Fund governance and oversight

Vegard Benterud is a senior investment manager at Norfund, where he has been employed since 2006. He is currently working with SME Funds and has previously also been involved with Financial Institutions. Before joining Norfund he worked as a portfolio manager at NBIM. Benterud has also held position as Investment Director at the NMI. He is currently a member of various boards and investor committees within the SME Funds portfolio.

Louis van Pletsen is a Founding Partner of Quantum Power. He was previously a partner of Denham Capital Management, a global energy and commodities private equity fund, heading the London office and responsible for origination and investment outside the Americas and as a member of its Investment and Valuation Committees, oversaw 29 investments in 14 countries across oil and gas, mining, power and renewables and related energy infrastructure. He was previously Managing Director of the International Energy Group at Nomura, Head of Continental European Energy and Utilities for Credit Suisse First Boston, Head of International Business Development for Eskom (Africa’s largest utility) and Manager of Investment Strategy at the Industrial Development Corporation (the South African investment firm). He holds BCom, BCom Hons and MCom degrees from the University of the Free State (South Africa), a Doctor of Commerce in Economics from Rand Afrikaans University (South Africa), an MBA from the University of Notre Dame (U.S.A), an HD in Company Law from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and an ADP from the London Business School (U.K.).

After having worked for more than 15 years in the private sector in Canada and in Latin America in financial institutions and asset management, Ms Picard joined the Private Sector Operations of the African Development Bank in 2008 where she has been involved in the origination and supervision of Private Equity Funds on the African continent. In her role, she is responsible for the coordination and management of the investments in Private Equity of the Bank. Line holds a bachelors degree in Business administration from HEC Montreal, a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and is a CFA Charterholder. She is fluent in French, English, Spanish with a good understanding of Portuguese.

Siyabonga Mahlangu is an Account Manager (“AM”) in the Development Funds Department at the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (“IDC”), currently responsible for the management of an investment facility in excess of ZAR840 million. The facility is deployed through co-investments along normal IDC funding and through participation in Private Equity (“PE”) funds. The facility's objective is to contribute to the economic growth of South Africa and to promote the participation of Historically Disadvantaged Persons (“HDPs”) in its economy. More specifically, it is aimed at job creation through the provision of financial assistance in the form of equity and quasi-equity to Small and Medium Enterprises (“SMEs”). Siyabonga holds a Master of Business Leadership (“MBL”) and a Bachelor of Science (“B.Sc.”) in Computer Science degrees. Siyabonga has over 10 years’ experience spanning a number of disciplines including Information Technology (“IT”), corporate finance, private equity and development finance.

Gunter Fischer is Senior Investment Officer with the European Investment Bank with particular responsibility for GEEREF (the Global Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund). In this context he is responsible for the sourcing, and origination, assessment, negotiation and monitoring of renewable energy investments in emerging markets and developing countries. Gunter has more than 15 years of fund of fund experience incl. from managing the EIF’s first external mandate Fund of Funds, targeting venture capital and private equity investments in Germany. In this context he gained in depth knowledge of the due diligence and structuring of fund investments. Prior to EIF, Dr Fischer was with the corporate finance practice of Arthur D. Little in Berlin. There he provided corporate finance advisory to a number of industries. Dr Fischer holds the CFA designation, as well as degrees in business administration and law from Reims Management School and the University of St. Gallen and a PhD in finance from the European University in Frankfurt, Germany.

Anthony Mwangi Njoroge focuses on sub-Saharan Africa Private Equity Funds and fund-like investment vehicles for IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. IFC is the most active Limited Partner in Sub-Saharan Africa PE with over 40 active private equity funds in SSA, more than 300 investee companies and over US$1 billion in its own account committed. Anthony has led a variety of transactions ranging from large growth-equity PE funds engaged in mid/large-cap Pan-African transactions, to small business risk-capital development-focused PE funds, and the developing segment of energy-efficiency/renewable-energy PE vehicles focused on climate change.

Tuomas Suurpää, Senior Investment Manager of FinnFund, is responsible for renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technology investment including origination and structuring. In addition, he is responsible for the management and monitoring of non-investment-grade emerging market investments (equity, mezzanine and loan). Tuomas has over 10 years of experience in emerging markets and power industry sectors. Tuomas holds MBA in finance and MSc in civil engineering. Prior to joining Finnfund, he was Project Expert responsible for purchasing carbon for the state of Finland and Project Manager responsible for EPC deliveries of Wärtsilä power plants in Senegal.

