Our People
Board Members
Hussain J. AlNowais
Hussain Al Nowais is the Chairman of AlNowais Investments where he spearheads the firm’s strategy of global expansion, investment, and strategic project development across the target sectors. He is also the Chairman of AMEA Power, a developer, owner, and operator of renewable power projects in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, he is also the Vice Chairman of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), UAE’s leading domestic bank. In addition, Hussain Al Nowais is a Board Member in Rotana Hotels & Real Estate Investments. He is also a member of the Family Business Council-Gulf, Asia Business Council, World Economic Forum in Davos.
Additionally, he is a member of Al Fanar philanthropy impact investment and acts as a board trustee. He was one of the founding members of Sandooq Al Watan, a national philanthropist and Investment organization that provides Emiratis with guidance and funding for social impact project, with focus on technology and health care.
Until recently, and for the last 14 years, he was the Chairman of Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, a non-profit social impact fund. He spent over 12 years as the Chairman of Waha Capital, a publicly listed investment company on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, He also spent 10 years as a Chairman of SENAAT, an Industrial holding company. In addition, he was the Chairman of MENA Infrastructure Fund, the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC), and National Petroleum Services (NPS).
He served as a Board Member of the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development for three years; he was also on the board of Abu Dhabi Aviation, Abu Dhabi Ports Company, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Al Dhafra Insurance Company and was an advisory board member of the Khalifa University for Science & Technology. A UAE national and born in Abu Dhabi, Hussain Al Nowais holds a B.S. in Business finance from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon in June 1979, and has attended various Executive Management programs at INSEAD in France and at London Business School.
Dirk Beeuwsaert
He began his career in 1971 with the Belgian power company Intercom. From 1971 to 1991 he held various supervisory and managerial positions at the Baudour, Ruien and Zwevegem power stations.
Following the merger between Intercom, Unerg and EBES into Electrabel in 1990, he became Head of Electrabel’s conventional generation, and in 1994 of generation for the company as a whole, including the responsibility over 5000MW. He was also appointed to the Electrabel Management Committee, and as Chairman of the Board of Laborelec and Recybel, and director of several companies, including Synatom, Belgonucléaire, Twinerg (Luxembourg), Rosen and Alpenergie (Italy), and Electrabel Nederland.
In 2000, Dirk became CEO of Tractebel Electricity & Gas International and member of the Tractebel General Management Committee. He was appointed Executive Vice President of SUEZ in charge of the international energy business line in 2003. In March 2009, he became Executive Vice President of GDF SUEZ in charge of the Energy Europe & International Business Line. He was appointed Chairman of the International Power Board in 2011, following the combination of International Power and GDF SUEZ Energy International. In September 2013, he also became Advisor to Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO of GDF SUEZ. In November 2014 he became CEO of the European Energy business line. He retired from his operational activities in Engie early 2016.
Philip Southwell, FCA
Non executive Director
Philip brings decades of advisory and capital markets experience with more than $100 billion in deal value across AMEA Power’s target geography.
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Philip Southwell
He trained and qualified as an ACA with Touche Ross (now Deloitte LLP) in London in 1993 and has spent the next 20 years working in emerging and frontier markets with Deutsche Bank, EFG-Hermes and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Philip has executed numerous transactions in these markets across a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, energy and financial services.
Between 2013 and 2015, Philip was also the CEO of Exotix, a frontier market focused merchant bank, where he led the strategic growth of its business with particular focus on equity and capital markets in Africa. He also serves as the Chairman of the Investment Committee for the Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund.
Yousef AlNowais
Non Executive Director
A well experienced businessman with over 30 years of experience in the Oil & Gas and Petrochemical sectors.
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Yousef AlNowais
Mr. Yousef AlNowais is the Chairman and Managing Director of Arab Development (ARDECO), a company he founded in his home city in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ARDECO is large diversified business and a leading player in the oil & gas and petrochemical sectors, as well as power generation and distribution and other engineering and infrastructure project services. Its large repertoire of partners and principals include such names as GE Oil & Gas, Tecnimont SpA, Linde AG, Daewoo Engineering, and many others.
