Africa50 Appoints Four Esteemed Infrastructure Advisors to Its Investment Committee

23 November 2016
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)

The Board of Directors of Africa50, the infrastructure fund for Africa, has approved the appointment of four internationally renowned investment and infrastructure experts as Senior Advisors and members of its Investment Committee. The four Senior Advisers, hailing from the U.S., France, Cameroon and Nigeria, will assist Africa50 in making investment decisions in a manner that will ensure the attainment of the dual objectives of development impact and financial return.

"I am pleased that Africa50 will be benefitting from the collective wisdom and experiences accumulated over many decades of this seasoned team of executives. This is one of many important steps that we will be taking in the coming months to position Africa50 as a key vehicle to help address Africa's massive infrastructure deficit," said Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Africa50. "We look forward to continuing our support to African governments and private investors in developing and funding Africa's infrastructure" he added.

The Senior Advisers are:

Paul Hanharan (US): Mr. Hanrahan is co-founder and CEO of American Capital Energy and Infrastructure. Prior to this he was CEO of AES Corporation, one of the largest global energy infrastructure companies, helping establish its operations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He serves or has served on the boards of several energy related companies including utilities in Latin America, and was twice appointed by the White House to the US-India CEO Forum. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Assaad Jabre (France/Lebanon): Mr. Jabre is a corporate advisor. He worked at IFC from 1980 to 2005. He rose to the rank of acting CEO after serving as Vice-President for Investments and Advisory Operations, overseeing investment and advisory operations worldwide. He also served as Vice-President of Portfolio Management and was a member of the IFC's Corporate Investment and Finance and Risk Management Committees. Currently he is on the Advisory Board of ICD, the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank, the board of the Mobile for Development Foundation, and the Strategic Committee of Agence France Tresor. He is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of Paris and holds a degree in International Law from the University of Paris and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Imoni Akpofure (Nigeria): Ms. Akpofure began her career as a civil and environmental engineer with Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick. She worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, from 1995 to 2013, becoming Director for Western Europe after having worked mostly in infrastructure sectors focused on deal sourcing, structuring and project supervision. Until recently, she was a Regional Director for Africa for CDC Group Plc. She is currently a Senior Associate with Kina Advisory Ltd. In addition, she is a non-executive Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and serves on the Investment Committee of the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN). She holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MSc in Environmental Engineering from Newcastle University, and a BEng in Civil Engineering from Imperial College.

Jean David Bile (Cameroon): Mr. Bile is currently Chairman of the Strategic Committee and a Board Member of Eneo, the electric utility in Cameroon, representing the majority owner, Actis Capital (UK). Previously he worked for 37 years in various senior roles in the power sector in Cameroon, becoming Director General of AES-Sonel, then Cameroon's privatized integrated electric utility, and CEO of AES Africa. He has a Master of Engineering degree from Ecole Centrale de Paris and a PhD in economics from La Sorbonne.

"I am pleased that Paul, Imoni, Assaad and Jean David will join me on the Africa50 interim investment committee. They combine regional and global level experience with in-depth understanding of the technical and financial challenges of infrastructure investing in Africa. They will help us assure that our investments have not only a positive development impact, but are also commercially viable," said Alain Ebobisse, CEO of Africa50.

About Africa50

Africa50 is an infrastructure fund owned by African governments, the African Development Bank and institutional investors. Its mission is to mobilize long term savings from within and outside Africa and private sector funding to promote infrastructure development in Africa.

For more information, please visit: www.Africa50.com

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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