Future of Energy

Ikenna Azuike started his career as a lawyer, but is now a sought-after journalist, presenter, speaker and filmmaker. Ikenna was born in Lagos, Nigeria, grew up in the UK, studied law in the UK and France and has been living in The Netherlands with his family since 2004. After working as a lawyer with Shearman & Sterling in London, Singapore and New York, and with Clifford Chance LLP in Amsterdam, he decided to change course and follow his passions for broadcasting and social activism. Together with his wife, Mette te Velde, he co-founded the Strawberry Earth Foundation to fast forward our transition towards a sustainable planet and he created the satirical news show What's Up Africa. His show was subsequently commissioned by the BBC, aired on BBC World News television for 6 seasons, was shortlisted for an Association of International Broadcasters Award, and amassed over half a million followers on social media. Since 2017 Ikenna has worked on a variety of longer form journalistic projects through his own production company Jollof Rice Productions B.V. For example, he made the 6-part travel series 'Planeet Nigeria' (Planet Nigeria) for BNNVARA; the documentary 'De Post-Racistische Planeet' (The Post-Racist Planet) for VPRO Tegenlicht and he is currently developing a comedy drama with Kaap Holland. In addition to his work as a journalist, Ikenna is also the chairman of The Correspondent Foundation, a foundation launched by the Dutch journalism platform De Correspondent. Ikenna is regularly invited to host national and international events where he interviews professionally and enthusiastically with his trademark disarming charm and sense of humour. Whether he is talking to politicians and executives or activists and students, and whether the subject matter is humanitarian rights, sustainability, international finance, digital life, or contemporary art, Ikenna is at ease, seeing every conversation as an opportunity to learn something new.

Kate Bragg is the SVP M&A and Strategy for Scatec, a global renewable energy IPP with a focus on emerging markets. Kate leads Scatec’s strategy work, as the company expands and develops new business models including into new geographies and technologies. She has worked as the head of Corporate Strategy for Statkraft, the Norwegian state utility, as well as for McKinsey and the UK government. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Abdoulaye has several years of experience in the renewable energy field and has worked on thedevelopment of more than 1000 MW projects. He has extensive experience in West Africa, bystructuring the development and the finance of landmark solar projects in this region.Following experiences at EDF and then at Total Energies Nouvelles, he joined the Scatec Solar groupin 2014 as Project Manager in charge of the development of solar activity in West Africa. Since 2018,he leads the development of renewable energies projects in Sub-Saharan Africa within QuadranInternational which becomes Qair. Currently, Abdoulaye is managing the financing of Qair newtechnology projects including Green H2 and floating offshore wind and bankability in Africa.Abdoulaye graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and holds a master’s degree in renewable energy science and technology.

Chris is Winch Energy’s Vice President Business Development, where he has been responsible for two of Africa’s largest Mini-Grid projects to date in Sierra Leone and Uganda. Chris has 10 years’ experience working in the off-grid sector in Africa, specialising in developing Mini-Grid projects from origination to financial close. Previously to Winch he worked as researcher at the University of Southampton, where he contributed to various publications and research in the off-grid sector. In total he has contributed to the implementation of over 80 Mini-Grids to date. Chris has a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Southampton and a Masters in Sustainable Development from SOAS.

Robinson Alazraki has worked for 17 years in the field of renewable energy in emerging markets. He worked for 10 years with Total, originating and developing various projects such as the Group Energy Access platform for Africa or PV Utility Scale business development in South East Asia. He was then appointed General Manager Indian Ocean at Sunzil, a French PV player in insulated territories. He finally joined GreenYellow as CEO for Africa to lead the development, construction and operation of solar energy and energy efficiency projects for companies and governments on the African continent.Robinson, an alumnus of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, holds two masters degrees in chemistry and renewable energy.

Oliver Waissbein is global head of energy programming at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supporting developing country governments to achieve their sustainable energy objectives. UNDP currently has a global portfolio of over 130 active energy projects, in approximately 100 countries, and totaling over $600 million in grant financing and $3 billion in co-financing. Oliver is a strong advocate for engaging with private finance as key to advancing the SDGs. He has led the development of UNDP’s ‘Derisking Renewable Energy Investment (DREI)’ initiative– an innovative framework to channel low-cost, commercial capital to sustainable energy investment. Oliver also publishes regularly on energy finance in academic journals. Prior to joining UNDP, Oliver was at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, working in M&A and corporate finance. Oliver holds degrees from Oxford University and Columbia University, New York.

Kellie is a strategic leader with over ten years of experience in corporate finance and business operations. She currently leads the East African Power Investments team, whose mandate is to structure and raise funds for East African Power’s hydropower and solar projects. Kellie served as the Head of Corporate Finance Advisory & Training for Lattice Group for five years. At Lattice, she was a transaction lead for several mid-sized businesses, and led several programs that advised small and medium-sized businesses on funding readiness and fundraising. She holds a Master’s in Development Finance from The University of Cape Town.