He is also the Co-Chairman of AlNowais Investments LLC, a leading investment company based in Abu Dhabi, with local and international holdings in a broad range of strategic investments and actively managed subsidiaries, including:
In the UAE and GCC:
- Emircom LLC (ICT and Telecom)
- Pharmatrade LLC (pharmaceuticals and health care)
- Danway Electrical and Mechanical Engineering LLC
International:
- Archirodon NV
- National Petroleum Services
- Carbon Holdings
- AMEA Power
Prior to setting up his own business, Mr. AlNowais had joined Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) after graduating from the University of Arizona in 1979 and held many senior positions in the ADNOC group including Finance Director and Managing Director of ADNOC’s subsidiary FERTIL .
He is also currently Chairman, Vice Chairman or Member of the Board of several private institutions including:
- Archirodon NV
- Carbon Holdings
- Rotana Hotel Management Corporation PJSC
- International Mechanical and Electrical Company (IMECO) LLC
- AlDhafra National Insurance Company PSC
- Technical Metal Industries LLC,
- AlAin Sports Club (Honorary Member)
Key previous appointments include Managing Director (2007-2013) of Al Maabar International, a leading UAE organization investing internationally in real estate projects in the MENA region, which was formed as a joint venture between Al Dar Properties, Mubadala, Al Qudra Holdings, Reem Investment and Reem International.
Mohammed AlNowais
Managing Director
Mohammed, an Emirati national, has a finance and investment background.
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Mohamed AlNowais
He has also completed multiple internships with international financial institutions including HSBC in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Citi Bank in London, UK.
AlNowais holds a Bachelor’s Degree with joint honours in Economics and Business Finance from the Brunel University in London, UK.
Andrew Alli
Non Executive Director
Andrew is an accomplished business leader and institution builder.
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Andrew Alli
Andrew is an accomplished business leader and institution builder with 35 years experience, of which 25 years has been investing in, and managing businesses in Africa. He is a trained engineer, successful institutional banker and investor that has been involved in well over USD 10 billion worth of investments in Africa.
Andrew started his career in management consulting and investment banking in the UK. He joined the International Finance Corporation in 1996, where he worked for 11 years, gaining experience in energy and telecommunications investments at its headquarters in Washington D.C., USA. In 2002, Andrew was chosen to lead the IFC’s operations in Nigeria. Four years later, he was appointed to lead the institutions operations in Southern Africa.
In 2008, after a stint as the co-founder of a private equity fund, Andrew was appointed President and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), until 2018. Under his leadership, the AFC delivered over $4.5 billion in investments across 30 countries, becoming a leading African financier of infrastructure.
In 2019, Andrew joined SouthBridge Group, a pan-African investment bank, as Partner and Chief Executive Officer of the firm. Andrew also has an extensive directorship experience, serving on the board of a number of prestigious companies in various jurisdictions across two continents.
Since 2009, Andrew has been an angel investor, supporting many well-known startups in their earliest stages of growth.
Andrew holds a B.Eng in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from King’s College London and a MBA from INSEAD Business School. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Mahabir Sharma
Chief Technical Officer
Mahabir, a mechanical engineer from India, has over 40 years of experience within the power and water sector. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he worked at Sembcorp and TAQA, where he led the construction and commissioning of AES Barka IWPP in Oman.
David Falcon
David has over 20 years of experience in all advisory, lending and bond market activity with a proven track record in renewables, oil & gas, and infrastructure finance at Edmond de Rothschild, MUFG, Scotia Capital and Citi. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he was a Managing Director and Head of Energy for 7 years with Edmond de Rothschild.
Hussein Matar
Senior Director – Business Development
Hussein, a British National, has over 20 years of experience ranging from consulting, strategic planning, business development and project execution in the energy and infrastructure space. He previously worked for Deloitte, Hess, Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation and AlNowais Investments.
Aqueel Bohra
Senior Director – Project Development
Aqueel is a CFA Charter holder and a mechanical engineer from India, with over 24 years of experience in development and financing of infrastructure projects, fund raising, corporate investments and engineering, having previously worked with AlNowais Investments and KPMG Global Infrastructure Projects Group.
