ITL: Strengthening our Japan presence with new appointments
These appointments strengthen the direct link between our teams in Mauritius and Japan.
Intercontinental Trust Ltd (ITL) is pleased to announce the appointments of Ms Wakana Nakamura as Manager, Japan Desk and Mr Hideaki Shimizu as ITL Representative in Japan, both effective 1 August 2026.
As Japanese investors and corporations increasingly turn to Mauritius as a strategic platform for investment into Africa and beyond, ITL is reinforcing its presence in both markets to ensure clients receive faster, better-informed, and more personalised support at every stage of their journey.
These appointments strengthen the direct link between our teams in Mauritius and Japan, allowing us to anticipate client needs more closely and deliver the highest standard of service to our Japanese clients and partners.
Wakana Nakamura, Manager, Japan Desk – ITL Mauritius
Ms Nakamura brings over 20 years of professional experience across diplomacy, African regional strategy, business development, and economic affairs.
She most recently served as First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Mauritius (2021–2026), where she built senior-level relationships with the Government of Mauritius, the Economic Development Board (EDB), and Japanese government agencies and private-sector stakeholders. Prior to her diplomatic appointment, she was with Mitsubishi Corporation’s Johannesburg Africa headquarters (2018-2021), contributing to regional strategy development across five African regions and eleven offices. She is a native Japanese speaker and is fluent in English with working proficiency in Portuguese.
In her new role, Ms Nakamura will lead business development and client relations for the Japan market, leveraging her extensive network across Japanese government, diplomatic, and business circles to serve as a bridge between Japanese investors and corporations and Mauritius.
Hideaki Shimizu, ITL Representative – Japan
Mr Shimizu is an experienced specialist in business development and investment, with extensive experience in industrial development, corporate investment, business matching and promotion, and human resource development in Japan and overseas. He has held country head roles with a Japanese venture capital firm in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, and led several industrial Government Funded Development (ODA) project teams in Pakistan, Mauritius, and Senegal for a Japanese consulting firm. From July 2023 to January 2025, he served as Chief Representative of the Japan Office of EDB Mauritius, leading investment and trade promotion activities in Japan.
In his new role, Mr Shimizu will represent ITL in Japan, drawing on his long-standing relationships across Japanese investment, trade, and development circles to promote ITL’s services and support Japanese clients seeking to do business through Mauritius.
We are confident that Ms Nakamura and Mr Shimizu’s combined expertise and networks will significantly strengthen ITL’s engagement with the Japanese market and support our clients’ cross-border investment objectives.