Transportation
Energy
construction
Team
Board of Directors
| Dr. Marie-Paule Donsimoni-Bupp, Chair |
Following 10 years in academia, Dr. Donsimoni spent 20 years in senior executive positions in geopolitical analysis and education in Europe, the USA, Asia and the Middle East, regularly attending World Economic Forum meetings. Since 2006, she has focused on investing in various companies in Southern Africa. In particular, as a direct investor in Botswana, she created several companies with over 150 jobs. Her goal is to create local employment, growth and wealth, by transferring knowledge and corporate governance using technology to enhance productivity. Dr. Donsimoni has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, an M.Sc. In Applied Mathematics from Paris VI University and an M.A. in Econometrics from Paris I University. She is a member of Oxford Analytica Board of Advisors and chairs the SudSouth Board of Advisors. She is one of the founders of Diasivi Foundation. A citizen of France, she divides her time between Paris and Sub Saharan Africa. |
Oumar Diaw, |
Following 20 years in the United States, Oumar Diaw has returned to Africa for the past 10 years. As a serial entrepreneur, he has built a major business in trade, mining, energy and agriculture in West and Central Africa bringing investors from Europe, the United States, and Asia. His interest in governance and education has led him to be the President of the African Institute of Management, a private school of management and engineering in Mali in partnership with the University of Quebec. Oumar Diaw has an International Law Degree from Dakar University, Senegal. A citizen of Mali, he divides his time between Baltimore, Paris and West Africa. |
Eugene Mlambo, |
Following 20 years in the banking industry, Eugene Mlambo became Group CEO of Tetrad Holding in 2002, a mining and banking conglomerate in Zimbabwe. As a member of the Young President Organization and as President of the Institute of Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, Eugene Mlambo keeps in touch with the financial industry across Sub Saharan Africa. He sits on the Board of Directors of several companies in Southern Africa. Eugene Mlambo is a graduate in economics from Ohio University who studied in Kenya, the UK and the United States. A citizen of Zimbabwe, he divides his time between Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Namibia. |
| Evans Munalula, Non-Executive Director |
Following 15 years as a senior finance executive in Zambia, Evans Munalula was appointed Partner of BDO Spencer Stuart in Botswana in 2008 and then created his own consulting practice Alliant CPA in 2010. Evans Munalula studied accountancy at Evelyn Hone College in Zambia. He is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA). His research at Oxford Brookes University is on Islamic Finance opportunities in Southern Africa. A citizen of Zambia, he divides his time between Botswana and Zambia. |
Executive Team
| Dr. Marie-Paule Donsimoni-Bupp, Chief Executive Officer |
Following 10 years in academia, Dr. Donsimoni spent 20 years in senior executive positions in geopolitical analysis and education in Europe, the USA, Asia and the Middle East, regularly attending World Economic Forum meetings. Since 2006, she has focused on investing in various companies in Southern Africa. In particular, as a direct investor in Botswana, she created several companies with over 150 jobs. Her goal is to create local employment, growth and wealth, by transferring knowledge and corporate governance using technology to enhance productivity. Dr. Donsimoni has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, an M.Sc. In Applied Mathematics from Paris VI University and an M.A. in Econometrics from Paris I University. She is a member of Oxford Analytica Board of Advisors and chairs the SudSouth Board of Advisors. She is one of the founders of Diasivi Foundation. A citizen of France, she divides her time between Paris and Sub Saharan Africa. |
Bernard Biquet, Chief Operating Officer |
Following 20 years as a senior executive in global project management, business finance and corporate management, mostly in automotive and rail sectors, Bernard Biquet became an entrepreneur focusing on development projects in Southern Africa. During his tenure in the automotive sector, he worked in Luxembourg, the UK, The United States, Brazil and France. In 2010, he joined the Aarberg Group in Botswana. He has an MBA in Finance from Anderson School at UCLA, and is a Civil Engineer from the University of Liège, Belgium. A citizen of Belgium, he divides his time between Paris and Sub Saharan Africa. |
Anthony Stonefield, Chief Innovation Officer |
Anthony has over 28 years of venture development experience in the California tech scene and in the U.K., Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Anthony has raised over $36 million in venture capital for disruptive start-ups which have generated over $1.5 billion in revenues. He pioneered downloadable songs with AT&T/Bell Labs in the 90’s and spearheaded the creation of the global mobile content business. Anthony then led the development of a next-generation collaboration app at Qualcomm Labs; headed the developer ecosystem for Nokia in India, the Middle East and Africa; contributed to the venture development and ICO activities for solar power crowd-financing pioneer, Sun Exchange. A specialist in Exponential Organization methodologies, Anthony is a co-founder, investor, board member or strategic advisor to several key innovation companies spanning biotech/biomed, green energy, mobile/telecoms, digital media & entertainment, and fintech (including blockchain and digital currencies). He is the author of eleven patents in mobile media and communications technologies and is routinely called upon as an expert panelist, contest judge and mentor for innovation ventures. Currently, he is building a biomedical innovation company. His focus at AIDA is to source and leverage Leapfrog Technologies ; and, to develop Reverse Innovations in and out of Africa. For instance, he runs special projects for African digital payments pioneer, Xago Technologies; and is the Middle East & African business representative of satellite-based asset tracking disruptor, Totum Global. A dual citizen of South Africa and the USA, he operates out of Cape Town and San Diego. |
