Board of Directors – Pecan Energies Ghana Limited

Samaila Zubairu

Chair

Mr. Samaila Zubairu is Africa Finance Corporation’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Under Mr. Zubairu’s entrepreneurial leadership an ecosystem strategy is being deployed to address the urgent mandate of developing and financing infrastructure, natural resource and industrial assets across Africa. In 2019, AFC issued a series of firsts in its diversification of funding sources: two Eurobonds; the largest debut Samurai loan by an African issuer; and closed the inaugural US$140 million Kimchi term loan facility. Prior to his appointment, Samaila was CEO of Africapital Management Limited, where he established a joint venture with Old Mutual’s African Infrastructure Investment Managers to develop the Nigerian Infrastructure Investment Fund for infrastructure private equity across West Africa. As Chief Financial Officer for Dangote Cement Plc, he launched Africa’s largest syndicated project finance facility for the Obajana Cement project and managed the unbundling of Dangote Industries Limited to listed subsidiaries on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Prior to that, he was the Treasurer for the Dangote Group during its transformation from a trading company to an industrial conglomerate. Samaila sits on the Eisenhower Fellowship’s Global Network Council and the President’s Advisory Council. He holds several Non-Executive Board positions. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Nigeria (FCA) and holds a BSc. in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.

Sameh Shenouda

Board Member

Mr. Sameh Shenouda, Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer at AFC, leads origination, execution and portfolio management of transactions across a wide range of sectors and products. With over 27 years of experience in infrastructure investments, project development and fundraising in international capital markets, Mr. Shenouda has a deep knowledge of African markets, with specific experience in Power, Transport & Logistics, Industrial and Oil & Gas sectors. Prior to joining the Africa Finance Corporation, Sameh was the Chief Executive Officer of Zarou, a US$1 billion developer, owner, investor and operator of infrastructure projects in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Zarou was 100% owned by the Blackstone Group, one of the world’s leading private equity investors. He previously served as Head of Infrastructure at CDC Group Plc now known as the British International Investment (BII), the UK government owned development finance institution. He built the institution’s direct infrastructure equity business, investing over US$2 billion in Africa and South Asia across manufacturing, infrastructure, financial institutions, power and other sectors. Sameh was the Natural Gas Industries Director at Orascom Construction Industries and Investment Principal at Actis, a leading US$15 billion emerging markets private equity fund management business, with investments in 50+ countries. Sameh holds an MBA in Financial Management from the University of Exeter, UK and degrees from the American University in Cairo, Egypt in Development Studies and Economics. He is a graduate of INSEAD’s International Executive Program and a member of the institute of Directors, United Kingdom.

Osam Iyahen

Board Member

Mr. Osam Iyahen is a Senior Director at AFC. He is responsible for the natural resources sector where he leads client coverage, transaction origination, in addition to providing technical advisory in deal execution. He has about twenty years of international energy & resource finance experience, including involvement in multi-billion-dollar development projects with international institutions. He has led AFC in developing a rapidly expanding Natural Resources sector franchise in Sub Saharan-Africa, with over US$3 billion valued landmark transactions in final credit and investment approvals in the last 15 years, with leading sponsors seeking to undertake financing transactions in the oil, gas, mining and associated infrastructure space. Osam obtained his MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University (Johnson School of Management) in New York State. He is bilingual and has presented and moderated various topics at international oil & gas, mining and infrastructure conferences.

Kadijah Amoah

Chief Executive Officer, Pecan Energies Ghana Limited

Ms. Kadijah Amoah is the Chief Executive Officer of Pecan Energies Ghana Limited. She is a lawyer and the first Ghanaian woman to lead an oil and gas exploration and production company.

She is a member of the Executive Management Team of Pecan Energies in Norway and holds directorships in AGM Petroleum Ghana and Aker Ghana Investment Company. She is also a council member of the Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber.

Prior to joining Pecan Energies, Ms. Amoah worked as Head of Investments and Business Development at the Office of the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. She was the Government of Ghana lead of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and Government of Ghana lead of the U.K Ghana Business Council.

Ms. Amoah holds a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science and Sociology, LLB (Hons), and an M.Sc. in International Business from the University of Ghana. A Post Graduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation and a Masters in Business Administration from the Saïd Business School, (Oriel College) University of Oxford.

Ms. Amoah is an alumnus of the International Leader’s Programme of the U.K Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Raisa Program by the Spanish government. She is an Eisenhower Fellow and a member of Oriel Law Society, Oriel College.

Amadou Soumano

Board Member

Mr. Amadou Soumano, Deputy Director & Lead Counsel at AFC, has over 15 years of transactional and investment experience. He provides legal oversight of the Company’s operations, as well as assisting with compliance and regulatory matters. He has extensive experience in transaction structuring and negotiation and in resolving investment legal issues. Prior to joining the AFC team in 2019, Amadou gained substantial Africa market and private equity experience while at Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), where he worked in Abidjan, Tunis and Paris as a Principal Legal Counsel. He is a lawyer admitted to the Bar of Paris. He previously practised corporate, banking, project and project finance laws at Linklaters (Paris) and White & Case (Paris). Amadou speaks English and French.