TEAM

Board Members

Chairman Of The Board

Phylip
Leferink

Phylip Leferink has over 25 years of international experience developing and executing large-scale infrastructure projects across five continents. He has held senior management positions in a wide functional range, gaining the capacity to develop a holistic view of complex issues and finding balanced solutions which serve any random group of stakeholders.

In 2008, Mr. Leferink moved to the renewable energy sector and became the Vice President of Sales for Vestas Wind Systems (Vestas) in Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. He joined Lake Turkana Wind Power in 2015 to become the General Manager, tasked with overseeing the challenging construction phase of the project.

Before returning to Lake Turkana Wind Power, and assuming the Chief Executive Officer position, in September 2021, Mr. Leferink was the Country Director for JCM Power in Malawi between 2018 and 2021. He holds an MBA degree from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

 

Chief Executive Officer

Anton-Louis
Olivier

Anton-Louis Olivier joined Serengeti Energy in 2023 as Chief Executive Officer.

Anton-Louis started working in the Sub Saharan Africa renewable energy sector in 1993 and has built up extensive experience in power project development, construction and operations. He founded and managed a number of businesses in the power sector with a focus on independent power producers (IPPs) and hydropower projects.

He serves as Chairman of Board of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) and holds a number of non-executive directorships of companies in the power sector.

Anton-Louis is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Board Member

Tore
Horvei

Board Member since September 2017, including Executive Director from July 2020 to June 2022 with specific responsibility for strategic business development and Board Chairman during period July 2022 to June 2024. Chairperson of Investment Committee since July 2024. M.Sc. (Business Management) from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

Energy expert with more than 30 years’ experience from sub-saharan Africa. Seasoned transaction advisor with proven track-record from structuring, commercial negotiating, finance mobilisation and closing of both renewable and gas-fired IPP power projects in sub-saharan Africa, as well as major transmission project investments. Founder and managing director of Thunder Energy (Mauritius), a boutique transaction advisory business.

Board Member

Henrik
Dagel

Henrik Dagel is acting as senior advisor to Swedfund, including board assignments in portfolio companies and appointment as member of the Investment Committee. Henrik previously served as Director of Special Operations at Swedfund responsible for reconstructions and divestments of portfolio companies in Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Prior to joining Swedfund Henrik was working over 25 years in the investment banking industry, including the positions as senior vice president at Handelsbanken Markets and partner at D. Carnegie & Co.

External board assignments for the Government of Sweden includes Carnegie Investment Bank and the pension fund Sjätte AP-fonden.

Henrik has an MBA from Stockholm School of Economics.

Board Member

Diana
Nekitsing-Bisnathsing

Diana has worked in the Mauritius financial services sector since 2015 (till present) having expertise in the global business industry with over 10 years of experience, focusing primarily on corporate administration services. In her role as Senior Manager in the corporate services line, Diana oversees a team of associate managers, senior officers and officers with competencies across corporate administration, company secretarial and relationship management. Her clients include Global Business Corporations, multinationals, and entrepreneurs with activities in a wide range of sectors and geographies. Diana’s areas of expertise are corporate administration services, company secretarial services, corporate governance and she has dealt on the administration of listed companies as well as reinsurance companies.

Qualifications:
BSc Management
Master of Business Administration

Board Member

André
Mounif

André Mounif serves as Africa Regional Director, where he leads the origination and structuring of investment opportunities in energy and infrastructure across Africa.

In this role, he manages regional investment teams and collaborates with local stakeholders to advance bankable projects. André also has held board positions as a Non-Executive Director at different STOA investee companies . Before joining STOA, André worked as a Senior Investment Officer at PROPARCO (AFD Group), where he managed syndicated loan groups and structured transactions in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Earlier in his career, he was with the French Ministry of Transport, overseeing financial matters for public-private partnership (PPP) projects and playing a key role in tendering and concession negotiations.

André is a Civil Works Engineer, having graduated from the École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’État, and he is fluent in both French and English.

