Patrick is Namene’s Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding Namene, Patrick spent 15 years in investment banking, where he headed a number of front office structured products teams across Europe and Asia. Drawing on his engineering, finance and cross-border leadership skills, Patrick created Namene to deliver innovative solutions to empower people in remote, low-income communities. Supported by a diverse and passionate team, he is focused on ensuring that everything Namene does brings genuine benefits and impact to families neglected by current utility and energy provision models, while delivering sustainable profitability to the company.
Nicolas is Namene’s Chairman. He has over 20 years’ experience in startup strategy, company development and financial management having created, managed and acquired companies in Europe, the USA and Brazil. Notably, Nicolas successfully drove the global expansion of IFR Monitoring as its CEO – growing the company’s operations from 4 to 54 countries and increasing its revenues tenfold. In addition to chairing Namene’s Board, Nicolas is currently an investor in, and board member of, a variety of businesses from software engineering to movie production and hospitality.
Kamal has had a 24-year career in investment banking, specialising in cross-asset derivatives and related financing products’ origination, structuring, and risk management. As Managing Director at HSBC, he served diverse clients ranging from large corporations to family offices. Kamal’s decision to use his corporate experience to help end energy poverty stems from witnessing the widespread use of oil-burning lamps in his parents’ remote mountain village in Algeria in his early years. Keenly aware of the transformative impact that clean and safe lighting has on people’s lives, Kamal now focuses his expertise on structuring the financial instruments that enable Namene to achieve its mission.
Jason is Namene’s Chief Finance Officer. Jason qualified as an accountant at Deloitte and worked as CFO in a number of renewable energy companies before joining Namene – ranging from start-ups to a NYSE listed group. Jason draws on his financial expertise and experience, notably in fund raising and deal-structuring, to devise and deliver innovative financial structures that allow Namene to deliver a positive and growing triple bottom line for people, planet and profit.
Bernardo is Head of Climate at Namene. His experience includes 18 years in carbon markets and climate change policy internationally. Before joining Namene, he worked as Director of Partnerships and Business Development for the Gold Standard Foundation, one of the main carbon market standards. Bernardo is responsible for developing and growing Namene’s portfolio of climate projects – leveraging carbon finance to rapidly scale access to affordable clean devices to low-income and off-grid families. Supported by his team as well as Namene’s country offices and trusted partners, Bernardo has pioneered and led innovative last-mile distribution models to reach and serve rural communities that would otherwise be left behind.
Wayne is Namene’s Senior Distribution Manager. Prior to joining Namene, Wayne spent 20 years in the logistics industry where he held various roles, all of which focussed on improving performance and efficiency while developing and motivating people, to ultimately create a culture of customer centricity. Drawing on his operational, commercial and general management leadership experience and abilities, Wayne works with, supports and develops Namene’s country distribution teams as they strive to deliver best in class last-mile delivery solutions to people in frontier markets.
As the Country Director for Namene in Zambia, Mulenga is responsible for developing and driving Namene’s business strategy in the country – from governance and finance to talent management and commercial distribution. He has drawn on his extensive experience working in the private sector, NGOs and government agencies across Africa to build Namene’s team of over 300 full time staff and part time field agents in Zambia, and distribute over 500,000 lights in three years. Mulenga is also the Vice President of the Solar Industry Association of Zambia.
Bruce is the Country Director for Namibia at Namene. With a background in sustainable energy solutions, Bruce’s multifaceted experience ranges from entrepreneurship in the biofuel industry to extensive involvement in community service and conservation efforts – demonstrating his commitment to sustainable energy, social impact, and environmental stewardship. With a strong belief in the transformative power of sustainable solutions, Bruce is focused on empowering both Namene employees and the communities they serve, and on promoting economic development while minimising environmental impact.
Find Bruce on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-salt-68067211a/
John is operations manager for Namene in Namibia and is responsible for people, operations, budget, project delivery and strategy. He has a combined working experience of more than 17 years in the commercial and technical areas, having spent the last 10 years in the airline industry. John brings to Namene’s Namibia team his ability to anticipate business requirements, identify innovative strategies, deliver tailored solutions, and empower people to take ownership in a positive and motivating environment.
Find John on LinkedIn
Njavwa is Namene’s Senior Operations Manager in Zambia. Prior Namene, Njavwa worked for a boutique financial advisory firm where he focused on identifying areas of growth, building and incubating businesses, M&A deals, and capital raise. Driven by his passion for sustainability and building functional businesses, he joined Namene to manage day to day climate operations in Zambia – ensuring the company maintains high quality data for all carbon projects, while expanding its distribution network across Zambia.
www.linkedin.com/in/njavwamusondela