Samaila Zubairu is AFC’s 3rd President and Chief Executive Officer. With over 30 years of professional experience, his entrepreneurial leadership propelled the development and implementation of a new five-year corporate strategy. This resulted in a doubling of the balance sheet, an increase in membership, diversification of financial resources, and positioning of AFC as the key player in addressing the urgent mandate of developing and financing infrastructure, natural resources, and industrial assets on the continent. Crucially, Samaila also initiated the establishment of AFC Capital Partners in 2021 and is the inaugural Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Zubairu was the CEO of Africapital Management Limited and Chief Financial Officer for Dangote Cement Plc.

Mr. Zubairu also led the arrangement and negotiation of Africa’s largest project finance deal in 2005 - project finance debt for US$1.2B Obajana Cement Plc Project (OCP) Nigeria had no credit rating and was still heavily indebted to the Paris and London Club of Creditors. This notable transaction involved a 7-year project finance debt of US$480m provided by top African Banks, and the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) including IFC/World Bank, EIB, EKF Danish export credit fund) FMO, DEG, Finnfund, Swedfund and IDC represented by Clifford Chance (Year).

He is an Eisenhower Fellow and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Zeinab Ayaan Adam brings 27 years of visionary leadership and a strong track record in emerging markets investment, asset management, private equity, infrastructure and climate change-related financing products, with a particular focus on African and Asian Markets.

Most recently, she headed the private sector arm of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), established within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Based in South Korea, she played a key role in building the mandate of the GCF Private Sector Facility and rapidly scaling its portfolio to US$2.1 billion in three years across Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Previously she was CDC Group’s Managing Director of Africa Funds and had a 17-year career with the International Finance Corporation, serving as a Chief Investment Officer among other roles. US-born and raised in Somalia and Tanzania, Ms. Adam holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, Summa cum laude from Clark University.

Ania Grobicki is Deputy Director of External Affairs at the Green Climate Fund. She is a South African chemical engineer who has worked for a major oil company. For the past 30 years she has worked in academia, in consulting, and in international organizations on water, environment and development issues.

From 2009 to 2015 she headed the Global Water Partnership as its Executive Secretary, based in Sweden, and then served as the Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, based in Switzerland.

She holds a PhD from Imperial College, London, in Biochemical Engineering as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Applied Economics.

She has written many papers, reports and publications on science and technology policy, water resources, and earth systems, most recently as a Coordinating Lead Author of the 6th Global Environmental Outlook.

Sanjeev Gupta is AFC’s Executive Director and Head of the Financial Services Division, responsible for treasury, trade finance & syndications, country relations and the corporate advisory lines of business within AFC.

Mr. Gupta has over 30 years' experience in investment management, private equity and corporate finance. His forte has been to blend together global and indigenous corporates, financial investors, and governments to develop commercially viable businesses and development models that leave a sustainable impact on emerging economies.

Prior to joining AFC, Mr. Gupta was the Managing Partner of Emerging Markets Mergers and Acquisitions Centre of Excellence at Ernst & Young. He has also been the Chief Executive Officer of Sanlam Investment Management Emerging Markets operations.

Ayotunde Anjorin is the Chief Financial Officer of AFC. He has 20+ years’ experience, with 8 of those years at AFC.

He was previously Senior Vice President and Head of Finance & Operations at the African Finance Corporation.

Before joining AFC, Ayotunde worked at Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, where he held a number of positions within the Finance group and Internal Audit at national and regional levels. He was the regional Head of Wholesale Banking Finance at Standard Chartered Bank, responsible for managing wholesale banking finance activities across West Africa. He has also worked as a senior consultant for KPMG.

Ayotunde is a chartered accountant with more than 20 years post-qualification experience encompassing financial accounting, reporting and control, management accounting, financial risk management, process re-engineering and reviews.

Andrew Johnstone is one of the co-founders of Climate Fund Managers (CFM). Prior to CFM, Andrew was the CEO of African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), a joint venture of infrastructure investors Macquarie and Old Mutual, and the Chairman of Macquarie Africa. Andrew is an experienced professional in the African infrastructure sector and has been involved in the structuring, raising and deployment of five unlisted infrastructure fund vehicles in Africa, prior to his involvement in CFM.

Andrew’s background spans 20 years of infrastructure investing and private equity fund management in Africa and Asia. An engineer by training, Andrew is a project finance specialist with senior executive experience in raising capital and establishing and managing fund management companies and infrastructure asset owning companies.

Andrew is also the founder of Sanlam Infraworks, a business focused on developing and investing infrastructure projects and assets in Africa. Prior to 2014, Andrew was the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers and the Chairman of Macquarie Africa over the period 2000-2014. Prior to this Andrew was involved in the structuring and operations of toll road concessions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Sameh Shenouda is AFC’s Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of the Africa Finance Corporation. He leads origination, execution and portfolio management of transactions across a wide range of sectors and products at AFC. He has over 27 years of experience in infrastructure investments, project development and fundraising.

Prior to joining AFC, Sameh was the Chief Executive Officer of Zarou, a developer, owner, investor and operator of infrastructure projects in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, that is 100% owned by The Blackstone Group.

