James Irungu Mwangi is the Executive Director of the Dalberg Group, an advisory firm that focuses on inclusive and sustainable growth. James leads integration and innovation across Dalberg’s five core businesses, which together employ over 600 staff in 27 locations across the globe, including 13 countries in Africa. He has served a wide range of clients drawn from national governments, multi-lateral institutions, private foundations, investors and corporations across the continent. James has also worked with a range of clients in several African countries including Cameroon, the DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Tunisia. Prior to establishing Dalberg’s presence in Africa, James helped launch the firm’s first office in New York.
James has worked extensively with new organizations and initiatives helping develop business plans and implement launch strategies for the African Center for Economic Transformation (an Accra-based Think Tank) and for a new SME focused Private Equity fund based in Nairobi. James has also led strategic reviews of several regional financial institutions seeking to develop more effective investment strategies for stimulating development impact in the Southern African region. Other recent work has included advising East Africa’s largest bank on various aspects of its overall strategy, and supporting two West African heads-of-state in thinking through effective structures for rapid and effective decision-making.
Prior to joining Dalberg, James was a consultant at McKinsey & Company where he served clients in the financial services sector and helped develop the business plan and launch strategy for a start-up e-learning venture. James also worked as an investment banking analyst with Salomon Smith Barney, now part of Citigroup in their Global Energy Practice. James holds a degree in Economics from Harvard University. He is a recipient of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship extended to 20 emerging African leaders each year by the African Leadership Institute. Born in Nairobi, James now lives in Johannesburg with his wife Sharmi Surianarain.
