PNYX Ltd. - Powering Resilience Forum 2017

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Overview

Conference Chair

David Ross (Panel Chair)
Managing Director
Statera Capital (CONFERENCE CHAIR)

David L. Ross is Managing Director of Statera Capital, an impact investment banking firm founded in 2004 in New York City and based in Dar es Salaam focusing on investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Statera Capital has team members in 7 African nations and is active on projects in renewable energy, biofuels, housing, transportation, telecom infrastructure, health care, oil and gas, equipment leasing, consumer and other sectors. David has 15 years private and public sector experience serving multilateral clients including World Bank, African Development Bank, and development agencies from US, UK, France, Sweden, Germany as well as financial institution clients including HSBC, AIG, JP Morgan Chase, Credit-Suisse, and Morgan Stanley and as SMEs and project developers in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past 3 years David has completed successful evaluation, design, and implementation of over $150 million USD worth of investment funds for mulitlateral institutions to catalyze growth in SME businesses in renewable energy, water, and agriculture in Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda that's resulting in access to renewable electricity for over 1 million people for the first time; more reliable access to drinking water for 840 thousand people; and access to funding for over 400 small agricultural businesses. In the past 3 years David has successfully raised over $100 million USD for 9 companies seeking equity, debt, and grant funding in Eastern Africa in telecom and renewable energy sectors. David has led Statera Capital's own investments in biofuels, microfinance, and emergency medical services in South Africa, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. David has an undergraduate degree in Information Systems and International Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MBA in Finance from NYU-Stern School of Business. David serves as an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Pearson College in London teaching topics of globalization and development and serves as the United States Ambassador to the Open University of Tanzania focusing on workforce development.

Keynote Speakers

H.E. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty
Minister
Ministry of Water Resources & Irrigation; Egypt

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt and Vice-President of AMCOW. Solid international experience in climate change impact assessment on water resources, infrastructure feasibility, agriculture, flood and disaster risk management. Broad international work experiences worldwide, notably in Africa. Water resources planner and manager, with thirty years of academic research and national, regional and international practical experiences in formulating, monitoring and evaluating water plans and development policies. Strong projects management and contracts administration experience. Several contributions to the second and fourth world water forum in Netherlands and Mexico, and an involvement with the next generation of water leaders group.

H.E. Yonis Ali Guedi
Minister
Ministry of Energy in Charge of Natural Resources; Djibouti

Dr. Elham Ibrahim
Vice Chair for Africa
World Energy Council

Dr. Elham Ibrahim is Vice Chair for Africa of the World Energy Council. She is the former Commissioner of Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union Commission (AUC) where she was elected and appointed on 28 April 2008, and subsequently re-elected for the same post in July 2012 through until March 2017. Dr. Ibrahim has a Ph.D. in Electronics and Communications, M.Sc. in Electronic Engineering, and B.Sc. in Communication Engineering. Over a number of years, Dr. Ibrahim has served in the areas of academic research, electrical energy production & interconnection, energy strategies and policies and international cooperation. She has held various posts among which: First Under Secretary of State, Under Secretary of State for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Electricity and Energy in Egypt, General Manager for training and promotion, Director of photovoltaic, research and testing department in the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) in Cairo; Associate Professor at the Girl’s Faculty in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Senior Engineer at the High Dam Power Station, Aswan, and Researcher at the National Research Center, Cairo.

Hon. Obeth Kandjoze
Minister
Ministry of Mines & Energy; Namibia

Hon. Leticia Klemens (Mrs.)
Minister
Ministry of Mineral Resources & Energy; Mozambique

Speakers

Mr Deo Onyango
Regional Executive sub-Sahara Africa GE Renewable Energy
GE Africa

Deo Onyango heads Onshore Wind in Sub-Saharan Africa. With one of the broadest technology portfolios in the industry, GE Renewable Energy provides innovative solutions to deliver affordable, accessible, and reliable renewable power from wind, hydro, geothermal, solar and biomass. Deo began his GE career in 2008 in GE Capital based in London. In 2010 he joined GE Africa as Regional Commercial Growth Leader for East Africa reporting to Jay Ireland, President and CEO, GE Africa. Prior to GE, Deo was Vice President in Citi Private Bank's Financial Sponsors group based in London. He joined Citi in 2001 through the bank’s financial analyst program. He holds a Masters in Finance (Msc) from London Business School, a Graduate Diploma in Investment Management from London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree in commerce and economics from the University of Nairobi. Deo currently serves on the Boards of the American Chamber of Commerce Kenya, Junior Achievement Kenya and Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO). He and his wife have two children.

