Meet Lily

Lily-Rose Adhiambo is the Founder of Trade Not Aid, an investment consultancy firm connecting investors with viable and scalable African SMEs. She sources market-viable products and projects and matches them with investors to create profitable, scalable win-win opportunities. Through advice and coaching on Business Strategy Development, mindset, and cross-cultural business etiquette she prepares and sets clients to achieve impactful results. Lily had a remarkable 24-year career with the United Nations, covering humanitarian aid, sustainable development, and peacekeeping portfolios. It is this experience that informed her belief that investment in Africa’s SMEs is the lever for the continent’s economic transformation. She led and oversaw teams in emergency response, development programs, flagship global partnerships, and fundraising. She has lived and worked in several African countries, New York and Geneva. Lily’s work is rooted in compassion, empathy, belief in human potential, resilience, and the ability to create change. She has a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Nairobi, a Diploma in Advocacy in International Affairs from Geneva Graduate Institute, and a Diploma in International Protocol and Business Etiquette from the Institut Villa Pierre Feu, Switzerland.