Tabish Gauhar

He is the founder of Dubai-based Oasis Energy connecting different pools of institutional capital with investment opportunities in the infrastructure space across Africa and Asia. Mr. Gauhar has served as advisor to the Government of Pakistan, Mubadala Infrastructure Partner, A.P. Moller Capital and on the Board of several private and publicly-listed companies.

During his tenure as Partner & Global Head of Energy Infrastructure at The Abraaj Group (2006-2015), Mr. Gauhar was a senior member of the team that raised and fully deployed a $2b general-purpose infrastructure fund across the emerging markets; led the launch of a $500m energy focused fund; and served as Country Manager with $1b of assets under management, including as CEO and Chairman of K-Electric Limited to lead the HBS Case Study-recognized turnaround of this ailing integrated utility company serving 20 million people.

Prior to Abraaj, he was the Regional CFO at AES Corporation (1999-2006) responsible for a $5b power & water infrastructure portfolio across 16 businesses in 12 EMEA countries, and Head of Business Development for Middle East. Mr. Gauhar has also served in various positions at Exxon Chemical and International Power (now Engie Energy International) between 1993 and 1999.

He has a First-Class Honors degree in Electrical Engineering from King’s College London (Chevening/ICI Scholar), and an MBA in Finance.

Sakkie Leimecke

Sakkie (IC) Leimecke joined the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) in June of 2020 and is focusing on building and strengthening IFC’s relationships with clients and partners in Southern Africa, promoting the IFC franchise given investment opportunities across MEA and refining the IFC strategy in South Africa and the region to the new reality. He is engaging with authorities in cooperation with the World Bank and a fresh look at our relationship with South Africa’s SOEs, municipalities, and commercial banks and institutional investors.

Before IFC, he was the Head: Energy Finance at Nedbank, which he joined in 2007. He was a contributory in negotiating South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Procurement Programme (REIPPP), driving a market-dominant position for Nedbank. He also forged and implemented the bank’s investment drive into Sub-Saharan Africa, spearheading flagship power projects including Cahora Bassa (Mozambique), Bujagali Hydro (Uganda) and Lake Turkana Wind Farm (Kenya).

Before Nedbank, he worked for the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), 1988 – 2007, where he gained extensive experience in limited recourse finance transactions in the Industrial Infrastructure and Energy sectors and also covered various other industrial sectors.

Sakkie is an experienced project developer and financier with more than 30 years’ investment banking and DFI experience in South Africa and the continent, covering the Energy, Infrastructure and Agricultural sectors.

Sakkie (IC) Leimecke holds a BSc and MBA from the University of Pretoria.

Tlaleng Moabi

She holds a BScs Electrical Engineering, BHons Management of Technology and MSc Transport Engineering Degrees. She brings to Cennergi, experience and in depth understanding of the energy sector as well as entrepreneurial mindset.

Ruse Moleshe

Ruse has held leadership positions at the Department of Minerals and Energy, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Basil Read Limited (Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor), Standard Bank, and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). As Head of Industrial Infrastructure at the IDC, she structured and financed transactions in renewable energy, water, telecoms, and transport sectors.

She successfully completed work on the “regulatory review of the electricity market in South Africa – towards crowding in private sector investment” as a lead consultant with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Ruse serves as a Non-Executive Director of Revego Africa Energy Limited (REVEGO), a limited partner that invests in a renewable energy equity fund.

Mxolisi Mgojo

Mxolisi Mgojo is Exxaro’s Chief Executive Officer and has been in the position since 2016. He has been in the mining industry since 2001. Prior to that, his career includes 10 years as a software engineer and eight years in the finance industry. Other previous experience also includes Marketing and Logistics, heading up the department at Eyesizwe Coal, of which he was a founding member until it merged with Kumba to form Exxaro.

NOMBASA TSENGWA

Dr Tsengwa has more than 18 years of executive management and board experience in the public and private sector. After joining Kumba resources as General Manager of Safety, Health, and Environment in 2003, her meteoric rise saw her fulfill subsequent roles such as General Manager of Captive Mines, Acting Executive Head of Coal Operations, Executive Head of Coal Operations, and Managing Director Minerals. Nombasa is a current CEO designate, and won the 2017 Standard Bank Businesswoman of the year award, as well as the 2018 Pan African Awards’ most Influential woman in Business and Government for the Mining Industry Category.

RIAAN KOPPESCHAAR

Riaan Koppeschaar is the Finance Director at Exxaro Resources overseeing the full finance function including corporate finance, treasury, accounting, tax, risk management and procurement, He has over 15 years’ experience in large corporate senior financial and management roles, and spearheaded several multi-billion Rand international acquisitions and debt raisings. Riaan has well-developed bank and investor relationship management skills and strong value-adding shareholder investment management expertise.

Roland Tatnall

Roland Tatnall is the Managing Director of Exxaro Energy and has worked in the Energy sector since 1998. He has invested in, built, structured, and advised power companies, teams and projects in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Roland previously worked in the oil exploration industry, mainly in emerging and frontier markets, and he was an original investment team member of the first private equity fund to focus on sub-Saharan African power and infrastructure. He also served as a senior executive at one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth power and infrastructure funds, and raised and invested in a proprietary power fund.

DANIE DU PLESSIS

Danie was appointed CEO of Cennergi (Pty) Ltd in 2016 after joining the company in 2012. He is a Metallurgical Engineer with more than 23 years’ experience in Operations. Danie has held various technical and management positions in the Iron and Steel, Heavy Minerals, Petrochemical, and Energy sectors. He currently serves as a Director on the Boards of Cennergi and its two project companies, the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm and Amakhala Emoyeni Wind Farm.

Trishal Dayal

Trishal Dayal is the Head of Finance for Cennergi. He joined the company in 2013 and oversees the full finance function including accounting, tax, treasury, project finance, supply chain, governance, risk, and compliance. He is qualified CA(SA) with over 15 years’ experience in finance that spans across Minerals & Energy, Financial Services and FMCG. Trishal served as trustee on the Amakhala Emoyeni Bedford Wind Farm Community Trust and the Amakhala Emoyeni Cookhouse Wind Farm Community Trust.

TAKALANI MASWIME

Takalani joined Cennergi in 2013 and has 10 years of diverse experience in the renewable energy industry. He and his team are responsible for providing comprehensive environmental management and human resources services. His responsibilities also include implementation of socio-economic development, enterprise development, and supplier development programmes. He serves as the Chairman of the Amakhala Emoyeni Bedford Wind Farm Community Trust, and the Amakhala Emoyeni Cookhouse Wind Farm Community Trust. He also serves as the donor representative on the Board of Trustees of the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm Trust and Amakhala Emoyeni Community Wind Farm Trust.

JASON DE BEER

A mechanical engineer by trade, Jason has 13 years experience in the energy field in Southern Africa, including gas generation, co-generation, solar PV and wind. Jason joined Cennergi in 2012 and was part of the project development team for the 95MW Tsitsikamma Community Wind farm, supporting the development of the project from concept to commercial operation in 2016. Jason has been part of the Cennergi operations team since COD, except for a short stint supporting Exxaro with the execution of a number of solar PV demonstration projects. Jason currently heads the operations team managing Cennergi’s Tsitsikamma and Amakhala Emoyeni Wind Farms, as well some of Exxaro’s PV assets.