Mr Philippe Dongier (Panel Chair)
Managing Director - Government Affairs & Policy
GE Africa

Philippe Dongier is Managing Director of GE Africa for Government Affairs and Policy (appointed in 2016) located in Nairobi, Kenya where he leads GE’s engagement with African governments and international organizations across GE businesses in power generation and transmission, healthcare, transportation, oil & gas and aviation. Dongier has 30 years of experience in international business and public policy. Prior to his GE Africa appointment, Dongier was a senior executive at the World Bank where he worked for 18 years. His most recent roles at the World Bank included leading infrastructure programs for the South Asia region (2015-2016), serving as Country Director for Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi (2012- 2015), and managing the global Telecommunications and ICT unit (2006-2012). He earlier worked for the strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Company (1994-1998) and before that was Nepal Country Manager of the Canadian Center for International Cooperation (1987-1992). Dongier holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from INSEAD, and a Joint Honors degree in Economics and Anthropology from McGill University.

Prof. Mosad M. Elmissiry
Senior Energy Advisor to the CEO
NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency)

M. Elmissiry is a Professorial Chair Holder in Electrical Engineering and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and Technology, UK and the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers. He joined NEPAD in June 2009 and is currently heading NEPAD’s Energy Programmes and to see to its full implementation. M. Elmissiry also holds the position of Senior Energy Advisor to NEPAD CEO. His current position require him to play a leading role in developing and facilitating the implementation of regional energy programmes/projects using NEPAD’ machineries. He is currently heavily involved in the implementation of the ambitious African Energy Infrastructure Programme up to year 2040 known as PIDA that was endorsed by the Heads of States and Governments in January 2012 as a priority programme for Africa. In addition he is orchestrating NEPAD’s leading roles in facilitating the implementation of Africa Power Vision, APV, from Vision to Reality in partnership with USAID Power Africa, Africa Chapter of SE4ALL, and the NEPAD Programme for Renewable Energy Access, REAP.

Yann Burtin
Senior Underwriter infrastructure
MIGA - Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

Since 2011, Yann has been leading origination and execution activities in the Infrastructure and Energy sectors for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group. MIGA is a global provider of Political Risk Insurance (PRI) to companies and lenders investing in emerging markets. MIGA PRIs can cover existing and new cross-border investments to member countries for the following risks: (i) Expropriation; (ii) Breach of Contract; (iii) War and Civil Disturbance; (iv) Restriction on Currency convertibility and transfer; and, (v) Non-Honoring of Financial Obligations (Sovereign, Sub-Sovereign and State-Owned Enterprises). Previously, Yann has led Telecommunications projects for the World Bank Group since 1996 in more than 40 emerging countries.

Mr Michele Porri
Head of Business Development - Africa
Enel

Michele started his career within a Strategic Consultancy Company (LEK Partnership) focusing on Energy Practice and working with worldwide utilities for defining the strategic guidelines based on solid quantitative analysis. One of the international projects was on the development strategy for the Italian IPP “Falck”. The result was to focus on gas imports and renewable energy. With the role of assistant to the managing director for development activities Michele was involved in the project development for LNG ri-gas facilities (Livorno terminal is operating) and renewables (today’s main focus of the company). Michele joined Enel Group in 2007 as “Head of Business Development Balkans” with the challenge to define the development strategy for the area and develop new opportunities. Currently in Enel Green Power as Head of Business Development Africa. EGP has a strong focus on the Africa region considering the need of new RES capacity and the opportunity of supplying to newly connected clients.

Eugene Obiero
Senior Manager - Energy Projects
Camco Clean Energy

Eugene Obiero is a Senior Manager, Energy Projects at Camco Clean Energy, a firm that invests and assists in the development of renewable energy projects in sub Saharan Africa. More specifically he works as an investment manager on the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) that assists small to medium scale renewable energy project developers with technical assistance reimbursable grants, structuring support and results based financing. He previously, also worked, as an investment manager for the Green Africa Power (GAP) fund that invests mezzanine debt into large scale renewable energy projects, under Camco.

Eugene has previously worked as a private consultant offering financial advisory services to clients in the infrastructure and real estate sectors in east Africa. He also has experience working at Shell in several roles across Africa, within finance, credit and retail operations. Eugene has international experience working in Germany for Allianz Capital Partners as a Portfolio Management Associate. He holds an MBA in Global Energy from the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK. He is also an Affiliate Member of the Energy Institute (UK), and speaks English and Kiswahili.

Aglaé Touchard-Le Drian (Panel Chair)
Senior Investment Manager
European Investment Bank (EIB) / GEEREF

Aglaé Touchard-Le Drian is a Senior Investment Manager in the GEEREF Front Office team. Aglaé joined the GEEREF Front Office in 2015. Previously, she worked at EIF's social impact investing team and was exposed to capital investments in developing and emerging economies through her experience at both the EIB and the French Development Agency (AFD), within the Private Equity team of Proparco, where she also worked on renewable energy projects. Prior to that, Aglaé worked in strategic consulting (with LEK Consulting) and investment banking (with Rothschild & Cie). Aglaé holds qualifications from the Institut d’études politiques (Sciences Po Paris), the École supérieure de commerce (Paris School of Management) and the Université de Paris IX-Dauphine. Since 2006, she lectures a class on Private Equity in Emerging Countries at Sciences Po Paris.