Basma Bentaher
Senior Director – Project Development
Basma, a Moroccan national, has 14 years of experience in project development and project finance, mostly built in the renewable energy sector .Prior to joining AMEA Power, Basma worked for Access Power as Business Development Director and, before that, for MASEN
as Projects Leader.
Samir Nacef
Senior Director – Project Development
Samir is specialized in the development of large-scale power and water infrastructure projects in both conventional and renewable energy technologies. With 13 years experience, Samir has a proven track record in the development of IPP projects, working for International Power and Engie.
Benjamin Coquerelle
Senior Director – Legal
Benjamin, a French national, is a seasoned project finance lawyer. He has more than 18 years of experience across markets such as Africa and the Middle East. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he was Legal Director at Engie.
Mohamed Shaikley
Senior Director- Investments and Mergers & Acquisitions
Mohammed, an American national, has more than 18 years of experience in investment banking, M&A, private equity, fund management, and corporate finance; a significant portion of which has been in the infrastructure sector. He previously held senior roles at Investbridge Capital, Landmark Real Estate Investment Management and AlNowais investments.
Andrei Klevchuk
Director, Project Finance
Andrei is a hands–on seasoned project finance professional from Russia, with more than 20 years of experience. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he was Project Finance Director at Access Power and team leader of the Investment and Modelling Team at the African Development Bank.
Donato Sasso
Director, Delivery and Execution
Donato is an Italian national and civil engineer with more than 35 years of experience, with 21 years in the power sector. He previously worked at Alstom, Areva, Iberdrola and Alcazar Energy, and has gained experience in project’s construction management across several markets such as America, Europe, Middle East and West Africa.
Zhu Yinteng
Director – PD, EPC & Supply Chain
Zhu, a Chinese national, has 15 years of experience in the power generation sector. He was previously the Chief Representative of Shanghai Electric for the MENA region.
Clare Back
Director – Legal
Clare, a British national, has more than 18 years of experience in legal, with a focus on renewable energy in Africa. Prior to coming to Dubai, she worked in London for a developer on a variety of infrastructure projects in Sub–Saharan Africa, and has also worked on energy projects in Central and South–East Asia.
Finance & Legal
Bogdan Coroui
Senior Manager – Legal
Bogdan is a projects lawyer with 15 years of international legal experience within the nergy and infrastructure sector. Previously, he worked as a lawyer and in–house counsel in France, the UK, Canada and parts of MEA and Africa.
Mohamed Ansi
Senior Manager – Corporate Finance
Mohamed, a French national, is a senior finance professional with more than 10 years of experience, having previously worked at FRV, the Spanish renewable power company.
Mohamed Elbanna
Senior Manager- Project Finance
Mohamed is an Egyptian national and is the longest serving member in the project finance team at AMEA having joined the company in 2016. He has 9 years of experience in corporate and project finance and previously he worked at the Arab African International Bank in Egypt.
Manish Choudhary
Senior Manager – Project Finance
Manish is an Indian national, has more than 8 years of experience in Project Finance with expertise in contract negotiation, financial modeling, deal structuring etc.
Prior to joining AMEA Power, he worked with ACWA Power and Engie Services India Pvt Ltd.
Mohamed Berrada
Manager – Project Finance
Mohamed, a Moroccan and Swedish national, has 12 years of experience in project finance and financial advisory. Before joining AMEA Power, he worked with Neo Themis where he was in charge of the structuring of project finance transactions in Africa. Prior to that, he was the Regional Representative for North Africa for ICD, the private sector arm of IsDB.
Emir Benelmir
Manager – Investments and Mergers & Acquisitions
Emir, a French national, has 9 years of combined international experience in project finance/power projects. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he worked for CrossBoundary (Dakar), Edmond de Rothschild (London), Veolia (Tokyo) and Dalkia (Paris).
Othmane Mamou
Manager – Project Finance
Othmane, a French national, has more than 6 years of experience in Project Finance. He started his career at Société Générale in Paris working in a wide range of projects in renewable energy, transportation and social infrastructure. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he was part of Mazars’ Infrastructure & Energy team.
Fallon Fernandes
Senior Accountant
Fallon, an Indian National is a finance professional who possess over 10 years of experience in the field of corporate Finance having previously worked in various sectors such as Aviation, warehousing and logistics and real estate.