Prior to joining Goldman, she worked as part of the portfolio team at Sterling Stamos, a private investment management firm specialized in alternative and multi-asset investment solutions. She began her career as a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company in New York.Angella has served as an advisor to Helios Investment Partners, a $3.0 billion private equity fund based in London focused on investments in Africa. She has also served on the Board of Directors for GK Capital Management, the financial advisory and investment arm of the GraceKennedy Group, and currently is a Director of PanJam Investment Limited, GK UK Foods, and JN Money Services, a subsidiary of the Jamaica National Building Society.Angella holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge. She also graduated with a BA (magna cum laude) in Government from Harvard College.Angella has traveled to 70 countries and lived on 3 continents. She is a keen motorcyclist, classical pianist, and has her private pilot license. She has also climbed 3 of the 7 summits.

Thierry Lepercq (57) is a serial entrepreneur in energy. He recently founded Soladvent, a global pioneer of mass-scale solar and wind hydrogen to compete with fossil fuels in industry, energy and mobility. He is the author of Hydrogen is the New Oil. Thierry Lepercq was EVP Technology and Innovation at Engie from 2016 to 2018. From 2006 to 2016, he was the president of Solairedirect, a global pioneer of competitive solar power, which has developed and built 3 GW of capacity on four continents at prices as low as 20 $/MWh.A graduate from HEC Paris, Thierry Lepercq started his career in technology financing.

Nathan Furr is a professor of strategy and innovation at INSEAD in Paris and a recognized expert in the fields of innovation and technology strategy. Professor Furr earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University where he studied how innovators commercialize their ideas. His bestselling books include The Innovator’s Method (Harvard Business School Press, 2014); Leading Transformation (Harvard Business School Press, 2018); and Innovation Capital (Harvard Business School Press, 2019). He has published broadly in Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Forbes, Inc, and academic journals. He is an Innosight Fellow, has been nominated for the Thinkers 50 Innovation Award, and works with leading companies such as Google, Microsoft, Citi, ING, Philips, Solvay and others.

Peter Mockel is a Principal Industry Specialist at the International Financial Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group. He focuses on energy storage for emerging markets. Previously CTO with a Berlin-based smart electricity metering start-up, and with more than 10 years in telecommunications with Deutsche Telekom AG as VP Strategy Development and SVP R&D, and in consulting with Booz, Allen & Hamilton. He is the co-author of “Applied Technology and Innovation Management” (Springer 2010) and “Technological Trends in ICT” (Springer 2012). Peter holds a B.A. (Hons) and M.A. in Computer Science from Cambridge University, and an M.Sc. in Software Engineering from TU Aachen, Germany.

Tobias has worked in the energy sector for the past ten years, with the last seven being in Africa. At PowerGen, he is the Chief Business Development Officer and is responsible for business development and project finance. He was responsible for PowerGen's deal with CBEA in Tanzania, with Infraco in Sierra Leone, and with Sunfunder and Unilever in Kenya. Prior to PowerGen, Tobias worked as a financial expert at Adam Smith International and XSML Capital in the DRC, where he worked on energy access and access to finance for three years. Before moving to Africa, he was a portfolio manager at the European utility Vattenfall. He is a CFA charterholder

Wymen Chan is Managing Director of SUSI Partners’ Asia Investment Team, overseeing the company’s investment activities in Southeast Asia. He has extensive equity investment experience, particularly in the renewable and clean-tech energy sector with a focus on Asian markets. Before joining SUSI Partners in 2018, Wymen worked for Armstrong Asset Management, where he was a senior member of the investment team. Prior to that, he was a Director at Maybank MEACP, a fund focussed on renewable energy investments across Asia.

Sarah is Head of the State Fragility initiative (SFi) at the International Growth Centre (IGC). SFi is dedicated to working on issues of state fragility and with governments of fragile and transitioning countries. SFi also serves as the secretariat of the Council on State Fragility and co-hosts the DFI Fragility Forum with the IFC, AfDB, and CDC Group. Sarah has worked extensively with governments of fragile states, including Sudan, Yemen, Somaliland, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, and South Sudan on a wide range of economic policy issues, including private sector development, trade and investment, fiscal federalism, and mobile money regulation. Prior to joining the IGC, Sarah worked for a law firm in New York City providing legal and policy advice to developing country governments on natural resource governance issues. Sarah holds an MPA from Columbia University, an LLB from the University of Cape Town, and is an admitted attorney and member of the New York State Bar, American Bar Association, and Law Society of the Northern Provinces (South Africa).

Experienced Investor in leveraged finance, private equity and impact investments.

Nthabiseng Mosia is the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Easy Solar, a leading solar company in Africa. Easy Solar distributes and finances high-quality solar solutions for those with limited access to the grid. Created in 2016, Easy Solar has powered over 550,000 people, while creating jobs for more than 600 in Sierra Leone and Liberia. For over 80% of its customers, their Easy Solar purchase is their first formal credit line. As a South African-Ghanaian dual-citizen, Nthabi is Pan-African at heart, passionate about building community-driven solutions to Africa’s development challenges. Nthabi was named Outstanding Social Entrepreneur in 2019 by the World Economic Forum, Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Forbes Africa Women in 2020 and an inaugural Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst in 2021.

