both private and public sector environments. François also has a strong record of governance and board-level leadership. He was the Founder & CEO of Holbrook Advisors, where for over a decade he led mergers & acquisitions, management consulting, and digital transformation efforts. He has served on the boards of Lazarus Care, a med-tech company advancing gastro-intestinal healthcare, and EMS Solutions UK, a pioneer in algorithmic and AI-based tax recovery solutions.

Earlier in his career, François held various leadership roles at the BGL Group in the UK, including Manager for Group Corporate Development & Acquisitions, International Business Manager (Chairman's Office), and Manager for Affinity Partnerships. He also worked in housing and infrastructure development at AmicusHorizon Ltd.

François holds an MBA from Imperial College Business School, as well as qualifications in Service Experience Design (St. Martin's College), International Marketing (University of South Africa), a B.Com Law and LLB from the University of the Free State. He is fluent in English and Afrikaans.

Aubrey Hruby is an investor, advisor, and author who connects global capital with emerging innovation ecosystems, with a focus on Africa. She is a General Partner at Tofino Capital, a venture firm investing in early-stage startups across emerging markets, and a Partner at Neoterra Partners, leveraging two decades of experience in strategic partnerships and frontier-market investing. Previously, she served as Managing Director of the Whitaker Group, facilitating over $2 billion in capital flows to African markets, and co-founded both Insider PR and the Africa Expert Network (AXN), platforms that link investors with market expertise and real-time data to guide strategy and investment decisions.

A Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, Aubrey advises Fortune 500 companies and policymakers on U.S. –Africa economic engagement and contributes to outlets including the Financial Times, Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, NPR, and CNBC. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of Invest Africa USA, and was recognized as a Milken Institute Young Leader. Aubrey is the co-author of The Next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Powerhouse (Macmillan, 2015) and teaches a graduate seminar at Georgetown University. She holds an MBA from Wharton, an MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and three BAs in Economics, Political Science, and International Relations from the University of Colorado.