AFC appointments Sanjeev Gupta

Sanjeev Gupta, joins the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as Executive Director, Financial Services.

In January 2015 AFC implemented a new organisational structure. The purpose of this re-organisation was to increase the Corporation's client responsiveness by creating sector clusters, that would each be responsible for delivering all of AFC's products to clients within those sectors, simplifying the corporation's structure and increasing responsiveness.

Other appointments

In achieving these objectives, a number of changes have already been made at the executive level. Dr. Adesegun Akin-Olugbade was appointed Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of AFC from his previous role as Executive Director, Corporate Services, taking on additional responsibilities for IT and the newly-established, Investor and Country Relations functions. He also remains as the Corporation's General Counsel and Head of Legal Department. Dr. Akin-Olugbade, a Harvard Law School alumnus who graduated top of the Nigerian Law School Class of 1984 and is a pioneer executive of the AFC, has over 30 years' experience in the legal profession and the financial services sector, having worked at both the technical and executive management levels, in the public and private sector, for leading commercial law firms, development banks and international financial institutions. He was previously General Counsel and Director of the African Development Bank and pioneer Chief Legal Officer and Head of Legal Services Department of the African Export-Import Bank. He is an alumnus of several Executive Management programmes (including IMD).

Oliver Tunde Andrews was appointed AFC's Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer in September, 2014. A pioneer executive, he was previously the Corporation's Director and Chief Coverage Officer, responsible for the Origination and Coverage Division, prior to that he was the CEO of Africa Infrastructure. In his current capacity, he is responsible for creating the corporation's deal pipeline, leading end-to-end deal execution and managing the corporation's investment portfolio. An entrepreneurial engineer and transport economist with extensive background in engineering, transport and project finance, he has over 30 years' experience in the various infrastructure sectors and 20 years as an infrastructure project developer, financier and strategic adviser.

Oliver is a former CEO of TCI Infrastructure Limited (TCII) and the Gambia Ports Authority. He has extensive international experience in infrastructure development and financing both from a public and private sector perspective, within and outside the African continent. He has successfully directed numerous infrastructure deals in Africa leading project development teams providing strategic, policy, program and commercial advice on infrastructure development issues to development financial institutions, international corporations, and Governments both in Africa and Europe. Mr. Andrews, an Electrical and Electronic Engineer, holds an MBA from the University of Wales, is a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics.

These executive level appointments are completed by Gupta's appointment as Executive Director, Financial Services. In this role, he will have responsibility for Treasury, Financial Advisory and the newly created Financial Institutions Division.

Gupta brings a wealth of experience to the Corporation. Previously, he was Managing Partner in charge of Emerging Markets M&A at Ernst Young Transaction Advisory Services. He was also Founder and Managing Partner of Emerging Opportunity Consulting, as well as Chief Executive Officer, Sanlam Investment Management responsible for Emerging Markets. Gupta has a bachelor's degree from the University of Calcutta, India and is an alumnus of the Said Business School Oxford. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (FCA), and a member of the Institute of Investment Analysts of South Africa.

Andrew Alli, Chief Executive Officer of AFC, said: "AFC was formed to provide financing solutions to infrastructure projects in Africa. So far we have made considerable progress over the last 8 years of operations. Nonetheless, we are at a point where we need to reinvent ourselves and sustain the momentum. We believe that the new organisation structure will put the AFC on the right path. The inclusion of Sanjeev as a member of AFC's executive management team is an excellent addition that, with his experience and the complementary skill set that he possesses, will further enhance the Corporation's ability to deliver on its mandate. My other colleagues and I wish Sanjeev a warm welcome and are excited to have him join the organisation".