Gabriel has a Master of Arts in Physics & Philosophy from the University of Oxford. Prior to CrossBoundary, Gabriel worked as an Associate at Augusta & Co., a London-based investment firm focused on renewable energy, where he was part of the investment banking team. At Augusta & Co., Gabriel advised developers, utilities, and institutional investors on placing capital into over 2GW of renewable energy projects and businesses across Europe, and in originating and structuring corporate PPAs. Prior to that, he worked for the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change, advising the UK Government on energy policy. Gabriel has also worked for British Petroleum’s Alternative Energy division in London and Brazil. He has written about the off-grid sector in Sub-Saharan Africa for the Financial Times’ ‘This is Africa’, the Brookings Institution and Greentech Media. Gabriel is Head of Energy Access for The CrossBoundary Group and is based in CrossBoundary’s Nairobi office.

Florian Mayr, partner at Apricum, is an expert on strategy, business development and transaction advisory in the global renewable energy markets, including energy storage. Florian leads Apricum’s energy storage, green hydrogen and digital energy activities. In particular, he supports Apricum’s clients in successfully accessing new markets and seizing attractive business opportunities. He is also active in advising cleantech companies on corporate and project financing, including M&A, fund raising and due diligence. In addition, he is a regular contributor to external publications and a frequently booked speaker on the topic of energy storage. Prior to Apricum, Florian spent a decade in senior positions at McKinsey & Company and RWE, where he was mainly involved in strategy development projects both in the conventional and renewable energy sectors. Florian holds a master’s degree in engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, and an MBA from the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Mannheim.

Benjamin Attia is a Research Analyst in the Power & Renewables practice at Wood Mackenzie, a global consultancy providing data analytics, market research, and advisory services across the energy and extractives sectors (formerly GTM Research). He leads the firm’s coverage of solar PV markets in Africa and the Middle East, and off-grid energy access markets globally. His research and writing have recently been featured in leading outlets including Foreign Affairs, The Economist, The FT, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, CNBC, the World Economic Forum, and Greentech Media. Benjamin also conducts affiliated research as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Energy for Growth Hub, the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines, and the Foundation for Renewable Energy & Environment.

Mr. Mehta is Investment Director for REAF and REAF II and is responsible for leading the commercial and industrial renewable energy strategy for Berkeley Energy and management of the funds’ investments in India. Mr. Mehta has over 10 years of experience in financing energy projects across Europe and Asia.Prior to joining Berkeley Energy, Mr. Mehta worked in Siemens Financial Services leading and executing investments in the power generation sector with a special focus on offshore wind. He has previously worked in Earth Capital Partners, Man Group and Climate Change Capital as both an investor and advisor.Mr. Mehta holds an MSc in Finance from London Business School and an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford.Mr. Mehta is based in Singapore.

Robert Swan, OBE is the world’s first person to walk to both the North and South Poles. He earned his place alongside the greatest explorers in history by accomplishing this feat by age 33. His 900 - mile journey to the South Pole, ‘In the Footsteps of Scott,’ stands as the longest unassisted walk ever made on earth. During Swan's expeditions, his team survived near-death encounters as the oceanic ice melted prematurely due to climate change. His eyes also permanently changed color due to prolonged UV exposure under the hole in the ozone layer. These experiences helped shape Swan's life goal: to ensure the preservation of Antarctica, the Earth’s last great wilderness. He founded the 2041 Foundation, an organization dedicated to this goal. Key initiatives include partnership since the early 1990's with the United Nations World Summit for Sustainable Development, and a wide range of global and local environmental missions which have inspired youth around the world to become sustainable leaders and promote the use of renewable energy. Since 2003, Swan has led annual expeditions to Antarctica with students and business executives to heighten awareness of the Antarctic and build advocacy to ensure its survival as a wilderness. His teams have also helped design, and build, the world’s first Antarctic renewable energy education station known as the e-Base. Swan continues to push renewable fuels and recycled materials to their absolute limit: "if it works in Antarctica, it can work anywhere on Earth." Awarded the European Union “Ambassador for the Environment”, Swan served as Special Envoy to the UNESCO Director General and as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth. In recognition of his work, Her Majesty the Queen awarded him the high distinction of OBE, Officer of the Order of the British Empire and the Polar Medal.

Manuel is an expert in institutional responsible investing, with a deep understanding of the climate crisis and related investment risks and opportunities. He is a frequent speaker and moderator and contributor to media publications. Manuel works as responsible investment strategist at a large asset management firm. Previously, he worked at a London-based climate-finance not-for-profit; as head of responsible investing at a Dutch asset manager; at an international bank-assurance company; and served as a (pro bono) member of the prestigious Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s (EITI) International Board. Manuel is a German citizen living in the Netherlands. He holds an MSc in Economics from Maastricht University and has also studied at Université de Montréal in Canada and at Aachen University in Germany. He is fluent in Dutch, German and English, and has a conversational proficiency in French.

Mark Goldsmith has over 25+ years of experience in sustainable and responsible investing. Previously Mark was Director, Responsible Investment for Actis for more than 10 years. During that time, he was a leader in environmental and social governance (ESG) thinking in the emerging markets and was on the Board of ENEO, the power company of Cameroon for five years. Mark has developed and promoted world class standards in business integrity, health and safety, social, environmental and climate change areas across all investment areas and companies and implemented robust corporate governance standards and transparent practices. Currently, Mark is a member of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, having been appointed on November 17, 2019. The committee of three is an independent complaints mechanism for people and communities who believe that they have been, or are likely to be, adversely affected by a World Bank-funded project. Members are selected on the basis of their ability to deal thoroughly and fairly with the Requests for Inspection brought to them, their integrity, their independence from World Bank management, and their exposure to development issues and to living conditions in developing countries.

