Governance

The ALCB Fund operates as a collaborative initiative that brings together a diverse range of SDG-aligned investors, arrangers and issuers to support local capital market development in Africa.
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The Fund is a SICAV-RAIF domiciled in Luxembourg, operating as an Article 8 Fund per the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations (SFDR).
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Governance is overseen by a diverse and heavily engaged investment committee, advisory committee and board of directors; representing the continent we operate in, investors and key stakeholders. Day to day fund operations are overseen by its fund manager (AIFM) Cygnum Capital.
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The ALCB Fund is committed to maintaining the highest standards of transparency and impact.

Investors

Equity Investors

FSD Africa is a non-profit company funded by the UK Government which aims to increase prosperity, create jobs and reduce poverty by bringing about a transformation in financial markets in SSA and in the economies they serve. It provides know-how and capital to champions of change whose ideas, influence and actions will make finance more useful to African businesses and households.

Debt Investors

IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, IFC leverages capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.

The Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is the United States Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges.

FMO is the Dutch development bank. With investments in over 85 countries, the bank supports jobs and income generation in order to improve people’s lives in the parts of the world where it can make the biggest difference.

Calvert Foundation harnesses the power of investing to connect, cultivate, and inspire those who want to shape the world for good. Through its flagship product, the Community Investment Note, Calvert Foundation has raised over $1.5 billion from more than 18,000 investors, which has been invested in hundreds of organizations, projects, and funds that are making a positive, measurable impact around the world.

DEG, a subsidiary of KfW, supports private enterprises in developing and emerging markets, driving sustainable growth and job creation. Since 1962, it has financed businesses that promote renewable energy and align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a commitment of over €1.5 billion annually.

The European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) is one of the financing tools of Global Gateway, promoting sustainable investments in the European Union’s (EU) partner countries. Offering a variety of risk-sharing instruments of up to €40 billion, the EFSD+ aims to mobilise up to €135 billion of public and private financing to help partner countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Fund Manager

Cygnum Capital Group is the appointed Fund Manager to the ALCB Fund. Cygnum Capital Group offers unrivaled experience in African debt capital markets with substantive coverage across the continent. Cygnum Capital Group is an investment bank, based in London and Nairobi, bringing capital markets expertise to development finance initiatives in Africa and other frontier markets. Authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cygnum Capital Groups experience includes fund management, capital markets and financial advisory work across financial inclusion, renewable energy, agriculture and health sectors. Cygnum Capital Group is a member of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). The GIIN is the leading nonprofit dedicated to increasing the scale and effectiveness of impact investing. Impact investments are made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.

Board of Directors

David Luksenburg

David is a co-founder of Atdomco, a family office focused on the creation and management of regulated and unregulated investment vehicles in Luxembourg, specialising in real estate, private equity and corporate transactions with an international investor base. At the same time, he holds positions as an independent director in various specialised investment funds throughout Luxembourg. Prior to founding Atdomco, he was Secretary General of SMART Private Managers from 2012 to 2015, an independent discretionary portfolio management company with a value investment approach managing the assets of more than 200 families, after having worked as Head of Business Development at the Carey Group from 2010 to 2011. He graduated from INSEAD's MBA programme in 2010. He also holds a Master in Business Administration from the University of Liège.

Michael Batter

Michael is an experienced senior manager and independent director with a wide range of experience in the investment fund industry. He is currently a Conducting Officer at the IRE AIFM Hub where he oversees the risk management, valuation, compliance, and delegate supervision functions. In parallel, he holds partner positions in Estari Lotus SCSp, an investment fund pursuing a private equity strategy, Innovation Nest II SCSp and Market One Capital SCSp, both investment funds pursuing a venture capital strategy, making equity, quasi-equity and equity-related investments primarily in European companies developing or otherwise active in information and telecommunications technologies. Previously, he worked for EY Luxembourg as a Senior Auditor specialising in asset management, mainly auditing the financial statements of UCITS, AIFs and their management companies. He holds a master’s degree in management engineering with a major in Finance from the Louvain School of Management.

Pierre-Etienne Pourrat

Since 2021, he has been a partner at Atdomoc, a family office with a focus on establishing and overseeing regulated and unregulated investment entities in Luxembourg. Previously, between 2014 and 2020, he was a Partner at Savile Capital, which provides asset management, brokerage, futures and investment banking services to discerning individuals and institutions. Prior to this, he was a Senior Manager at Deloitte and Natixis, both within the Private Wealth division, where he implemented solutions for high net worth individuals and investment and holding companies. He holds a Master's degree in Corporate Finance from the University of Lyon and a Bachelor's degree in History, Economics and Sociology from Science Po Lyon.

Investment Committee

Clemens Calice

Clemens is CEO and a founding partner of Lion’s Head Group. He splits his time between Nairobi and London. Clemens is responsible for the implementation of Lion’s Head’s overall strategy and chairs the Firm’s Operating Committee. Over the past 10 years Clemens has been involved in advisory activities across a number of sectors, including financial services, renewable energy and agriculture and he was instrumental in setting up Lion’s Head Asset Management. Prior to setting up Lion’s Head, Clemens spent 13 years in investment banking, first at Morgan Stanley and then at Goldman Sachs. He worked in London, Singapore and New York, doing M&A before focusing on the energy sector where he was responsible for executing a number of large structured and commodity-backed financings. Clemens holds a Masters Degree in Computer Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and a Masters in Business Administration from INSEAD, Fontainebleau.