Hon. Gemedo Dalle
Minister
Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change; Ethiopia

Hon. Simon D'Ujanga
Minister of State for Energy
Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development; Uganda

Hon. David Mabumba
Minister
Ministry of Energy & Water Development; Zambia

Hon. Tabita Butros Shokai (Mrs.)
Minister of State for Electricity
Ministry of Water Resources & Electricity; Sudan

Christian Wright (Panel Chair)
Head of Development for East Africa
Globeleq

For more than 20 years, Christian has focused on developing and operating power projects on the African continent. He spent 10 years with Aldwych International developing power projects in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana and Nigeria, including the financing of €624 million, 310 MW Lake Turkana Wind Project in northern Kenya. During his career, Christian was also the Country Director for the Buijagali Hydro development project in Uganda for AES, Director for Cameroon’s integrated utility, and Head of Strategy for AES covering Europe, Africa and the Middle East. At Globeleq he is responsible for leading power project development, acquisition and financing in East Africa.

Farhan Nakhooda
Projects Director
Madhvani Group

Mr. Farhan Nakhooda is Projects Director of the Madhvani Group, based in Kampala since 1995. He has over 40 years experience in corporate planning, market and economic analysis, project preparation, project financing and project implementation supervision. He has worked on projects in diverse business sectors in India, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, etc. He holds a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Johan Van Kerrebroeck
Regional Director
The ENGIE Group

Johan Van Kerrebroeck is a Belgian citizen. He holds a Master Degree in Industrial Engineering, a Middle Management Certificate from the Vlerick Management School in Belgium, Finance for Executives from INSEAD in Singapore and General Management Certificate from CEDEP/INSEAD Fontainebleau in France. Mr. Johan joined the Engie group in 1989. He took various positions in the energy business in Europe, South America, Asia, the Middle East and since 2016, he has served as Regional Manager of Engie for the East African Region.

Bernadette Tabeko
Investment Officer
International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Bernadette Tabeko is an Investment Officer within the Infrastructure Investment Department of IFC. She is involved in development, structuration and supervision of projects related to power generation, power distribution, transport and utilities. She has significant experience of Senegalese, Malian, Cameroonian, Kenyan, Ugandan, Ethiopian, and various other markets in the region. Prior to joining IFC 8 years ago, Bernadette was working in private equity and M&A in Lehman Brothers in London. She is graduated with an MBA from ESSEC Business School in Paris, and a Master’s Degree in Finance from Paris Dauphine University.

Cheikh Bedda
Director
Infrastructure & Energy; African Union Commission (AUC)

Takeshi Matsuyama (Panel Chair)
Senior Representative
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ethiopia

After joining JICA in 1999, Matsuyama has been mostly involved in basic education sector support in Africa, Middle-East and Asia regions, and was stationed for 3 years in Zambia for education and water program management. Matsuyama is currently supervising infrastructure support to Ethiopia from 2016, including transport (road, economic corridor), power (geothermal development, distribution) and water (water supply and sewerage).

Janek Winand
Vice President Wind power Southern & Eastern Africa
Siemens South Africa

Janek Winand is the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Wind Power (Pty) Ltd and has the overall responsibility for Siemens wind business within Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for sub-Saharan Africa operating out of Johannesburg, South Africa. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is a leading supplier of reliable, environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient renewable energy solutions. Driving down the cost of renewables is the key target as Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy strives to make renewable energy fully competitive with conventional energy sources. Janek has been working in the renewables industry for the last 10 years, successfully leading departments and organizations in Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. He is holding an Engineering degree.

Chris Brosz
Senior Engineer - Energy Consulting
ARUP (PTY) LTD

Chris is a Senior Renewable Energy Consultant with a background in mechanical and electrical engineering, on assignment in the Cape Town office where he helps deliver and coordinate renewable energy work globally. He has also worked for Arup in the Madrid and Los Angeles offices. He has over nine years of experience with renewables, ranging from off-grid hybrid systems up through utility-scale projects, much of this on solar and wind projects. He is one of the firm’s foremost experts in CSP and microgrids and has experience spanning the entire project cycle, often supporting clients within the role of either owner’s engineer or a technical advisor to lenders or potential buyers/sellers. Chris is a Professional Engineer in the State of California, a Certified Energy Manager, a Renewable Energy Professional, and a LEED Accredited Professional.