John Kirwan-Taylor represents the interests of Cyane Holdings Limited on the Evolution One LPAC. Since 2006, John has acted solely for Consensus Business Group (the investment group of Vincent Tchenguiz) and various associated trusts. He has been involved in transactions at all stages of investment, from origination through exit, across a broad spectrum of asset classes, with a particular focus on alternative strategies in the US and EMEA, including seed, venture, growth, private equity, hedge fund, real estate and infrastructure. Specifically, his work has concentrated on the creation and capture of added value, either by taking advantage of synergies created across the existing portfolio or by direct investment in asset managers. John is a Member of the State Bar of California and is a Certified Alternative Investment Analyst (“CAIA”) charter holder.

Andrea Heinzer is the Chief Investment Officer and a Partner at OBVIAM. She joined Obviam’s predecessor SIFEM in 2006 from SECO, where she worked in the Department for Economic Development Cooperation. Andrea was responsible for SECO’s investment portfolio in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the implementation of SECO’s Technical Assistance Program in the region. Prior to that, Andrea spent several years at SECO’s Bilateral Economic Relations Department.

Louis van Pletsen is a Founding Partner of Quantum Power. He was previously a partner of Denham Capital Management, a global energy and commodities private equity fund, heading the London office and responsible for origination and investment outside the Americas and as a member of its Investment and Valuation Committees, oversaw 29 investments in 14 countries across oil and gas, mining, power and renewables and related energy infrastructure. He was previously Managing Director of the International Energy Group at Nomura, Head of Continental European Energy and Utilities for Credit Suisse First Boston, Head of International Business Development for Eskom (Africa’s largest utility) and Manager of Investment Strategy at the Industrial Development Corporation (the South African investment firm). He holds BCom, BCom Hons and MCom degrees from the University of the Free State (South Africa), a Doctor of Commerce in Economics from Rand Afrikaans University (South Africa), an MBA from the University of Notre Dame (U.S.A), an HD in Company Law from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and an ADP from the London Business School (U.K.).

Andrea Heinzer is the Chief Investment Officer and a Partner at OBVIAM. She joined Obviam’s predecessor SIFEM in 2006 from SECO, where she worked in the Department for Economic Development Cooperation. Andrea was responsible for SECO’s investment portfolio in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the implementation of SECO’s Technical Assistance Program in the region. Prior to that, Andrea spent several years at SECO’s Bilateral Economic Relations Department.

Tuomas Suurpää, Senior Investment Manager of FinnFund, is responsible for renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technology investment including origination and structuring. In addition, he is responsible for the management and monitoring of non-investment-grade emerging market investments (equity, mezzanine and loan). Tuomas has over 10 years of experience in emerging markets and power industry sectors. Tuomas holds MBA in finance and MSc in civil engineering. Prior to joining Finnfund, he was Project Expert responsible for purchasing carbon for the state of Finland and Project Manager responsible for EPC deliveries of Wärtsilä power plants in Senegal.

Mónica Arévalo is a Senior Investment Manager in the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) Front Office team, which she joined in 2013. As Senior Investment Manager she is in charge of identifying, appraising and negotiating private equity investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency specialist funds across emerging markets, coupled with relevant monitoring and representation activities vis-à-vis investors and other stakeholders. Previously, she worked in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Department of the EIB and before that in the Mediterranean Neighbourhood Department, in both cases as project officer responsible for the financing of capital investment projects, with a specific focus on the infrastructure and sustainable energy sectors. Prior to joining the EIB in 2005, Mónica was a financial analyst at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney’s corporate finance practice in London. Mónica holds a degree in business administration and an MBA from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas Madrid - ICADE, Spain; and a Master's in International Relations from the Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset in Madrid, Spain.

Ludger Middendorp is an Investment Officer in the Private Equity Energy team of FMO. FMO is the Dutch development bank investing in the private sector in developing countries and emerging markets. Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs to build a better world. We invest in sectors where we believe our contribution can have the highest long-term impact: financial institutions, energy and agribusiness . Ludger joined FMO in 2016. He is an investment professional with more than 10 years of experience in equity and debt financing in the (renewable) energy sector. As an Investment Officer, he is responsible for origination, structuring, execution and portfolio management of private equity investments in the (renewable) energy sector in Africa. He also serves on the Advisory Board of various investment funds. Prior to joining FMO, he worked for 9 years at Triodos Bank in several positions including: Senior Investment Manager responsible for direct equity renewable energy investments of the Triodos Renewables Europe Fund and member of the Triodos Energy & Climate Investment Committee. Ludger holds a Master degree in Business Law from Utrecht University.