Sarim Khan
Project Controller
Sarim, a Pakistani national, is a finance professional with over 12 years of experience in the power sector, having previously worked within finance at Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) and Engie Pakistan.
Arushi Chaturvedi
Analyst – Project Finance
Arushi, an Indian national, she is a graduate from Heriot-Watt with MA in business finance. She joined AMEA as an intern in corporate finance and explored the accounting field, became part of the team in 2019, as an analyst in project finance.
Aiman Surve
Junior Analyst – Project Finance
Being raised in the UAE, Aiman has completed her Graduation at the MDX University in Dubai with a first class honors in Accounting and Finance. Having explored the accounting field with her previous internships, she joined AMEA Power as a trainee and is now determined to contribute towards the Project Finance web of Renewable Energy in her new role.
Razla Haris
Junior Analyst – Corporate Finance
Razla, CIMA affiliate and Finance graduate with experience interning as a financial shared services intern at Big 4 and a Luxury Property Developer in Dubai. Joined AMEA as a corporate finance intern and now working as a Junior Analyst – Corporate Finance.
Yasmin Abdulla
Paralegal
Yasmin, a Somali British national, has 7 years legal experience in commercial law, corporate law, trademark and trademark disputes, commercial litigation and disputes. Prior to joining AMEA Power, Yasmin worked with A.T. Kearney, Elysium Global and Emirates NBD as a paralegal.
Business & Project Development Team
Barbro Ciakudia
Manager – Business Development and Corporate Social Responsibility
Barbro, a Norwegian – Congolese national, is a business development professional with more than 8 years of experience in strategy advisory, project origination and project management, having previously worked for Invest Africa.
Sultan Rasoul
Senior Associate – Business Development
Sultan, an American national, is a business development professional with over 5 years experience, having previously worked within various sectors, including retail marketing and the block chain industry.
Raymond Ewart
Manager – Project Development
Raymond, a Development professional from the UK, has over 8 years of experience in renewables development, engineering, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance in the Middle East and Africa.
Ignacio Carreras
Manager – Project Development
Ignacio, is an ICAI engineer from Spain, with a master in finance by ESADE, with more than 12 years working experience in advisory and business development for multinational companies (Garrigues, Iberdrola and ACC) in renewable energy and hydrogen projects.
Omar Jabri
Senior Project Development Manager – West, Central and North Africa
Omar, a Moroccan national, has 13 years of experience in the energy sector. He previously worked for ENGIE for more than 12 years in business development, energy management and trading in Paris and Casablanca. He was also CEO Advisor & Infrastructure Director at Ithmar Capital, the sovereign wealth fund of Morocco.
Rajesh Ramesh
Manager – Project & Business Development
Rajesh, an electrical engineer from India, has more than 7 years of experience in originating & developing solar PV and wind projects. Rajesh previously worked with Access Power, covering the technical, commercial, finance and legal streams in his capacity as a Senior Analyst, covering African and central Asian markets.
Joel Musikingala
Manager – Project Development
Joel, an electrical engineer and financial analyst from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has more than 4 years of experience in Renewable Energy. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he worked as a Project Development Analyst at Access Power.
Bushra Al Hendi
Senior Associate – Project Development
Bushra, a Bahrain national, has 5 years of experience within the power sector focused in renewable energy development. Prior to joining AMEA Power, she was with Tabreed and SAP.
Maro Turner
Senior Associate – Project Development
Maro, a solar PV and wind engineer from South Africa, has 6 years of experience in the renewable energy sector. Previously, Maro worked as a lender’s technical advisor for 3E.
Jonathan Bambokela
Senior Associate – Project Development
Jonathan is a bilingual energy professional with more than 7 years of experience in energy research, engineering, project finance and project development. He has a proven track record in business development in 12 countries of west, central and southern Africa.
Technical
Marco Di Leo
Marco is an industrial engineer from Italy with over 15 years of experience in wind energy. He previously worked at Building Energy across several markets such as Europe, Africa and America.
Nick Daniil
Nick, a Greek national, has over 9 years of experience in the wind and solar PV sectors. He previously worked at Access Power.