Mr. Shenouda previously spent 5 years as Head of Infrastructure at CDC Group Plc, the UK’s development finance institution. He built the institution’s direct infrastructure equity business, investing.

Rishal Tanee had joined Abax Corporate Services (Mauritius) Limited ("Abax") in Feb 2003. Abax was subsequently acquired by Ocorian in April 2018, pursuant to which he is part of the Ocorian team since that date. He has spent 21 years at Abax/Ocorian. During his tenure at Abax, Rishal was initially in charge of a portfolio of primarily corporate clients and leading a team of 10+ staffs. He was also acting on the board and bank signatory of various portfolio companies. He joined the Fund Line of Service in Q4 2019 and by then he was leading a team of 20+ staffs, including 3-4 managers. He is currently Head of Fund Administration (Mauritius) and as per new operating model for Fund Services, he oversees the fund administration of Mauritius and Singapore portfolio as well as the desk extension for Jersey and Guernsey. He has around 60 staffs reporting directly/indirectly with him.

Rishal holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Mauritius and is a Fellow member of Corporate Governance Institute of UK.

Leon is responsible for meeting our client KPIs and oversees the management of the Client Services Units. He ensures client satisfaction, compliance, revenue growth, profitability and leadership across our client base in Mauritius.

He also has a proactive role in the planning, development and implementation of our strategic client objectives.

In his current role he oversees a team of approximately 150 people. Leon serves as Director on various boards, ranging from multi-national corporates to funds.

Leon has vast financial services experience and joined the business from Sanlam life Limited, where he served as a Financial Planner and Business Development Manager.

Leon was named in the global ‘Top 10 professionals under the age of 40’ list for financial services in the 2019 LIMRA Annual Rising Star Contest.

Qualifications

• B.Iuris Financial Planning Law

• Master in Business Administration

• Post Graduate Financial Planning

Ayaan Adam brings 27 years of visionary leadership and a strong track record in emerging markets investment, asset management, private equity, infrastructure and climate change-related financing products, with a particular focus on African and Asian Markets.

Most recently, she headed the private sector arm of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), established within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Based in South Korea, she played a key role in building the mandate of the GCF Private Sector Facility and rapidly scaling its portfolio to US$2.1 billion in three years across Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Previously she was CDC Group’s Managing Director of Africa Funds and had a 17-year career with the International Finance Corporation, serving as a Chief Investment Officer among other roles. US-born and raised in Somalia and Tanzania, Ms. Adam holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, Summa cum laude from Clark University.

Chika is a distinctive chartered accountant with over 14 years’ experience in accounting, financial reporting, financial statement analysis, audit and assurance services; with emphasis in the Financial Services Industry which include Banks, Mortgage Securitisations, Insurance Companies, Asset management companies and Unit Trusts.

Prior to this Chika was Head of Investment at Quantum Capital Partners (Sep 2019 – Oct 2021) where she worked with a team to oversee the investment portfolio and coordinate investment activities for 11 portfolio companies.

She also held successive positions at PwC Nigeria & PwC UK respectively (March 2008 – Sept. 2019) where she commenced her career as an audit associate and rose to Senior Manager role within the Financial Services Audit practice. Her major audit client experience involved the audits of United Bank for Africa Plc; Zenith General Insurance Company Limited, Nigeria; Prudential Zenith Life Insurance Limited, Nigeria; Lloyds Banking Group UK, Lloyds Mortgage Securitisations UK, Wincanton Pensions Scheme, UK; Allied Zurich Holdings, UK.

Chika holds a BSc degree in Industrial & Labour Relations from the Olabisi Onabanjo University. She is an Associate Member of both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).

Elie Aloko brings more than a decade of investment experience in Africa and Emerging Markets, with a strong deal track record of over US$1 billion in Development Finance, Asset Management and Climate Finance.

Most recently, he was the Director of Environmental and Climate Finance at the West African Development Bank (BOAD). Prior to BOAD, Elie was a Climate Investment Specialist at the Green Climate Fund (GCF) where he executed private sector investments in green and climate resilient infrastructure, and structured innovative co-investment solutions for institutional investors.

Previously, Elie was an Investment Professional in the Emerging Markets Equities team at Robeco Institutional Asset Management based in Rotterdam, where he covered equity investments in Financial Institutions, Industrials, Energy and Telecom sectors. He also worked at the Netherlands Development Bank (FMO) after starting his career as an Analyst at BlackRock Investment Management (UK).

Elie holds a Master of Science in Money, Banking, and Finance from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and a Bachelor of Business Administration with First Class Honors from Valley View University in Ghana.

Koffi is a bilingual infrastructure investment professional with 11 years’ experience in development, structuring and managing large-scale transport, logistics and energy investments in infrastructure worth globally over US$ 4.6 billion.

Prior to ACP, Koffi was a Senior Investment Associate at Meridiam, responsible for leading deal teams and mentoring junior investment professionals (associates and analysts) in transaction execution including financial modelling, deal structuring, negotiation, portfolio management, and monitoring of investments throughout their lifecycle.

