Allen Sophia Asiimwe is an international trade and development practitioner and the Deputy CEO/Chief of Programmes at TradeMark Africa (TMA). She provides strategic leadership and oversees an annual programme budget of approximately US$110 million, directing operations and technical delivery across TMA’s portfolio in infrastructure, trade policy, digital trade, quality standards, and business competitiveness spanning 23 African countries. She also chairs TMA’s Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Steering Committee, advancing sustainability across corporate decision-making and programming.

Allen has extensive experience across trade, regional integration, banking, and governance. Before joining TMA, she consulted for the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), supporting implementation of the Intra-African Trade Initiative. She has also held roles with Standard Chartered Bank and served as CEO of AVID Development, a consulting firm focused on trade, development, and governance in Africa.

She holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where she was an Edward Mason Fellow in 2017, and a Master’s in International Business Law from the University of Manchester, UK.

Allen serves on boards including KCB (U) Ltd and is co-founder of Girls For Girls, a global mentoring initiative committed to empowering one million girls and women to lead. The initiative now operates in 40 countries, including 11 in Africa, with more than 2,000 mentors and 12,000 graduates. She has previously chaired and served on the boards of organisations including the Innovation Fund, CivFund, FIDA Uganda, The Water Trust, and FEMNET.

An accomplished speaker and writer, Allen has addressed global and regional forums and serves as a guest lecturer and speaker at institutions including Strathmore Business School and Nova School of Business.