Kingdom Vellah, Principal |
Kingdom is a career financial services professional with credible experience gained over 20 years in commercial and investment banking, project management, business development and investment management. His current mandate includes deal origination work-streams across several sectors. Prior to joining AIDA, Kingdom was Executive Assistant to CEO at Steward Bank; Zimbabwe’s largest bank by accountholders and the only financial institution farming the telco-banking space. His main role was the provision of strategic and technical support to the CEO and was a critical member of transforming the institution from a traditional template to a leading player in transactional banking. He has held senior roles at Genesis Global Finance, as Corporate Finance Executive, and at Continental Asset Management Company, as Fund Manager. He also has had stints with Intermarket Discount House and Intermarket Unit Trusts. |
Laifodi Kaferapanjila, Managing Director Sakhisizwe Resources |
Laifodi has a 15-year career in professional finance and business advisory service. He has vast experience in auditing, accounting, corporate finance, corporate restructuring and business consultancy. He is the current managing Director of Sakhisizwe Resources responsible for development and managing the mining assets in Zimbabwe. He is an articled accountant, holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Fort Hare South Africa. He is a member of Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (Accounting Technician membership). He holds a Certificate of Proficiency (COP) in long term Insurance. A citizen of Zimbabwe, he divides his time between Botswana and Zimbabwe. |
Gina L. Shoemaker, Managing Director, AIDA GREEN |
Gina has had a 27-year career in horticulture and agronomy projects in the USA and South Africa. She has an extraordinary combination of skills, insights and discipline that have earned her a university degree and a wide range of state certifications and awards in horticulture, agronomy and landscaping in addition to her Advanced Supervisor Certificate and Airman of the Year award from the United States Air Force (Staff Sargent) and nomination as a Climate Reality Ambassador with The Climate Reality Project. Before emigrating to South Africa where she founded Green Earth, Gina was managing director of The Sunshine Gardeners, a profitable grounds maintenance and landscaping company won several awards including best landscape design and best landscape maintenance for the State of Florida. Since moving to South Africa in 2003, Gina has developed five large-scale aerobic composting operations and designed commercial vermicasting operations to recycle organic waste into soil conditioners and organic fertilizers. She has excellent commercial instincts for addressing all links in sustainable farming and produce supply chains. A citizen of the USA, she lives in South Africa under a South African exceptional skills work permit. |
Annunzietta Moutembo Nyangala, Head of Training and Sustainable Development for Organic Farming |
Founder of the non-profit Sustainable Living Community Development Centre, Nunzie is passionate about sustainable ecological, social and environmental development projects targeting Communities, Schools, Farmers, Municipalities in South Africa. Focused on Public-Private Partnerships, her 20 years of diverse work in Social, Economic, Enterprise, Environmental development spans the management of community projects, strategic planning, problem solving, and performance management with communities, community leaders, sponsors and stakeholders. A successful farmer who holds a national Permaculture Practitioner Certificate, Nunzie facilitates workshops on permaculture/organic farming, waste management, health & nutrition, sustainable environmental management and community development, as well as teaching trainers in these areas. A citizen of South-Africa, she resides in Gauteng Province |
Christian Kala-Lobe, Vice President |
Christian Kala-Lobe has more than 20 years of experience in IT & High Tech industries; where he has worked for blue chip companies such as BT (British Telecommunications), BEA and ORACLE. At an EMEA (Europe Middle East & Africa) level, he has developed, implemented & positioned state of the art IT solutions, across various verticals, in particular healthcare, public sector, financial services, telco & energy industries, evolving from Cloud Computing to Smart City. He has a "Diplom Arbeit" in Computer Sciences, Physics & Mathematics from Carl von Ossietzky University in Germany. He resides in Paris, France and divides his time between Europe and Western & Central Africa. |
| Anil Chhikara, Director India & ME Business Development |
Anil Chhikara, a serial entrepreneur, innovative start ups promoter, go to market strategist has over 21 years of experience in the IT industry with companies like HCL-Hewlett Packard, Wipro, Parametric Technology Corporation, USA, Cimatron, Israel and Patni Computer Systems.