Mohamad Tabbakh
Senior Associate – Technical/ Wind
Mohammed, a Syrian national, has over 5 years of experience in wind energy projects specializing in WRA, technology optimization and EYA. Mohamad has previously worked at Access Power.
Sasikumar Duraisamy
Associate – Technical/ Wind
Sasikumar, an Indian national, is a wind energy professional with more than 5 years of experience in wind resource assessment. He Prior to joining AMEA Power, he worked at Vestas Technology R&D.
Jacques Kassarjian
Jacques, a Lebanese national, studied electro–mechanical engineering and holds a masters degree in renewable energy. His primary focus is in screening assessment, EYA in both wind and solar.
Jonathan Tintinger
Jon, an electrical engineer from South Africa, has more than 8 years of experience in utility– scale renewable projects. He has previously worked at Scatec Solar.
Nagham Nasser
Associate -Technical/ Solar
Nagham, a Syrian national whose expertise includes producing technical proposals, EYA reports, sensitivity analysis and PV power plant design. An experienced photovoltaic power plant designer, she has worked on a portfolio of both local and international PV power plants, being solar rooftops and utility scale projects with a total capacity of over 500MW.
Ibtissam Ammari
Associate – Technical Solar
Ibtissam, a Moroccan national, has 4 years of experience in renewables with a focus on renewable energy projects. Prior to joining AMEA Power, she was working with Masen on the development of several PV and hybrid projects in Morocco and across Africa.
QHSSE, DELIVERY & EXECUTION, OPERATION & MAINTENANCE
Vito Saluto
Vito, an environmental and social professional from Italy, holding a B. Eng degree in engineering and masters in conservation of natural resources. He has 18 years of experience to work in renewable energy industry, having previously worked as QHSE manager at Alcazar and Martifer Solar.
Pedro Neto
Sr Manager – Delivery and Execution
Pedro, a project manager from Portugal, with over 15 years of experience in both Wind and Solar projects, from inception to operation. He has previously worked at Alcazar Energy.
Monikandan Arumaithangam
Sr Manager – Delivery and Execution
Monikandan, an Indian national, has 25 years of experience in Power and Water Generation in the fields of project development, project execution, detailed engineering, plant commissioning, planning, operation & maintenance. Prior to joining AMEA Power, he worked
at Sembcorp Power.
Amine Araqi
Amine, a French national, has over 14 years of experience within the power sector, having previously worked at EDF and Elys Morocco.
Nour Makhoul
Nour, an American national, has 5 years of experience as Project Coordinator in the Renewable Energy Industry. She previously worked at Alcazar Energy.
Karuna Kumar
Manager – O&M
Kumar, an electrical engineer from Indian, brings 21 years of experience in correctional power plants and renewable energy. Prior to joining AMEA Power, Kumar worked at First Solar.
Business Support
Abeer Elayyan
Abeer, a Jordanian national, has over 9 years of experience from various roles within research and development, project development, business development and management of the executive department, with a focus on the Chairman’s affairs at AMEA Power.
Aniola Tahiraj
Manager – Human Resources & Talent Development
Aniola, an Albanian national, is a Senior HR Professional with 16 years of experience in strategic HR management across the MENA region. She has worked in varied international environments including MNCs, Conglomerates and Executive Search firms.
Mohammad Hisham
Manager – Business Support
Mohammad, a Jordanian national with 10 years of experience in business support. Prior to joining AMEA Power, Mohammad worked at Deacon Engineering Limited.
Khaled Salem
Officer – Administration
Khaled, a Yemeni national, has 9 years of experience in public relations and office administration. Prior to joining AMEA Power, Khaled worked at Arabtec Holding PJSC.
Amihan Claudio
HR Officer
Amie, a Philippine national with over 15 years of experience working as a HR and Administration professional. Prior to joining AMEA Power, Amie worked within various industries such as oil & gas, manufacturing, management consultancy and recruitment.
Fazil Shaikh
IT Engineer
Fazil is an IT professional from India, with over 12 years of experience within IT. Prior to joining AMEA Power, Fazil worked at DataLink network as a Sr. network engineer.