Board Member

Tibor
Asboth

Tibor Asboth heads PROPARCO’s private equity division covering Africa and the Middle East. He oversees the fund and direct growth equity activity in Infrastructure & Energy, Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services for the region. Since joining PROPARCO in 2012, Tibor was first active in business development based out of the regional West African hub in Abidjan before joining the private equity department based out of Paris.

Prior to joining PROPARCO, Tibor was active in impact investment in France.

Board Member

Jasandra
Nyker

Jasandra Nyker is Managing Partner of Saja Climate Partners, where she invests in and advises transformational energy projects and climate technology businesses with a strong focus on the Global South. With nearly 30 years of experience, she has built leading clean energy businesses and managed over $1 billion in investments. She also serves as a Non-Executive Director on several boards (listed and private), driving sustainable growth and climate impact across emerging markets.

Board Member

Felix
Rottmann

Felix Rottmann is the Founder and Executive Director of Kisasa ESG Consultants, a Nairobi-based advisory firm supporting DFIs and corporates across Africa. With over 15 years’ experience, he specialises in environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk management, including due diligence, ESMS design and implementation, stakeholder engagement, and impact assessments.

 Felix serves as an independent Non-Executive Director at Serengeti Energy and as Executive Director of Winds of Change, where he provides strategic and fiduciary oversight of community development programmes.

He previously held a senior leadership role at Lake Turkana Wind Power, overseeing shareholder and lender compliance, as well as ESG performance, for one of Africa’s largest wind projects. Felix holds an MA from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex.

Senior Leadership

Chief Executive Officer

Anton-Louis
Olivier

Anton-Louis Olivier joined Serengeti Energy in 2023 as Chief Executive Officer.

Anton-Louis started working in the Sub Saharan Africa renewable energy sector in 1993 and has built up extensive experience in power project development, construction and operations. He founded and managed a number of businesses in the power sector with a focus on independent power producers (IPPs) and hydropower projects.

He serves as Chairman of Board of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) and holds a number of non-executive directorships of companies in the power sector.

Anton-Louis is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Chief Investment Officer

Wilfred van
den Bos

Mr. Van den Bos is the Chief Investment Officer at Serengeti Energy. He and his team are responsible for investment structuring and all other aspects required to bring the renewable energy projects to the stage of start construction.

Mr. Van den Bos has 18yrs of investment, development and structured finance experience in Africa, Asia and the Middle-East. Before joining Serengeti Energy in 2017 he has been working for 10yrs at the Dutch Development Bank FMO where he has been responsible for mobilizing over USD 1 billion of structured finance funding for over more than 32 (renewable) energy projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

He is driven by a passion for sustainable energy development. He is recognized for his professional and pragmatic ‘can do’ mentality. He has a strong track record in managing teams, improving business performance and closing transactions.

Chief Environmental and Social Officer

Karen
Low

Karen Low is the Chief Environmental and Social Officer at Serengeti Energy, where she leads the company’s commitment to IFC compliance, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility. With more than 20 years of experience in environmental and social management, Karen is dedicated to advancing renewable energy projects that balance economic performance with environmental stewardship and positive community impact.

She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in Environmental Law from the University of Cape Town and a Master’s degree in Water Resource Management from the University of Pretoria. Based in Cape Town, Karen is also an avid road and trail runner.

General Counsel

Belinda
Odera

Belinda is the General Counsel at Serengeti Energy. She has over 10 years of legal and business leadership, and experience in providing legal and strategic advice to senior management, boards and regulators in heavily regulated sectors including financial services, telecommunications, and power sectors across Africa.

Belinda previously served as a Senior Legal Counsel at Industrial Promotion Services (Kenya) Limited (IPS), where she spent four years providing legal and business advice to companies in the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the region.

Immediately prior to IPS, Belinda was the Head of Legal and Compliance at the Nairobi Securities Exchange where she was responsible for legal and strategic advice to the Board, Senior Management and industry stakeholders particularly in respect of commercial, regulatory and policy initiatives.

