Power Ventures Africa Team
Andrew Gaines
Andrew has more than a decade of experience working on power, agriculture and manufacturing businesses throughout Africa. Prior to founding Power Ventures Africa, Andrew co-founded DeRisk Advisory Services, a London-based agent for the World Bank Group’s political risk insurance agency, MIGA. Andrew has also worked with Accenture (UK) and Credit Suisse (Switzerland), and holds an MBA from HEC Paris and a BA from Pepperdine University.
Lucas robinson
Lucas has been running businesses and projects in frontier markets for over 20 years. He also has extensive experience in managing the interface with development finance institutions and aid agencies, having previously worked for the UK’s Department for International Development and Canada’s International Development Agency. Lucas is a co-founder of Limalimo Lodge (Ethiopia) and holds an MA from George Washington University and a BA from the University of Toronto.
david o'halloran
David has over 20 years’ experience in energy, power and agribusiness, primarily in Africa. He has worked both for multinationals and start-up ventures and focused on initiating and developing new power businesses with the likes of Shell and AES. He co-founded and ran a leading fruit production and processing business, africaJUICE, for which he has raised multiple rounds of debt and equity financing. David holds an MBA from IMD Switzerland and an engineering degree from UCG, Ireland. David is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, UK.
ian derry
Ian has over 20 years’ international experience in the commercial, public and not-for-profit sectors. He has an extensive background in business development, building partnerships between different sectors and sustainable development strategies. He is a director of BusinessMinds, a company focused on delivering innovative business models for Africa and cofounded and ran africaJUICE, a leading African fruit production and processing business. Ian holds a masters degree in engineering from Cambridge University, UK.
Dr. Iyad M. Muslih Alsartawi
Iyad is a Certified Professional Consultant in Renewable Energy Sector in Jordan. He has over 15 years of experience in providing consulting activities to implement PV and Wind energy systems for local communities in the Middle East. Iyad is widely regarded as an expert trainer in PV sector, having consulted for the Greater Amman Municipality, Jordanian Civil Defenses, and the Arab Renewable Energy Commission (among others). He holds a PhD from West Virginia University, along with an MA and a BEng from the University of Jordan.
JAMES CARNEGIE
James has over 20 years work experience in inclusive agribusiness, natural resource management, and renewable energy. He has worked primarily in Central, East and Southern Africa, with a variety of organisations and most recently with the private sector. James worked with KPMG for eight years, during the company’s management of the £260m Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund with its focus on agribusiness and renewable energy across 26 African countries, and then managed the Southern African region from Zimbabwe, where he is now based. He co-founded the renewable energy business, Zonful Energy, in Zimbabwe and remains an investor and shareholder. James holds an MSc in Agriculture Development from Reading University, UK, a BSc in Crop Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and more recently completed a post graduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation from Stellenbosch University in SA.
WADZANAI CHIGWA
Wadzanai Chigwa is an energy engineer with over 5 years’ experience in renewable energy technologies in Africa. Wadzanai is part of the pool of experts for the UNFCCC under the Ministry of Environment, Climate change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry as a climate change mitigation expert. She holds a Masters in Renewable Energy from Oldenburg Germany University and has a Bachelor’s degree in Fuels and Energy Engineering. She is also holds an Executive MBA with the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe.
Stefano Gambro
Stefano is the co-founder and managing director of Ennoviga Solar Ltd, specialist PV developer recognised as having delivered London’s three largest PV plants (one being Europe’s largest floating PV generator). Ennoviga operates internationally and has worked on projects in the Middle East, SE Asia and throughout west Africa (Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon). Prior to founding Ennoviga, Stefano worked for Shell International, where he held management positions in oil and gas, renewables, corporate strategy and consumer businesses. Stefano is a chartered mechanical engineer (Brunel University, UK) and a member of the Institute of Directors.