A global leader with experiences of building and spearheading a high performance team across multiple geographies - USA, Europe, Asia and Africa. Strong leadership skills with a proven track record of turning around a business, risk management, change management and ability to bring a diverse team in multiple countries together to achieve a common vision. Extensive experience in developing strategy and execution across multiple industries including renewable energy, energy policies for national electrification and financial services industry.Over a decade of experience in negotiating and deal making - raised equity and debt capital from a spectrum of investors (VCs, large Corporates and Development Financial Institutions); formed partnerships from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies to government institutions.Excellent communication skills and have been invited as a speaker and a panelist in multiple countries - USA, UK, France, The Netherlands, Portugal, India, Kenya and Tanzania. Have spoken on multiple topics including access to energy for rural people, energy policy, risk management of financial assets, and credit risk etc.Driven by personal values, integrity and relentless pursuit for excellence.

Per van Swaay joined TCX in 2010 and is responsible for TCX business development in Africa. Prior to TCX, Per worked in African project finance at FMO, the Dutch Development Bank. Before moving into development finance, Per worked as a corporate lawyer in the Netherlands and the US. TCX is a special purpose fund to hedge the currency and interest rate mismatch that is created in cross-border investments between international investors and local borrowers in frontier and less liquid emerging markets.

Stefan has more than 10 years of experience in the financial industry with a focus on energy access over the last two years. With a proven track record in leading, structuring, negotiating and executing debt investments in the financial and energy sectors. He has extensive knowledge of business practices in developing countries with a focus on Sub-Sahara Africa, including 50+ due diligences conducted in 20+ countries.

Daaf Borren is a journalist and author from the Netherlands, covering sub-Saharan Africa. In addition he is the founder of The Bright Continent, which is a platform for the next generation of photographers, writers and other creatives from across Africa.

Bettina Voisin is the Deputy Head of Financing of Neoen, the French independent renewable energy producer. Prior to this, Bettina worked at Bouygues Construction (French construction company) in theFinancial Engineering Department in Paris focusing on infrastructures financing worldwide. She has almost 10 years experience in Project Finance and has been active across variousgeographies during her career, structuring deals in France, Cyprus, Cuba, El Salvador, Ireland orMexico and thus working with a large variety of financial institutions. Bettina has managed the financial closing process of a 140 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in El Salvador (Capella Solar), the contractually supplied electricity being the most competitively priced ever in the Salvadoran energy market. Bettina has completed a Master’s degree in Project Finance from the French engineering university l’Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and Paris 10 University.

Joel leads Acumen's 'Hardest-to-Reach' (H2R) expansion concept, deploying flexible capital to bring off-grid PAYG solutions to the least electrified parts of Africa. H2R is focused on reaching first-time access and low-income customers. Prior to joining Acumen, Joel was head of impact research at Africa GreenCo, a development-focused energy trading start-up based in Lusaka. He also has considerable experience in research roles across emerging markets and developing economies, spanning energy and infrastructure, working alongside government ministries, national investment agencies, and developers. Joel started his career at KPMG in London where he worked in restructuring. He is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the United Kingdom.

Turan Çağlayan is Senior Director with DEG and responsible for sustainable debt and equity investments in the field of infrastructure and renewables. In addition he is responsible for DEG`s Capital Markets including Treasury. His prior responsibilities as senior director include among others DEG`s Risk Management. He joined DEG in 1992, holding various positions including head of DEG`s Regional Office in Bangkok from 2006 until 2010. Before joining DEG, Turan worked for Bayer, a leading German pharmaceutical company, and Deutsche Bank.

Amar is an investor, scientist and entrepreneur from East Africa. He brings over 25 years privatesector experience of building markets and businesses in emerging economies. He is the Managing Director of KawiSafi Ventures – a private investment fund that is focused on energy access in Africa. He is an active Board representative on a diverse portfolio of technology-driven companies. Prior to leading KawiSafi, he managed a global investment portfolio of high-risk, high-impact projects for 10 years at the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank before joining the new business team at Royal Dutch Shell to drive growth in domestic African energy markets. He graduated from the University of Oxford and has a PhD from the University of Cambridge. A TED speaker with over 1.6M views, his work on sustainable investing has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, and FastCompany.

With 25 years’ experience at the intersection of climate and finance, Gerhard has spent most of his career working to embed climate and sustainability into the financial sector. He worked in consulting in Washington DC, environmental markets on Wall Street, and for the Dutch government (Netherlands Enterprise Agency), Dutch banks (ABN AMRO and Rabobank) and a leading non-profit (IUCN) in the Netherlands. At IUCN he lobbied the Dutch Central Bank successfully to start incorporating climate risk into supervisory expectations. Gerhard studied Public Policy (University of Amsterdam),International Affairs (Columbia University), and holds a MBA (University of Oxford). Gerhard ismarried with three kids and in his free time likes to run.