Belinda is a graduate of the University of Sheffield. She is admitted to the Kenyan bar and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Chief Financial Officer

Strafford
Harris

Strafford Harris is the Chief Financial Officer at Serengeti Energy. With over 15 years of professional experience — 10 of which have been dedicated to the Southern African renewable energy sector—Strafford brings deep expertise across development, operations, and project finance.

Previously, he held leadership roles as Country Director and COO, and as Head of Finance at Renewable Energy Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Serengeti Energy. Strafford also serves as Managing Director across the South African assets and supports commercial efforts for new in-country ventures. Earlier in his career, after completing articles at a mid-sized firm of Chartered Accountants, Strafford held roles with valuable exposure across sectors—from renewable energy to commercial property—where he developed expertise in corporate finance, consolidations, and business restructuring.

His leadership approach is grounded in value creation and operational excellence, particularly in guiding multidisciplinary teams through complex business initiatives.

Director – West Africa

Lamine
Ndour

Lamine NDOUR is the Director for West and Francophone Africa, based in Dakar, Senegal. In addition to planning and managing the business development function to generate projects to establish the firm footprint in the region, he is also responsible managing the structuring and execution of equity investments and (project) financings required for bringing the projects to financial close along.

Lamine has over 20 year’s practical experience in investment management, technology development, project design, implementation and management across numerous sectors.

Lamine has worked for 8 years for a USDFI where he participated in the development and implementation of large infrastructure projects worth more than US 2 billion, in energy, roads and agriculture. He has held numerous roles in the private sector across numerous sectors. Lamine has worked in the US, Africa and Europe in banking, renewable energy and infrastructure investments. He started his career as an assistant portfolio manager and venture partner at Unus Capital in Birmigham, a venture capital investment boutique where he helped structure the company $400,000 angel investment into Bio-Nanomatrix, a DARPA funded and Princeton, which had developed a rapid nanotechnology genetic analysis. After numerous series financing and partnership, the company is now called BionanoGenomics Inc and listed in the NASDAQ(BNGO).

Lamine holds a Master in Energy Management with a concentration in regional electricity trading and renewable energy investment, in Europe along with a BS. with Honors in Economics and an MBA from the US.

Originally from Senegal, Lamine has studied, lived and worked in the US, Europe and Africa. He currently lives in Dakar with his family and enjoy playing basketball with his daughters.

Head of Business Operations

Marian
Grabowski

Marian Grabowski is Head of Business Operations at Serengeti Energy, responsible for asset management of operating plants and corporate reporting, ensuring alignment between shareholders, management, and project teams.

He also manages the Technical Assistance Trust, which funds early-stage projects, and oversees the carbon and environmental attributes portfolios.

With over 10 years in emerging markets investing and renewable energy, Marian joined Serengeti in 2022 from responsAbility Investments AG, where he advanced off-grid and commercial and industrial energy companies as well as financial institutions toward bankability. His passion is driving economic growth through reliable clean energy in Africa.

He holds a Master’s in Finance and International Affairs from Sankt Gallen (HSG), Switzerland and Sciences Po Paris, and a BA in Business Economics from Witten/Herdecke University.

Head of Development

Christiaan
Coetzee

Tiaan Coetzee is Head of Development at Serengeti Energy, leading the delivery of solar, hydro, and hybrid renewable energy projects from concept through to execution. With over eight years of experience in the energy sector, his expertise includes feasibility studies, financial modelling, permitting, and negotiating key agreements such as PPAs, EPC contracts, and shareholder arrangements.

He has successfully led multidisciplinary teams to achieve integrated technical, financial, and contractual outcomes that drive long-term value in sustainable energy infrastructure.

Tiaan holds a B.Eng in Chemical Engineering and an M.Eng in Metallurgical Engineering with a specialization in Hydrometallurgy, providing him with a unique cross-sector perspective—particularly at the intersection of mining, energy, and infrastructure.