Douglas Philip Buyskes

Philip is currently the CEO of Frontclear. Prior to establishing Frontclear in 2015, Philip was Vice President at The Currency Exchange Fund which he joined in 2008. From 2004 to 2008 Philip was an Investment Officer at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Prior to DBSA, Philip worked at the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht, The Netherlands. He holds a Master in International Business from Maastricht University and is FRM certified. In 2014 Philip completed Harvard Business School’s comprehensive leadership program, the Program for Leadership Development.

Gladness Deogratias

Gladness Deogratias is a seasoned banker with over 15 years of experience in the financial markets having worked with Lehman Brothers International Europe in London and BancABC part of Atlas Mara before joining NMB Bank Plc as Head Global Markets. Ms Deogratias is known for her passion for capital markets developments. She was the team lead for NMB Jasiri Bond which is the first Gender Bond in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2022 and was later cross listed at Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The instrument mobilized USD 32 Million and has gone to finance over 3000 MSMEs. In 2023, leading the NMB Team – the bank issued the first Sustainability Bond (NMB Jamii Bond) in East Africa and the first foreign currency denominated Bond mobilizing a total of USD 160 Million. The USD Tranche has been cross listed at LSE ISM and ISBM markets. Ms. Deogratias has been instrumental in the taskforce for drafting Alternative Project Financing Framework for the country which has paved the way for first subnational green revenue bond issuance (Tanga UWASA). Overall, she is responsible for the implementation of NMB Bank’s capital markets preposition both on debt and equity as well as overall expansion strategy. Ms Deogratias is a Certified Director at the Institute of Directors UK. She is a Board Member at Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC) and sits in the Board of Trustees of NMB Foundation. She has been named amongst the Top 50 Women in Management in Tanzania. She was also recognized in the 2023 Angaza Awards Top 10 African Women to Watch in Banking, Finance and Investment List. She is a member of Women in Global Markets Committee - ACI FMA global association of Financial Markets Experts. Ms. Deogratias holds an MBA in Global Business from Oxford Brookes University and BA (Hons) Accounting Finance and Management from Nottingham University – Business School.

Leonard Mathu

Leonard is the founder and Managing Director of AIS Capital Advisors and has more than 20 years’ experience in financial advisory, capital raising and financial operations across key markets in Africa. He was previously Managing Director at Lion’s Head Global Partners where he led advisory mandates including capital markets development, financial services, real estate, agriculture and energy. Prior to Lion’s Head Global Partners, Leonard worked for an Africa focused family office and before that Cable & Wireless Cayman Islands. Leonard holds an MBA from Carlson School of Management, Minnesota and a BSc in International Business from USIU Africa. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Institute of Certified Financial Analysts of Kenya (ICIFA).

Martin Kimmig

Dr. Martin Kimmig is the Chief Investment Office of Cygnum Capital's asseet management business. Prior ti this, he served as Chief Risk Officer for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) from September 2016 to June 2022. In heading the AIIB’s risk function, he oversaw the bank’s risk capital allocation and utilization, the management of financial and non-financial risk as well as the bank’s compliance and integrity function. He joined the AIIB from The Rock Creek Group where he held the position of a Managing Director covering emerging market equities. Prior, he spent a 24-year career at the World Bank Group in particular the International Finance Corporation where he held leadership positions in both investment operations and risk management. Martin Kimmig holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Freiburg and a CFA designation.

Advisory Committee

Anne-Marie Chidzero

Anne-Marie is CIO of FSD Africa Investments, the investment arm of FSD Africa. A Zimbabwean, she is the former CEO of FSD Mozambique and co-founder of Alitheia IDF Managers, a private equity fund manager investing in women-owned businesses. Anne-Marie has a wealth of experience in building African financial markets. Throughout her career, she has led a range of development finance investments and implemented private sector growth strategies in roles at the World Bank Group, CGAP and UK Aid, among other development finance institutions. She has held board and advisory positions with leading inclusive finance organisations in Africa.

Magchiel Groot

Magchiel Groot is an independent member of the AC appointed by KFW. He is also currently Managing Director, Capital Solutions at Lendable, an asset management business. Before this, he was working for Cardano Development as a Senior Project Director, which included working with the ILX Fund as part of the team setting up the fund manager. He started his banking career in 1993 with Deutsche Bank in Amsterdam and London. He then joined the Africa team at FMO in 1998 and was seconded to Standard Bank's Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund in London from 2002 to 2005. Back at FMO, he spent two years focusing on China before spending five years leading the desk that originates, structures and executes all structured finance transactions within FMO with a view to developing FMO's capital markets activities in emerging markets. Prior to joining Cardano Development, he worked for seven years as a Senior Investments Officer in FMO's Private Equity department with a focus on Africa.

Thomas Pohl

Thomas Pohl is Senior Portfolio Manager at KfW Bankengruppe, where he is responsible for several impact investments in debt/private equity funds in sub-Saharan Africa, and through his membership of advisory and investment committees, he has gained a solid understanding of the responsibilities of the advisory role. His previous position as Senior Advisor to BMZ strengthens his ability to engage with the fund management team on the impact objectives that underpin the Ministry's role as an equity investor in ALCBF.

Service Providers

Auditor

Deloitte is a professional service company and one of the Big Four auditors. The company is responsible for the annual audit of the ALCB Fund.

Administrator

SS&C is responsible for Fund administrative services including preparation of financial statements, maintenance of registers and payment processing.

Depository

Founded in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, BNY Mellon is one of the oldest financial institutions in the world and the first company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It manages over $2 trillion in assets and provides investment management and custodial services across more than 35 countries. BNY Mellon has a legacy of innovation, from financing early U.S. infrastructure projects to spearheading modern advancements in financial technology. The institution also prioritises corporate social responsibility and diversity, shaping its role as a leader in the global financial system.