Paras Patel is the Founder and Managing Partner of E3 Capital (formerly Energy Access Ventures). Paras has 15+ years of investment banking and asset management experience. He is a serial entrepreneur with exits in Europe and Africa. He serves as a board member in Mawingu, Solarise Africa, PayGo Energy, ZiZ Energie, and SolarX Africa. He holds a BEng from the University of Warwick, UK and an MSc in Finance from the Warwick Business School.

Pim is a partner in the renewable energy group of Eversheds Sutherland, one of the few leadinglaw firms who have been advising a wide range of prominent clients across the globe on theirrenewable energy projects and who have been passionate ambassadors of this market for many years. Pim is a finance lawyer by background and primarily focuses on setting up and implementing project finance transactions across the renewable energy spectrum. Pim also advised on several high profile financial restructurings of projects facing some form of financial or operational distress. Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland, Pim worked for a tier 1 law firm in Amsterdam and London. He holds an MSc in Economics and an LLM in Corporate and Financial Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Feedback collected by the leading legal directories praise Pim for this expertise, practical approach and responsiveness.

Ernst was appointed Munich Re’s Chief Climate and Geo Scientist in 2018. Ernst joined Munich Re\'s Geo Risk Research Department in 1988. Initially his work focused on earthquake risk analysis and the development of earthquake simulation models. Since the early 1990s his area of responsibility shifted increasingly to the analysis and modelling of meteorological and climatological risks. In 2008, Ernst took on the responsibility of steering all Climate Change related activities in the Munich Re Group with focus on risk management, business development and asset management topics. Ernst became head of the newly established Munich Re think tank and strategy unit Corporate Climate Centre (CCC), which also served as a central entry and coordinating point to Munich Re on renewable energies. Since August 2017, Ernst’s responsibility was expanded to also include Munich Re’s business development activities in which he leads the newly created Climate Change Solutions Department in Munich Re ́s Reinsurance Development Division. Ernst studied at the Institute for General and Applied Geophysics at the University of Munich from 1981 to 1986 and continued his research work for another two years.

For twelve years, Rob worked for the Dutch Transmission System Operator TenneT in The Netherlands where he co-lead the acquisition in Germany. Since 2013, Rob worked in the offshore wind industry, as Business Manager and Manager Offshore Grid Development in the management team of the offshore department of TenneT in The Netherlands. In these roles, Rob witnessed the acceleration of this promising industry and the challenges of onshore integration. For many years, Rob worked in close cooperation with the authorities to shape the offshore wind programmes. In reaching the targets of the climate agreement, Rob lived the commercial needs of companies and the challenges of expanding the offshore wind roadmaps. Rob lead the origination of the consortium the “North Sea Wind Power Hub” to initiate with Energinet, TenneT Germany, Gasunie and Port of Rotterdam. The consortium, which now is a Project of Common Interest, develops long term visions and projects to facilitate large scale far offshore wind in combination with Power to gas in order to meet 2050 sustainability targets. As a consultant for ERM, Rob combines his experience in offshore wind with the in depth knowledge on ecological effects and system integration challenges, to assist companies in further expanding the business of offshore renewables and onshore integration.

Selestino Babungi is the Managing Director of Umeme Limited, the main electricity distribution company in Uganda. He previously served Umeme’s Chief Financial Officer and other operations management roles. Over the period, the company has delivered on its key strategic impetus including listing on the stock exchange, capital raising and investing over USD 500 million in Uganda’s electricity distribution system, organization development and investment in transformational technologies. The investments have led to a 5-fold increase in customer connections to 1.6 million, reduced power losses and overall distribution efficiencies to 85%, staff and public safety and overall improved customer experience. Selestino is a Professional Accountant (FCCA, CPA(U)) and a graduate of Statistics from Makerere University. Before joining Umeme in 2006, he previously worked at Ernst & Young, Uganda Office, servicing varying clients from the private and public sector.

Arnaud is a senior investment officer at Proparco, specializing in off-grid electrification in Africa. He is in charge of the deployment of the ARESUF facility in partnership with the EU, and more generally of the decentralized energy strategy in the countries where Proparco is active. He has been involved in various projects in geographies such as Nigeria, Kenya, or DRC. Arnaud is a member of the investment committee of ElectriFi.He started his career with Veolia Water in South Africa and then joined international strategy consulting firms where he specialized in the financing of energy transition and access to energy. Arnaud is a graduate of Imperial College London and EPFL.

Ignacio de Calonje is a Chief Investment Officer in IFC’s Global Infrastructure Department. He is based in London and, amongst other responsibilities, leads IFC’s Sustainable Finance practice in the infrastructure space, focusing on supporting IFC clients to issue green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked financial instruments. He is also responsible for managing a number of IFC's keyWestern European-based clients in the energy and mining sectors. Prior to his posting in London, Ignacio was based in Istanbul, Cairo and Washington DC for IFC. Ignacio has extensive experience in the field of international finance, having worked on numerous equity and debt investments in emerging markets. Before joining IFC in 2004, he worked for Lehman Brothers’ investment banking division in London and Madrid advising Spanish and UK corporate clients in mergers, acquisitions and debt capital market transactions. Ignacio was also a non-Executive Director of Alcazar Energy (a renewable energy company with 400 MW of solar and wind assets in operation in Egypt and Jordan) from 2019 to 2021 and non-Executive Director of Kuwait Energy (an oil & gas company with operations in Iraq, Egypt and Oman) from 2017 to 2019. He has a Bsc in Business Administration from Universidad San Pablo-CEU (Madrid) and a Masters Degree from Columbia University (New York).

