Mfikeyi Makayi

IWA Team

August 4, 2026

Mfikeyi Makayi
Chief Executive at KoBold Metals Africa

Mfikeyi  Makayi is a seasoned mining professional with over 17 years of experience in industry. She worked on one of Zambia & Africa’s largest copper mines, First Quantum’s Kansanshi Copper-Gold mine in mining operations and the global internal audit division covering Australia, Finland, Mauritania and Panama’s operations. She was also the Country Manager and Director of one of Zambia’s largest mining and construction equipment supply and services companies, Barloworld Equipment, supplying Caterpillar products to various industries. Her portfolio covered First Quantum’s Kansanshi and Sentinel Mines, Barrick’s Lumwana Mine, Mopani Copper Mines, and Gemfields’ Kagem mine, the world’s largest emerald mine.

KoBold Metals journey began in 2018 by Kurt House, Josh Goldman, and Jeff Jurinak. The idea was to find a lasting solution to the growing supply gap of critical minerals needed to build their future economy. They observed that the pace of unearthing effective procedures was dragging due to archaic approaches and other forms of setbacks. More so, per dollar invested didn’t make things better. Electrification was going on around the world but theirs wasn’t same, which affected their ability to find enough copper, cobalt, lithium, and nickel to meet the growing demand.

This never deterred them. They were determined to effect the changes needed. They understood that to change how exploration is done, they needed to change the incentives as technology couldn’t be developed on its own and KoBold needed to develop and deploy its own systems. They also admitted that they needed to apply a rigorously scientific approach to decision-making where they use AI thoughtfully. This made KoBold became not just a technology company, but a scientific exploration company that enlarged into mine development after unearthing Mingomba.

Mfikeyi has an MBA from Lagos Business School at Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria. She also received an M.Sc. in Mining Engineering from Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. She holds a Masters of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and a BSc in Civil Engineering both from Old Dominion University in the US.