With over one-hundred years of combined experience, EMIF Group’s investment team has extensive direct experience developing and financing infrastructure projects in many of the OECD-DAC ODA countries. Collectively, we have mobilized over US$20 billion in equity capital through advisory, active development, construction equity, and M&A activities. Our investment team members possess regional expertise across Africa, Asia and Latin America. We have worked and maintain good relationships with a large network of funders, including development banks, family offices, small pensions, impact funds, and foundations. This network will provide the anchor capital for SIPF and future funds while helping to grow our investible project pipeline in concert with our United Nations partnership.
John Safrance
Chief Executive Officer
Over the past ten years, John has held several senior positions in development, M&A, and advisory of renewable energy infrastructure in EMDEs across Africa, South-East Asia, and LATAM. With nearly two decades of investment banking experience as a senior institutional equities analyst, John is an authority in the field of valuation, having published numerous investment theses on publicly listed Canadian cleantech and IPPs.
Thomas Eveson
Sustainable Finance
Business Development
With a rich background spanning corporate finance and asset management, Tom most recently led the Morningstar Sustainalytics global team specializing in sustainable finance. During his tenure at Sustainalytics, he played a pivotal role in several influential working groups, notably contributing to initiatives such as the Impact Metrics for Emerging Market Project Financing led by the JPM Development Finance Institute.
Len Eberhard
Infrastructure Development
Len possesses a comprehensive background in civil and environmental engineering, coupled with expertise in infrastructure project planning and development. His experience spans across the transportation and renewable energy domains. Len's career has been marked by notable contributions to various engineering consultancies and IPPs in emerging markets across the Middle East, Africa, and LATAM regions.
Henry Barclay
Investor Relations
Henry spent six years as a financing specialist, advising family offices on impact investments. He is an advisor to the UN and was instrumental in facilitating the partnership with our pivotal partners, UN-Habitat. He spent five years growing three start-ups to nine-figure valuations from the ground up. Henry’s role will support all corporate investor relations and contribute to the overall strategy and direction of the organization.
Christel Bourbon-Séclet
France
Christel joined the Agence Française de Développement group in 2008 and contributed to the financing of a large number of environmental and municipal projects in her capacity as Head of Proparco’s Mobility, Municipal, and Environmental Infrastructure division. She is currently seconded to the C40 Cities for Climate Leadership Group as Director, City Finance Programme, overseeing all finance works and supporting cities to access finance for the implementation of ambitious, inclusive and resilient climate actions.
Nazmeera Moola
South Africa
Nazmeera is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Ninety One, where she oversees their firm-wide initiatives, including their commercial imperatives, investment integration, and inhabit and advocacy work. She has covered the macro-economy in South Africa and other emerging markets since 2000. She is passionate about making financial markets work to support development. Her remit has included the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, which provides debt financing for infrastructure projects across Africa.
Noel Dekking
Uruguay
Noel became an entrepreneur immediately upon graduation, founding a company to initiate and develop a utility-scale solar project located in Ecuador before returning to law school in Canada. His career has largely seen him responsible for the origination and preparation of renewable energy projects for international IPPs primarily within Latin America. He is currently acting as the Energy Transition Manager for Pluspetrol, helping to define the organizations’ energy transition strategy for the coming decades.
Diana Smallridge
Canada
Diana is the President and Founder of Momentus Global. In 2000, she left Export Development Canada to support catalysts of global development and strengthen their impact. Now, twenty-five years and three hundred assignments later, she brings effective finance strategies to national development banks, multilateral institutions, private industry, foundations, and capital funds in more than eighty countries. Diana seeks ways to accelerate outcomes toward the SDGs and supports EMIF Group’s innovative approach.
As a signatory to the UN Global Compact, EMIF Group is committed to investing responsibly through its underlying ten principles governing sustainable and responsible investment. We will continuously pursue the highest standards for governance, transparency, and ESG-related impacts. EMIF Group also has active representation on and contributes to the Blue Dot Network, a U.S. State Department initiative that certifies infrastructure projects that meet robust international quality standards.