Weldon Turner is the Chief Operating Officer and a BoardMember of Gigawatt Global Cooperatief U.A. an internationalrenewable energy developer. His supervisory roles include day today company management, internal accounting, auditing,institutional company financing, and all legal matters. Prior tothat he was the C.E.O. of a boutique investment banking firm.The firm oversaw private placements for real estate,commodities, and farming projects. He led a team that raised$350m in 4 years with 50 employees in six cities. He was the co-manager of long-short equity hedge fund that focused on marketneutral investing. In addition, he was Chief Operating Officer andGeneral Counsel at Goldnames, an internet domain nameinvestment company. He was the Director of InternationalEquity Sales/Trading at Credit Suisse in New York and was a V.P. of Equity Sales/Trading at Salomon Brothers in New York. Mr. Turner has been on the Board of Directors of theOrthodox Union, the Board of Advisors of Thorium PowerCompany and Portofino Equity Advisors. He has a B.A. in History,a B.A. in Political Science, a J.D., an L.L.M (Master of Law) and isa Doctoral candidate in Environmental Law. Weldon has traveled for business to approximately 50countries. He is a lecturer at Bar Ilan University International MBA program where he teaches “Investing in Emerging Markets”.He received the National Black Achievers in Industry Award. Hewas the athlete of the decade and in the New Rochelle, NR SportsHall of Fame.

Gabriel de Lastours is responsible for developing the EBRD\'s power and renewables portfolio across the southern and eastern Mediterranean region (SEMED). This includes structuring debt and equity investments as well as leading policy dialogue with governments in the region. Gabriel has worked in the EBRD’s energy team for 15 years, both on oil and gas and mining financing and power and renewable energy projects. Prior to joining the Bank, Gabriel worked with EY Transaction Advisory Services in Paris and Credit Agricole CIB in New York. He is a graduate from ESSEC Business School in Paris.

Juan-Pablo Martínez-Molina joined the Asian Development Bank as InvestmentSpecialist in the Private Sector Operations Department in 2017, and has since workedextensively on infrastructure investments with a focus on power and renewables. He currently undertakes projects with the private sector in East Asia, notably in the People’s Republic of China and Mongolia. His recent work also includes some landmark deals in the Indo-Pacific: Vena Energy’s Indonesian IPPs, Jawa-1 CCGT IPP, Riau CCGT IPP, and the Kacific-1 satellite financings.Before moving to Asia, Juan-Pablo was with the Inter-American Development Bank inWashington, D.C., where he worked on some groundbreaking project financings in LatinAmerica, including Colonia Arias wind IPP and Valentines wind IPP in the Southern Cone,Providencia solar IPP in Central America, and the Kingston Container Terminal expansion deal in the Caribbean. Prior to his posting in the USA, Juan-Pablo was based in Luxembourg for the European Investment Bank, and previously in Paris for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (Airbus Group of companies) and Banco Santander.Juan-Pablo graduated from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya with a Master’s Degreein Civil Engineering, and attained his Diplôme d\'Ingénieur (dual Master’s Degree) from École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris.

David Managadze is Regional Head Energy, covering Turkey & Caucasus at the EuropeanBank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Mr. Managadze has over 15 years’experience in emerging market economies working with both the private and public sectorsand leading complex financings involving debt, equity, syndications and policy dialogue withthe Governments and reputable domestic and international investors.The EBRD is a major investor in Turkey and Caucasus energy sector where Mr. Managadzehas led projects with a specific focus on energy and resource efficiency, renewables andenergy infrastructure, all underpinned by the Bank’s mandate of supporting transition tolower carbon economies and promoting private sector development. Mr. Managadze isspearheading the policy engagement with the respective Governments to assist withestablishing the national regulation in the area of renewables, cost reflective tariffs andcommercialization of regulated sectors, gender and inclusion. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Managadze held a number of progressively responsiblepositions with PA Government Services Inc., BearingPoint, Ernst&Young Georgia and GCGAudit.

Erik Payen works as "Senior Client Manager Infrastructure and Disaster Risk finance" for Swiss Re Public Sector Solutions. He is responsible for developing Swiss Re's portfolio of structured solutions across Western Europe and Mediterranean regions. Swiss Re Public Sector Solutions is dedicated to helping national & municipal governments and cities to strengthen their financial resilience through public-private partnerships. Before joining Swiss Re Group, Erik worked as vice-commercial attaché for the French Embassy's Economic Development Department in Sao Paulo. He is a graduate of Kedge Business School and holds a master's degree in Japanese studies from the University of Rennes.

