Carlos Lopes, the former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Andrew Alli, the former Chief Executive Officer of Africa Finance Corporation, are joining Themis as non-executive directors.
Casablanca, 20 December 2018- Neo Themis (“Themis”) has a well-structured advisory board consist of experts with a diverse track record in the emerging markets energy sector. The role of Themis’ Advisory Board is to advise on the overall strategy, review competitiveness and project robustness, monitor business performance and ensure financial, governance and ESG compliance.
In a statement, Themis said that “these two appointments reflect Themis’ commitment to the strengthening of its Board with internationally respected individuals possessing a wide and deep knowledge of the company’s markets and businesses.”
Welcoming Carlos and Andrew to the Board, Tas Anvaripour, Chief Executive Officer of Themis, stated: “We are honored to have Carlos and Andrew in our Advisory Board, which only exemplifies our commitment to responsible leadership in the African energy sector. Carlos and Andrew are not only two of Africa’s foremost economists and business leaders, but also its greatest champions. Their tremendous breadth of experience will complement our current Advisory Board and provide additional strong African voices to our company. I am certain that our Advisory Board, and ultimately our investments, will benefit immensely from their expertise.”
Carlos has 30 years of experience in development planning and public policy with a background in academic and international organizations. He has led several United Nations institutions, including the UN System Staff College, the research arm UNITAR, and was Political Director for late Secretary General Kofi Annan. He led the UN Development Program’s Policy Department in charge of a global project and initiatives portfolio of USD 1 billion and later was named Representative in Brazil, the largest office of the organization in terms of portfolio at the time. In 2012 he was appointed 8th Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa which he left 4 years later and became a Fellow of the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. He is currently Professor at the Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town and Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris. A member of the African Union Reform Team and Associate Fellow of Chatham House, he belongs to several Foundations and academic Boards as well as various Global Commissions. He holds a Masters from the Geneva Gradate Institute in Development Studies and a PhD in History form the University of Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne. He is a citizen of Guinea-Bissau.
Andrew has 30 years of professional finance experience gained working with leading various organizations going through profound change and growth. He serves as director or trustee on a number of boards and chair of several board sub-committees. He is a partner and CEO of Southbridge Group, a pan-African financial advisory firm and was previously positions include President and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation, where he was responsible for all aspects of running a pan-African private sector-led multilateral development finance institution, with USD 1.5 billion in capital and a USD 4.2 billion balance sheet. He led AFC through a period of significant growth, from being an organization with a small portfolio and total income of about USD 4 million, to one generating total income of well over USD 100 million, having made investments of about USD 4.5 billion in 30 African countries. He is currently also a board member of INSEAD Alumni Association of Nigeria, Development Bank of Nigeria and MTN Nigeria. He is a UK Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Kings College, University of London, and an MBA from INSEAD. He is a citizen of Nigeria.
About Themis
Themis is a leading project developer and investor with an exclusive focus on incremental renewable power generation assets in Sub Saharan Africa. The team, headquartered in Casablanca, Morocco, has a proven track record in Africa and extensive execution capabilities. Themis landmark references include the EUR195 million 44MW hydroelectric plant in Côte d’Ivoire, which reached financial close in 2018 and the USD900 million 200MW hydroelectric plant in Madagascar which is in financing stage.