He cofounded 24x7 Learning and also served as Head of Sales of the Enterprise Solutions Division and President till March 2013. |
Kabalano Rampa, |
Kabalano Rampa is currently responsible for the international business development of several chinese companies in Southern African SADC markets, following 8 years of business development in Southern Africa. He holds an MBA from Nanchang University, China. During his training in China, he assisted in bridging the gap between Chinese and expatriate students and built a unique network of young graduates forming strategic partnerships. He also holds a BA from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. A Botswana citizen, he divides his time between Shanghai & Southern Africa. |
International Board of Advisors
Dr. David Falepau
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Dr. David Falepau, Professor of Animal/Meat Science, Agriculture Production Systems Specialist and a Partner of AIDA, has over 30 years of agricultural production systems and value chain experience principally in the field of meat and livestock, with international experience in public and private sector agribusiness development, organisational change management, people leadership and national R&D portfolio leadership. With an extensive practical and academic background in livestock production across a range of temperate and semi arid zone systems, in 2004 David developed and delivered Australia’s first risk management based enterprise decision support program for livestock producers. David went on to provide multi-disciplinary agricultural and environmental science and engineering services to numerous livestock and horticulture agribusiness investments, and from 2010 to 2012 lead the organisational and value chain restructuring of a developing country State Owned Enterprise (Botswana). David is from a low socio-economic background of Pacific Islander and European heritage. He is the first in his family to attend university and has an innate passion and commitment to liberating disadvantaged people through open and interactive access to agricultural decision support. In addition to being an expert partner in AIDA’s agribusiness interests, David holds the inaugural Professorial Chair of Agricultural Business Management at Charles Sturt University, Australia and is actively engaged in teaching and research across disciplines including; bio-economic optimisation of livestock systems, value chain analysis and intervention, and farmer decision support. A citizen of New Zealand, Dr. Falepau is a Permanent Resident of Australia and divides his time between Australia and New-Zealand. |
Dr. Laurence Robb
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Dr. Laurence Robb, Professor of Economic Geology Specialist and a Partner of AIDA, has worked for over 35 years on many of the great mineral districts of the African continent and is currently involved in research on the metallogeny of the Western Sahara and Myanmar/Burma. Author of the internationally acclaimed textbook, ‘Introduction to Ore-Forming Processes’ (2005), Laurence was Director of the Economic Geology Research Institute at Wits University until 2005. Since then he has been Visiting Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford, and is currently President of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG), and a member of the Conseil Scientifique of the BRGM, France. He holds a long list of academic publications as well as professional affiliations and fellowships in the UK, Europe and South Africa. He served as Chairman of the Scientific Programme Committee for the 35th International Geological Congress, held in South Africa in 2016. In addition to being an expert partner in AIDA’s mining interests, Laurence currently functions as a Director of Lerama Resources, South Africa. Dr. Robb is a UK citizen and resides between England and South Africa. |
| Dr. Harvey Chen | Following a few years at the International Monetary Fund, Dr. Chen joined JP Morgan Chase and then returned to Shanghai, in 2000, to found an executive education institution. The programs he created, in collaboration with the Creative Center for Leadership, are for Chinese and international executives doing business in China. Dr. Chen is a senior advisor of several key committees of the Chinese government, of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and of Oxford Analytica. Dr. Chen has a PhD in economics from Columbia university & a naval engineering degree from the university of Shanghai. A Chinese citizen, he divides his time between China, the USA and the United-Kingdom. |
| Eric-Vincent Guichard | Following over 10 years at the World Bank as a portfolio manager, Eric-Vincent Guichard created Gravitas LLC, an advisory boutique to African governments in structured finance. As founder and CEO of Homestrings, the first crowd funding focusing on the African Diaspora, as a source of investing, he has facilitated major investments in Sub Saharan Africa. A citizen of Guinea, he divides his time between London, Washington DC, and Africa. |
| Dr. Irvin C. Bupp | Honorary board member of the Rocky Mountain Institute. Following a tenure as a Professor at the Harvard Business School, he spent over three decades advising multinational energy companies as cofounder and MD of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. A citizen of the USA, he divides his time between Paris and the US. |
| Michel Dernis | Following over 30 years as CEO of several construction companies, operating in France, the Middle East and Africa, Michel Dernis created Atrium Data in 2005, an advisory boutique in efficient use of energy for data centers. He is a specialist in Private Public Partnership (PPP)projects in the construction and energy sectors. A citizen of France, he divides his time between Paris, the USA and Canada. |
| Gary Simon | Following over 35 years as an energy senior executive and management consultant, Gary Simon is running a venture fund in California to promote clean energy technologies. He is the President of Sigma Energy, Chairman of the Board of Capstone Turbine, and CEO of Acumentrics Corp. A US citizen, he divides his time between the USA, the UK and Africa. |