He worked closely with the Investment Directors of the 3 Africa Funds (MIAF Meridiam Infrastructure Africa Fund SLP, MIAF 2 Meridiam Infrastructure Africa Fund II SLP, TURF Urban Resilience Fund).

Prior to Meridiam, Koffi was Manager of Public Private-Partnerships at Bolloré Group Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire., as well as Head of economic studies’ department at Abidjan Port Authority. Koffi holds a Master of Science in Infrastructure Investment and Finance at University College London UCL (with Distinction).

Afolake Olawuyi is legal counsel of AFC Capital Partners. In this role, she handles legal matters and provides oversight on governance matters. Afolake also handles legal matters for Africa Finance Corporation.

Prior to her current role, Afolake served as Company Secretary and Senior Counsel to subsidiaries of Asset & Resource Management Holding Company (ARM) Limited.

Afolake is a Nigerian trained lawyer with over 14 years of experience spanning across different sectors in Africa, including, private equity, corporate finance, real estate, corporate governance, and compliance.

Ziyanda Mpakama is a seasoned Infrastructure Finance Specialist with 15 years’ experience in Public-Private-Partnerships and Project Finance in the African renewable energy and water industries. She has been involved in the full project development cycle, from project preparation and development to implementation, both from the private and public sector sides.

Her career in development finance started at the Public Investment Corporation (“PIC”), South Africa’s largest Asset Manager which manages the Government Employees Pension Fund and finances projects in the Renewable Energy Sector. Post her time in the energy sector, Ziyanda moved into funding water infrastructure projects while working for the Stockholm International Water Institute and the Industrial Development Corporation.

She holds a Master’s degree in Development Finance from the University of Stellenbosch and is currently enrolled for a MSc in Climate Change & Development with the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

Timoni Akindolie is an investment professional with years of experience deploying and mobilizing capital in high-growth and underserved markets. Over the course of her career, she has contributed to the deployment of over $300M in capital into consumer goods, renewable energy, technology, healthcare, agriculture, and financial services across Africa.

Prior to AFC, Timoni served as a Transaction Advisor at CrossBoundary, providing strategic and transaction advisory services to capital seekers, capital providers and governments to unlock capital for sustainable growth and strong returns across West Africa. She also worked at the Abraaj Group where she supported the full spectrum of the firm’s multisector investment activities in the Middle East and Africa, developing expertise in fund management, deal origination, execution and portfolio management.

Timoni graduated from Wellesley College, Massachusetts with a degree in Economics while cross-registered at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is an Africa-Asia Impact Investing Fellow, reflecting her commitment to effective impact investing principles that ultimately increases the flow of capital into underserved markets.

Awwal joined AFC in September 2021 as an Intern in AFC Capital Partners division. He was tasked with coordinating all aspects of concessional funding for the Infrastructure Climate Resilient Fund with a key focus on the Green Climate Fund.

In March 2022, he was promoted as a Funds Management Analyst in AFC Capital Partners, where he continues to play a key role in supporting the CEO on various work streams and all aspects of concessional funding with regards to the Green Climate Fund. He was also charged with developing AFC Capital Partners’ climate desk research.

Prior to AFC, Awwal worked in Jaiz Bank, in their corporate banking department before moving on to work for Crown Flour Mills in their sales and strategy department. He is a graduate of Richmond American International University in London where he earned a BA in International Business. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Energy Policy from the University of Sussex.

Akinlolu Fagbamiye is HRBP for AFC Capital Partners. In his role as Senior Associate & Head, Culture & Change Management, he provides strategic HR support to Legal & Corporate Secretariat and Corporate Services. Prior to this role, he served as Manager Total Rewards & Performance Management, and Regional HRBP for Lagos and South West Region at Airtel Networks Ltd. His work experience spans over a period of nineteen (19) years typically sixteen (16) of these has been spent in the Human Resource space across Telecommunication and Financial Services. The application of his knowledge has core focus in Rewards Management, Recruitment & Selection, Talent Management, Performance Management, Shared Services, Business Partnering and HR Admin. A graduate of BSc. Economics from University of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State and MSc. Global HR Management in progress from the University of Liverpool. He is equally a full member of Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) and a member of Society of Human Resource Management, USA.

Emmanuel Ubido joined AFC in 2022 as Team Assistant in AFC Capital Partners Partners Division. Emmanuel holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Geology from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is an Affiliate Member of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society and an Associate Member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. Emmanuel’s most recent role was that of a Senior Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Alternative Capital Partners, Ikoyi (Sept 2019 to Feb 2022). Prior to this, he was an Administrative Assistant /Executive Assistant to the Head of Audit at KPMG Nigeria (Mar 2019 to Sept 2019), Executive Assistant/Administrative Officer to the Managing Director, Meadow Hall Group (Aug 2015 to Feb 2019) and the Personal Assistant to the Head of School, Hope Group of Schools (Oct 2013 to Aug 2015). Emmanuel is a technical professional with proven subsurface, administrative, customer service, event and strategic planning, research and documentation skills garnered in the financial services, consulting and education sectors.