Julian Lopez Garrido
Country Manager - Abengoa Solar Power South Africa
Abengoa

David Kagiri (Panel Chair)
Regional Geothermal Advisor
Power Africa/USAID

Eng. David Kagiri is a Mechanical Engineer (1988, University of Nairobi) and has worked in the energy sector for 25 years, dedicated to the execution of large capital power projects as a Projects Engineer and Projects Manager for Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited (KenGen) and Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC). He has implemented over 12 geothermal, thermal, wind and hydropower projects, delivering over 900 MW (this includes Olkaria II 105mwe, Olkaria 280MW and Olkaria 70MW wellheads). He has wide experience in projects planning, feasibility studies, development, procurement, contracts preparation, implementation, supervision, management, administration, financing, and dispute resolution. He has also participated in adjudication and Dispute Boards (DAB or DRB) as part of project execution. In addition, David worked for seven years as a geothermal reservoir engineer, holds an MBA from University of Nairobi (Operations management 2005), Diploma in Geothermal technology (Auckland University NZ, 1992), is a registered Consulting Mechanical Engineer, and a Member of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCiarb). He possess wide experience in management of donor funded projects. Currently, he is a managing partner at Geohydro Energy Consultants Ltd.

John Heath
Team Leader
EAGER (East Africa Geothermal Energy Facility)

John Heath has over 40 years’ experience in the energy sectors of both developed and developing countries, and is currently Team Leader of EAGER and also a member of the Technical Advisory Group of the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). EAGER is a 3 and a half year programme which started in 2015, and seeks to facilitate geothermal development in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. One element of the programme is to help define the role of geothermal in developing power markets across the region. He has previously worked on power sector reforms and market development in Africa, Latin America and Central Asia.

Peter Dixon-Clarke
Chief Financial Officer
Cluff Geothermal Ltd

Peter qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte. Before joining Cluff, Peter was CFO at Rockhopper Exploration plc, a position he held since its formation and through to its AIM listing. Peter oversaw the sale of 60% of Rockhopper’s oil discovery in 2010 for US$1 billion. He was the first CFO for the charity Help for Heroes and has held a number of natural resource-related appointments in the UK and Norway.

Nikhath Zigmund
Investment Professional
Berkeley Energy

Nikhath Zigmund is an experienced energy professional with over ten years in the power sector. Prior to joining Berkeley Energy, she was with the Energy Fund at Actis Capital LLP where she was involved in a number of electricity generation and distribution transactions across Africa. She has also worked as Business Development Manager for Empower, a start-up providing interim power solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, and as an energy consultant with PA Consulting Group. Nikhath has an MA in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she attended as a Fulbright Scholar.

Mr Alberto Pisanti (Panel Chair)
CEO
Absolute Energy Srl

Alberto enjoys over 20 years of multi-faceted experience in the energy sector from both the Project Financing, Utility, Investment Banking and Principal Investing perspective. In 2009, Alberto founded Absolute Energy Capital as the spin-off of the Renewable Energy Investment Team he has been guiding at Deutsche Bank since 2006. His experience include the creation of the largest Solar PV operator in Italy (330MW installed), investments in a pipeline of 3,000+MW in different renewable energy technologies as well as over 10,000MW of conventional power plants in Europe. Today, Absolute Energy is focused on Universal Energy Access in Emerging Markets.

Ashenafi Girma Wondimu
Electrical Engineer
Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU)

Ashenafi Girma is distribution operation and construction Electrical Engineer at Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU). Mr. Ashenafi obtained his B.Sc. Degree from Adama Science and Technology University in 2013 after studying Electrical and Control Engineering. He was also a part of the team that received second prize award from Society of Engineering Students during MENAN 2013 Millenium Competition with the project Automatic Watering System.

He joined Universal Electric Access Program (UEAP) in 2014, and has since worked on planning, design, and test and commissioning of rural Electrification projects. He was also involved in Addis Ababa light Railway project and feasibility studies of roof top solar for Addis Ababa condominium houses. He attended and completed ‘2015 seminar on rural Electrification for English speaking African Countries’ which is organized by Hangzhou Regional Center, International Energy Agency (IEA) course on ‘Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies’ and Endress+Hauser ‘Customer Seminar for Power and Energy Industry’.

Mr Francis Xavier Helgesen
CEO & Co-Founder
Off Grid Electric

A veteran entrepreneur, Xavier founded two million-dollar businesses in his 20’s, including Better World Books, a profitable social venture with $60M in revenue selling books online to fund literacy. In 2009, he was recognized as the Best Social Entrepreneur by Businessweek and given the Fast Company Social Capitalist award. Xavier holds an MBA from Oxford Saïd Business School, which he attended on a Skoll Scholarship, and a BA (honors) from the University of Notre Dame.