About Us

EFC is an independent, equity research house focused on frontier and small emerging markets. Our focus regions are Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Central & Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA), South Asia (SA) and South East Asia (SEA).

Who we are
The EFC research team has an average of almost 20 years’ experience in the industry and has seen multiple cycles. For the markets we operate in, which can be volatile, our experience, local knowledge and connections help us better understand what is actually happening underneath the surface. One of our key tenets is having ‘boots on the ground’ as this is the best way to understand the markets and companies we cover, subsequently our team largely reflects our focus regions. Our analysts have consistently been ranked in the top quartile of all leading research polls.

Meet the Team

Kato Mukuru

Head of Research, CEO
Kato leads the EFC research team and has 26 years of experience in investment banking in New York, London, Madrid, Lagos and Dubai. The first four years were in corp. finance and the last 22 have been in research, where he has covered European, South Asian, South-East Asian, African and Middle Eastern banks and insurance stocks. Until Feb 2024, Kato was the Head of Frontier Research at EFG Hermes. With a team of 12 publishing analysts (in Dhaka, Dubai, Karachi, Lagos, London, Nairobi and Singapore) covering 127 stocks, the Frontier Research Team was ranked No. 1 by Extel & II and in the Top 3 Africa Research Teams by the Financial Mail. Prior to EFG, Kato worked at Exotix Partners, Citigroup and Renaissance Capital.
Adrian Cundy

SEA Consumer & Vietnam specialist
Adrian leads EFC’s coverage of South-East Asian consumers and is our Vietnam Specialist. Adrian has over 25 years of experience in emerging markets in the buy and sell-side. In Vietnam, Adrian was Head of Research and Equity Capital Markets in VinaSecurities. Prior to Vietnam, Adrian was Head of Investment Specialists, Equities with Prudential Asset Management in HK as well as spending five years in Singapore as Head of Research, Asia and Regional Telecom Analyst for RCM Global Investors. Adrian began his investment career in Asia, spending 5 years as a sell-side Equity Analyst in Indonesia. Adrian has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
Simon Kitchen

Head of Macro Strategy
Simon Kitchen leads the strategy team at EFC, covering GCC and Frontier markets. Simon has over 25 years of experience in MENA markets, covering EM index upgrades for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar. Before joining EFC, he worked for EFG Hermes, initially covering MENA economics in 2007 and then strategy coverage from 2010 until February 2024. Prior to EFG Hermes, he was at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, in New York and Cairo, leading the firm’s coverage of Egypt, Iran and Israel. Simon studied at Edinburgh University in Scotland and also completed a masters in international relations at Columbia University in New York.
Silha Rasugu

SSA Telecom, Utilities
Silha leads EFC’s coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) telecoms, downstream oil & gas and utilities. Silha has 10 years of investment research experience. He started his career as an independent analyst managing a family and friends’ portfolio before joining Genghis Capital as a sell-side generalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. Thereafter, he specialized in energy sector coverage for Exotix Partners – Equity Investment Bank. After Exotix Partners, Silha joined EFG Hermes where he covered Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) telecoms, downstream oil & gas and utilities. Silha holds an MBA from the African Leadership University and a BSc degree in International Business (Finance) from the United States International University.
Maureen Kirigua, CFA

SSA Financials
Maureen has 10 years of experience in equity research and at EFC, she leads our coverage Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) banks. Until Feb 2024, she covered SSA financials at EFG Hermes. Maureen started her career in 2013 as a sell-side analyst for companies across diverse sectors in Kenya including banking, industrial and consumer stocks. From 2018, she then focused her coverage on SSA telecoms in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Senegal in addition to coverage on Kenyan banks. Prior to EFG Hermes, Maureen worked at Kestrel Capital, African Alliance Investment Bank and Sterling Investment Bank. Maureen is a CFA charter holder and holds a B.Sc. in IBA from United States International University (USIU), Kenya
Russell Curtis

Supervisory Analyst
Russell is EFC’s Head of Product and Supervisory analyst. He has over 20 years of experience in equity research based in London, HK, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai. Russell’s expertise is in content mgmt. and production of equity, macro, fixed income research. Russell previously worked as a research analyst in Asia, before moving into a supervisory analyst role. He was EFG Hermes’ supervisory analyst and worked on a number of the large regional GCC and MENA IPO reports. His expertise is based around reworking research reports to improve the commerciality of the reports and readership numbers. In addition, he has conducted numerous analyst training sessions to improve analysts’ research products and communications with clients.