Chad Canfield is a Director of Project Finance at Finance-in-Motion (FiM), one of the world’s leading impact asset managers. Chad heads a team of professionals responsible for relationship management, origination, underwriting, and compliance of debt and equity investments for funds advised by FiM. Chad joined FiM in 2020. Chad has more than 20 years of finance experience, with a focus on greenfield projects in emerging markets. Transactions range from large and complicated syndicated financings to small, bespoke and impactful investments. A number of these investments have been awarded with Deal of the Year recognition. Prior to joining FiM, Chad worked as an independent consultant, advising on commercial bankability of project contracts, while arranging and executing non-recourse finance transactions. Chad also worked as Treasurer of a global IPP, Director of Project Finance, and Vice President in a banking role. Chad is a graduate of the University of Montana.

Henrik Lund is a Strategy Analyst in Scatec, a global renewable energy IPP with a focus on emerging markets. Henrik works on Scatec\'s strategy across geographies and technologies, including the initiatives into green hydrogen. He has previously worked as a management consultant at Arkwright Consulting and holds an MSc from the Norwegian School of Economics.

Joost Samsom is partner and co-founder of Voltiq. He has 22 years of experience in the development, acquisition and management of renewable energy projects and companies. Joost is an expert in wind and solar project development as well as in M&A transactions. He has been leading numerous landmark transactions at Voltiq such as the 165 MW Belwind offshore wind transaction, the 400+MW Chile Solar sale to Enel and EDF, and the 70 MW Campo Palomas wind transaction. Before co-founding Voltiq in 2009, Joost was Executive Board Member at the renewable energy branch of global retail and distribution company SHV. Prior to working for SHV, Joost worked for Dutch utility Nuon/Vattenfall as Senior Development Manager of the Nuon International Renewables Projects team. From 2002 – 2005 he was responsible for Nuon’s investments in Spain based in Seville. Joost has served as an executive and non-executive director on the board of (renewable) energy companies in the United Kingdom, Germany, Chile, Mexico and The Netherlands. He has in-depth knowledge of wind, solar, hydro and biomass energy. Joost is fluent in Dutch, English, Spanish and German.

Gilles brings 14 years of experience in infrastructure and energy sectors with an extensive track record in principal investing, project finance and asset management. He started his career at the IFC on environmental project development in Africa; joined the project finance department of Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking and moved in 2008 in the advisory branch of Macquarie. In 2010, he became investment director at the infrastructure fund of French State-owned Caisse des Dépôts (CDC).He co-founded GreenWish Capital in 2014 and led the development and structuring of Senergy 2, the 1st solar IPP in West Africa. Gilles subsequently founded Africa REN in 2018. Gilles holds an MBA from ESSEC Business School and has a master’s in business law from Assas University.

Dr. Rabia Ferroukhi is an international economic development expert dedicated to sustainable energy and progressive socio-economic development. She is currently the Director of the Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre at IRENA where she oversees the Agency’s work on knowledge, policy and finance, including: authoritative renewable energy data and information; analysis of best practice in renewable energy policy and finance; quantitative and qualitative analysis of the socio-economics of the energy transition, including jobs, gender, just transition and related development, industrial and labor policy implication; and advice and technical support to countries, tailoring policy design and recommendation to their specific socio-economic conditions. Dr. Ferroukhi holds a Masters in Applied Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics from the American University in Washington DC.

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Fadoua Boudiba is Regional Manager Africa & Middle East for the IPD&E team at Triodos IM. She joined Triodos IM in October 2016 and has more than 15 years of experience in impact investing and banking sector. With a dedicated team investments she managed a portfolio of Eur 126million (in debts, equity, mezzanine) focusing in Financial sector (including Fintech) Agriculture and expanding in off-grid sector. She is part of Enda Tamweel board, one of the leading MFIs in the MENA Region. Prior to joining Triodos, she was a senior investment manager at Incofin in Belgium, working on financial transactions in micro- and SME finance in various countries in the MENA and Central Asia regions. Fadoua also worked for IFC on Technical Assistance based in Cairo. she started her career in the banking sector working mainly at Citibank and Euroclear.Fadoua speaks fluent French, English, Spanish, Arabic and Dutch. Fadoua holds Master’s degrees from Haute Ecole Francisco Ferrer de la Ville de Bruxelles (Belgium) and Microfinance from Solvay Business School.

A Professional Engineer having Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and masters in energy management and Control Engineering , with over twenty years of experience in Power Sector. Has experience of Planning , operational, regulatory and management fields in electric utility value chain including turnaround process of a loss-making utility both at strategic and operational level. The experience spreads across working in public and private sector in Distribution , Transmission, IPP governance and System operations . The jobs included both short- and long-term strategies, including administrative structure, technical solutions, operational structure, tariff model and future investments in the business. It also involved developing new strategies, engagement and negotiations with stake holders, Planning Transmission and Distribution infrastructure and aligning the goals with regulatory regimes and govt visions. Recently lead the team of K-Electric’s strategist engineers in developing Pakistan’s revised Grid code in wake of market opening and Competitive Trading Bilateral Contracts Market (CTBCM)

As President of InterContinental Energy, Alicia is involved in all aspects of strategy, thought leadership, collaboration, and external relations with a particular emphasis on EMEA. She has led investment and strategy in global markets for nearly 25 years, managing private equity funds and market entry and finance strategy for multinational companies across Asia including the Middle East. She has focused on infrastructure, renewable energy, specialty chemicals, and technology. She was a founding partner of Asia Pacific Capital Fund II and the Mongolia Opportunities Fund, led International Strategy and Acquisitions at Elan Biopharmaceuticals and was Vice President of Prudential Asia Infrastructure Mezzanine Capital Fund. Alicia holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Alicia sits on the Board of Advisors for SEC Hydrogen, the Executive Committee of the Ammonia Energy Association, and multiple philanthropic groups.

