Gillian Darko

Gillian is an Executive Director, board member and C-suite leader with a track record of building high-performance growth engines and delivering commercial strategy across fintech, blockchain, and financial services. She sits on the executive team at Yellow Card, where she leads the company's growth agenda across more than 20 markets, having previously served as its Chief of Staff and Director of Strategy.

Her remit spans revenue strategy, strategic partnerships, go-to-market, market expansion, and the commercial models behind scalable multi-market growth. She has played a key role in structuring and executing high-value partnerships across stablecoin issuers, blockchain ecosystems, telcos, banks, and global payment networks, positioning the business at the center of the digital asset economy in emerging markets.

Her career spans senior strategy and transformation roles at leading global institutions, including ICE Futures Europe, PwC, with client engagements across Goldman Sachs, HSBC, RBS, Citigroup, and UBS, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and JUMO. She brings board-level and executive experience across Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia, with expertise in scaling businesses in frontier and emerging markets and structuring cross-border partnerships.

She is a featured speaker on global stages, among them the Forbes Leading Women's Summit, GITEX Africa, Token2049 Singapore, the Qatar Africa Business Forum, the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, and the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium during UN General Assembly week, and her work has been featured in Elle Afrique, Forbes Africa, Business and Financial Times Ghana, and CNBC Africa. She was named Fintech Personality of the Year (Female) at the 2025 Ghana Fintech Awards, appointed an Ambassador for Women in Payments Africa in 2024, and serves in 2026 as a Steering Committee Member for AFIS.

Gillian joins Bullish Africa's roster of global leaders shaping the conversation on capital, governance, and Africa's next chapter at the upcoming summit.