RENÉE MONTEZ-AVINIR: An established leader, strategic advisor and a well-known figure within Africa's business development and investment promotion community, Montez-Avinir has spent the better part of the last two decades braving the continent's most exciting business hot spots and fostering deals that have brought wealth, development and sustainable growth to a myriad of African economies.
Today, at the helm of Africa's leading investment promotion platform for the energy sector, she continues to thrive among the continent's highest level of decision-makers, business champions and thought leaders.
Over the years, Montez-Avinir has distinguished herself as a business development expert, connecting heads of state and CEOs and leading several major events, including the launch of the CEO Institutional Investment Summit & Awards at NASDAQ in New York, the CEO DFI Summit in Washington DC, the WEF Africa and the 45th G7 Summit in Biarritz, to name a few.
Prior to her appointment as Managing Director at Africa Oil & Power, she was Head of Operations for Africa at Investor Publishing, a leading international events company headquartered in the U.K.
At AOP in 2020, Montez-Avinir found herself at odds with a unique and special challenge: How to drive an events company to growth in the midst of a global pandemic that makes events themselves impossible? Faced with such a question, she led AOP through a journey of reinvention, expanding its digital services to commercial sustainability; pivoting the company into a full-fledged communications, marketing and branding venture; and driving its path toward mutual cooperation with the continent's most important energy leaders, while continuing to adhere to the company's core attributes of sophistication, innovation and passion for furthering Africa's energy future.
Montez-Avinir holds a Degree in Communication Science majoring in Mass Communications from Endicott College in Massachusetts, in addition to graduating with two postgraduate degrees from Damelin Business College in Public Relations and Conference & Event Management. Montez-Avinir has since become a leader, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, a mentor, and in more ways than one, a role model and inspiration for female business leaders across the continent.