Barbara has 15 years of experience in renewables. She is a managing director and founder of Green Giraffe and has a strong track record in the contracting and (re)financing of onshore and (offshore) windfarms in Northern Europe and helped support the energy transition by supporting clients in developing new business models in amongst other EV and storage propositions. Barbara supported the development, contracting, and (re)financing of Northwind (216MW, Belgium, 2012), Gemini (600MW, the Netherlands, 2014, 2022), Veja Mate (402MW, Germany, 2015), Norther (370MW, Belgium, 2016 and 2020), Windpark Fryslân (383MW, the Netherlands, 2019), Baltic II & Co (1.5GW, Poland, 2019), Windpark Zeewolde (322MW, the Netherlands, 2020) and Deutsche Bucht (252MW, Germany, 2021). Barbara has been supporting consortia participating in several European (floating) offshore wind tenders as well as having been involved in other technologies such as the ground-mounted solar farm Duurkenakker (64MWp, the Netherlands, 2020).Alongside the Green Giraffe team she is actively following hydrogen projects across all end-use applications and providing services ranging from early equity raises to offtake solutions and development support missions. Before founding Green Giraffe, Barbara worked at the project developer Econcern, and as investment banking trainee at ABN AMRO. Barbara is recognised in the top 100 most influential female business leaders in the 2021 Women in Power list.

Philip has a 30-year career in investment management and principal investing, and investment banking, mostly focused on emerging & frontier markets in Asia, Middle East, Central Europe and in Africa where he has been operating continuously since 1998. Philip has been a Partner of Chapel Hill Denham since 2005. Chapel Hill Denham is an investment management and investment advisory firm focused on Nigeria and Africa and has a strong impact objective. The firm is a major participant in capital markets and has become Nigeria’s largest Alternatives Fund Manager. Chapel Hill Denham manages the Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund that supports infrastructure by financing in NGN with long tenors and has the entire Nigerian Pension community invested. Chapel Hill Denham is a manager of InfraCorp and has been shortlisted by the FCDO’s MOBILIST programme. Philip previously worked at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Deloitte.

Olga Sclovscaia is the Head of Europe and Central Asia at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank Group. Based in Paris, Ms. Sclovscaia leads MIGA’s business development and involvement in projects across both geographic regions. Ms. Sclovscaia joined MIGA in 2000 and has since held previous senior positions in the organization. In her prior role as Global Head and Sector Manager for Financial Institutions and Capital Markets (2012-2019), she led a team that substantially increased its volume of coverage issued and its impact, including the first MIGA guarantee for a public bond issue. Ms. Sclovscaia was instrumental in developing MIGA’s credit enhancement guarantees for financial obligations of state-owned enterprises. She brings a wealth of private sector experience to her role. Prior to joining MIGA, she worked in the Structured Finance Department of ABN Amro Bank in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where she helped build an alternative risk distribution team and executed various risk mitigation solutions for the bank with public and private sector providers. Coupled with her substantial experience in finance and underwriting, Ms. Sclovscaia holds Master’s degrees in international finance (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands), public administration (University of Missouri, USA) and econometrics (Plekhanov Economic Academy, Moscow, the Russian Federation).

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Over 18 years experience in the clean energy sector, covering investments (PF and PE), advisory and project development with an special focus on emerging markets (Latam, Africa and Asia) I have provided advisory services to governments, FI, multilateral agencies, developers and start-up companies -risk assessment, asset valuation as well as analytical and strategic advice. I have led the execution and management of debt and private equity investments in clean energy in emerging markets. I have served as a member of the Board of several investee companies.

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Diana heads FMO’s Private Equity Energy team which is active in the energy sector in global emerging markets. The team invests in private equity funds, utility scale renewable energy projects, offgrid power companies, and currently manages an investment portfolio of approximately EUR 600mln divided over more than 50 investments. Diana has been active in financing for 20 years, with more than 15 years of experience in infrastructure and energy project finance. She joined FMO in 2006, where she worked in a variety of management positions, and has been responsible for managing Access to Energy Fund and the Infrastructure Development Fund, both government funded funds that FMO manages on behalf of the Dutch government. Prior to joining FMO Diana worked at ING Group where she held positions at the Asset Management and Wholesale Banking divisions. Diana holds a master’s Degree in Business Administration from Nyenrode Business University and currently follows a Master of Management in Energy at the Norwegian Business School.

Edwin founded Solarplaza company in 2004. He is a senior PV expert and started in the photovoltaic solar energy business in 1994. He has experience as a solar energy consultant and project developer in more than 200 PV projects. Edwin holds a Master’s degree in Chemical engineering and previously worked in the Chemical industry before starting his first consultancy company in PV in 1994.