The Team

BGFA is a financing facility managed by Nefco and implemented on the ground with support from the project implementation partners NIRAS and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). Meet the teams below.

Facility Manager:

Nefco

As Facility Manager, Nefco has overall responsibility for the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA), including fundraising, procurement, contracting, financial administration and disbursements.

For more information please visit: www.nefco.int

The Nefco team

Ash Sharma

Vice President, Head of BGFA

Ash is the head of BGFA, with overall responsibility for the work programme and budget, and leads investor relations, fundraising and external affairs.

Kari Hämekoski

Senior Programme Manager

Kari is engaged in the day-to-day management of BGFA implementation, with responsibility for monitoring the operational work programme, procurement and costs.

Tina Möller

Programme Manager

Tina provides programme support and coordinates reporting with the BGFA donors and REEEP.

Heli Sinkko

Programme Manager

Heli is engaged in the day-to-day management of BGFA implementation, with particular responsibilities for gender matters and impact monitoring.

Dennis Hamro-Drotz

Senior Programme Manager

Dennis is responsible for the francophone country programmes.

Helle Lindegaard

Executive Adviser

Helle provides strategic advice and support to the BGFA team and Special Funds Unit at Nefco.

Aliona Fomenco

Investment Manager

Aliona is responsible for BGFA country programmes

Ritva Kauppi

Principal Counsel

Ritva is responsible for legal affairs related to BGFA.

Aleksandra Reskalenko

Programme Officer

Aleksandra supports the BGFA programme with various project management related tasks.

Lia Oker-Blom

Senior Communications Officer

Lia is responsible for BGFA programme communications.

Amica Dristig

Administrative Officer

Amica is working with various administrative tasks related to BGFA.

Emma Yrjölä

Programme Officer

Emma supports the BGFA programme with various project management related tasks.

Gloria Monterrubio

Communications Officer

Gloria supports the implementation of BGFA programme communications.

Project Implementation Partner

REEEP

As Project Implementation Partner, REEEP supports the programme with market scoping, design of funding windows, due diligence review and development work. Working on the ground, REEEP has organised local stakeholder engagements as part of the market scoping and currently provides technical assistance to the markets and administrative support to the Platform for Market Change under the BGFZ pilot programme.

For more information please visit: www.reeep.org

The REEEP team

Peter Storey

Team Leader

Peter is an independent expert in international financing solutions in developing countries and transition economies, currently specialising in climate change, clean and renewable energy projects.

Merja Laakso

Head of Programme, Southern Africa

Merja manages the implementation of the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa in Zambia and Mozambique.

Andrew Loebus

Head of Programme, East Africa

Andrew is responsible for the implementation of the BGFA programme in Uganda.

Bisera Bashevska

Senior Analyst, Southern Africa

Bisera supports the implementation of the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa in Mozambique and Zambia, with a focus on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL).

Antoine Lucic

Energy Access Analyst

Antoine works on the implementation of BGFA across all target countries.

Erin Stewart

Lead Communications and Marketing Manager

Erin manages the implementation of BGFA programme communications.

Ashiffa Anuar

Junior Communications and Marketing Manager

Ashiffa supports the implementation of BGFA programme communications.

Giuseppe Gregu

Senior Project Officer

Giuseppe is responsible for managing internal operations of BGFA and contributes to BGFA’s implementation across all target countries

Jessica Gogo

Energy Access Analyst

Jessica works on the implementation of BGFA across all target countries

Project Implementation Partner

NIRAS

As Project Implementation Partner, NIRAS supports on-the-ground monitoring of the BGFA contracted companies, i.e. the energy service providers, incl. reporting and verification services (MRV), review of implementation progress and milestones reached by the financed projects, supports and coordinates work related to impact evaluations and verification of established energy service subscriptions and provides institutional support in the BGFA countries.

For more information please visit: www.niras.com

The NIRAS team

Jeroen van der Linden

Team Leader

Jeroen is the overall NIRAS Team Leader for both Component 1 (Provision of MRV services for the Energy Service Providers/ESPs supported by BGFA) and Component 2 (Provision of Institutional Support Services). Jeroen has extensive experience in planning, development and deployment of off-grid RE technologies, as well as institutional strengthening at both state and local level in developing countries.

Annegrete Lausten

Deputy Team Leader

Annegrete is a seasoned clean energy expert and is responsible for overseeing the contract, co-leading the design of the project with Jeroen, and providing strategic oversight and technical guidance to the team for both Component 1 and 2.

Joss Swennenhuis

MRV Lead

Joss is a leading MRV specialist and is responsible for leading the design, establishment and implementation of the BGFA MRV system and for coordinating the MRV work of the national MRV experts.

Ines Maghrebi

Financial Analyst

Ines is a senior international Financial Expert and is responsible for leading the monitoring and assessment of the financial health and status including the longer-term financial sustainability of the ESPs.

Henry Karanja

Environmental and Social specialist

Henry is an experienced environmental and social specialist and is responsible for the assessment of Environment and Social (E&S) plans (including e-waste plans) and related KPIs as well as the implementation of these plans and KPIs by respective ESPs

Lovisa Arlid

Gender specialist

Lovisa is a renowned Gender specialist and is responsible for assessing the quality and adequacy of Gender Action Plans as well as the implementation of these plans and KPIs by respective ESPs.

Essel Ben Hagan

Institutional Expert, Task Force Coordinator

Ben, is a highly experienced expert in clean energy policy, strategy and institutional capacity building. As the Task Force Coordinator, Ben coordinates the work of the national institutional experts to catalyse the set up and implementation of the Off-Grid Task Forces in each country.

Contact us

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