What We Do
FLAGG Advisory is an independent consultancy delivering senior-level strategic advisory, technical assistance, financial institution support and applied research across Africa, Europe, Asia and emerging markets. We help development finance institutions, donors, financial institutions, investors and private-sector organisations to design and implement financing solutions, strengthen institutions, mobilise investment and translate evidence and research into practical implementation.
| Focus Area | Short Description |
|---|---|
| Development Finance & Investment | Blended finance, credit lines, guarantees, investment facilities, pipeline development, transaction support and institutional strengthening. |
| Financial Inclusion & SME Finance | Strategy, product development, microfinance, youth and women’s finance, rural lending, entrepreneurship support and non-financial services. |
| Climate & Green Finance | Green investment facilities, climate-risk integration, ESMS/ESG, adaptation and mitigation finance, GHG tools and sustainable lending. |
| Research, Evaluation & Impact | Impact assessments, mixed-method research, market diagnostics, Theory of Change, KPI frameworks, surveys and evidence-based recommendations. |
| Agriculture & Rural Investment | Value-chain finance, farmer and cooperative finance, equipment/leasing, agri-SME lending, guarantees and investment mobilisation. |
| Leadership & Capacity Building | Team leadership, governance, training, institutional diagnostics, strategy implementation and senior stakeholder coordination. |
| Restructuring | FLAGG helps financial institutions and businesses navigate restructuring, strengthen performance and restore sustainable growth through practical financial and operational solutions. |
| Impact Fund Support | FLAGG helps impact and blended-finance funds turn capital into measurable results, supporting investment strategy, due diligence, portfolio management, ESG and impact measurement. |
Background
Why Hire Us?
FLAGG works across the full advisory cycle: understanding the market or institution, designing the solution, testing it against real transactions or users, building the tools and capacities required for implementation, and measuring whether the intervention is producing the intended results.
DELIVERY
Turning strategic analysis, due diligence and recommendations into new products, facilities, operating tools, training programmes and transaction pipelines in order to create institutional change.
EVALUATION
Programme evaluation, impact measurement, Theory of Change, KPI design, institutional learning, M&E tools and actionable recommendations in order to evaluate and monitor organizational performance.
RESEARCH
Applied research, sector mappings, feasibility studies, market studies and diagnostics as well as quantitative/qualitative analysis tools in order to inform operational decisions.
Senior Team
FLAGG’s senior principals combine development-finance, financial-inclusion, investment, institutional-development and evaluation experience accumulated across Africa, Europe, the Western Balkans, Asia and Latin America.
| Dr. Daniel Gies – Founder & Principal | Caroline Tsilikounas – Senior Principal |
|---|---|
| Development-finance and private-sector specialist with 25+ years of experience leading donor- and IFI-funded programmes, financial-sector advisory, agricultural and climate finance, blended finance, investment mobilisation and applied research. DBA, MPhil and MBA; extensive team-leadership experience across Africa, Europe and Asia. | Financial-inclusion and institutional-development leader with 25+ years of experience in microfinance, SME finance, technical assistance, impact measurement and governance. Former senior executive roles include the European Microfinance Network, VisionFund and Oikocredit; Master’s in International Affairs, Columbia University. |
Development-Partner Experience
The firm’s principals have delivered assignments financed by or undertaken for institutions including the European Union, World Bank, EIB, EBRD, KfW, GIZ, AFD/PROPARCO, AfDB, USAID, OECD, CGAP, development banks, commercial banks, microfinance institutions, investment funds and international NGOs.
Why FLAGG Advisory?
- Senior-led delivery: Every assignment is led directly by experienced senior experts rather than passed through layers of junior staff.
- Strong analytical capability: FLAGG combines applied research, mixed-method evaluation, investment analysis and deep financial-sector expertise.
- Sector depth: The principals bring extensive experience with development banks, commercial banks, MFIs, investors, SMEs, entrepreneurs, farmers and public institutions.
- Action-oriented advice: FLAGG focuses on recommendations that can be converted into financing structures, products, operating tools, training, institutional change and measurable results.
Selected Experience
Representative assignments delivered by FLAGG principals in current and prior professional capacities. These examples demonstrate the expertise available to FLAGG Advisory and are not presented as contracts necessarily awarded directly to the firm.
| Experience | Illustrative scope |
|---|---|
| Green investment facility & development-bank capacity | Leadership of a multi-expert team supporting a EUR 20 million green investment facility, including appraisal tools, climate and E&S screening, GHG measurement, pipeline support, capacity building and impact monitoring. |
| Agricultural finance & PFI strengthening | Team leadership under a major World Bank-funded agriculture programme, supporting a development bank and 15+ partner financial institutions with lending products, risk tools, blended-finance facilities, training and market adoption. |
| EIB green agriculture credit line | Technical-assistance leadership for a EUR 20 million EIB-backed agri-value-chain credit line, combining ESMS strengthening, agricultural product development, gender-responsive finance, regulatory alignment and pipeline development. |
| Youth finance & inclusive banking | Multi-country advisory across six partner banks and MFIs, covering youth-oriented market research, lending strategies, non-financial services, product development, institutional strengthening and knowledge transfer. |
FLAGG at a Glance
25+ yrs
Experience of each senior principal
55+
Countries of professional experience
6+
Working languages across the senior team
Senior-led
Direct expert involvement from design to delivery
Have an assignment or financing challenge to discuss?
Contact FLAGG Advisory to discuss the scope, required expertise and practical next steps.
FLAGG Advisory 