Leadership

Mr. Simon Tiemtore is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lilium Capital, an Africa strategic investment company with targeted sectors of investment in Financial Services, Energy, Hospitality, Agro-processing and FCMG. He has over 18 years’ experience in Legal, Tax, Banking and Financial Services.

Until 2015, Mr. Tiemtore was the Group Head of Corporate Finance and Advisory Services at the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) and a member of the Executive Management Committee. He successfully led several African investment bank and debt capital markets transactions.

Prior to that role, Mr. Tiemtore worked at Morgan Stanley in New York where he successfully led several M&A, asset management and divestiture in the US, Europe and Asia. Prior to that role, he worked at PwC, New York and Skadden Arps, New York.

Mr. Tiemtore is currently involved in several initiatives in Africa. He is a member of the Board of the US Chamber of Commerce- Africa where he co-chairs the Banking and Financial Institutions Task Force and member of the Board of US Chamber of Commerce-Ecowas Initiative.

He is a member of the New-York Bar Association, member of the American Bar Association-Section of International Law, Business and Practice, member of the NYU School of Laws Weinfeld Fellows. He is also a board member of the TEN Children Foundation, which is supporting orphanages across Africa.

Mr. Tiemtore hold an LLM in Laws from New-York University School of Laws and LL.M. in International studies from the American University – Washington College of Law in Washington, DC and a LLB in Laws from the University of Ouagadougou School of Laws.

Mr. Didier Nkiere is the Managing Director of Lilium Capital and also serves as Director on the Board of Lilium Holdings. In his role as MD, he leads the firm’s Investment Banking and Debt Capital Markets Group, Credit Fund and Asset Management initiatives.

Didier contributes close to two decades of experience in financial services, asset management, real estate funds investment, and advisory services. His broad range of capabilities also include portfolio risk management, emerging markets fund research, valuation, and structured trade finance via debt, equity and alternative investment products.

Before his involvement with Lilium Capital, Didier led an investment and operational platform at Cortland Partners, an investment firm with around US$ 8 billion in assets under management.

Prior to his role at Cortland Partners, he held a senior position at TriMont Real Estate Advisors, a real estate fund company, where he actively managed a CMBS
portfolio with a total cumulative value exceeding US$ 2.1 billion. Earlier in his career, Didier served as Risk Manager for SITEL, a global risk management company operating in the financial services sector in over 50 different countries.

He earned a bachelor of science in business management from Alabama A&M University; a masters of business administration with a specialization in finance from Georgia State University; as well as an economics and business administration certificate from the Graduate School of Management at Sorbonne University.

Mr. Rizwan Haider is an international banker currently working as an independent consultant. He is an expert in the economic and financial affairs of the African continent and has an excellent reputation with the Canadian business community active in Africa.

His professional career spans 35 years, during which he has held numerous senior level positions in advisory, banking and financial services.

Between 2011 and 2016, he served as the CEO of Orabank Benin, which serves a diverse customer base in 12 different countries across Central and West Africa.
Despite tough competition in these economies, Orabank completely transformed while Rizwan was at the helm, with net banking revenue increasing more than fourfold from 2010 to 2014.

From 2006 to 2009, Rizwan was the regional manager for Africa at Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s official export credit agency. Here, he significantly increased trade and investment in the African continent and introduced innovative structures such as a 200 million subordinated debt facility for Nedbank South Africa.

Between the years of 2004 and 2005, Rizwan acted as an independent consultant, providing expertise and assistance to banks, financial institutions and corporate clients in the areas of structured trade finance, management and organizational support, private banking, investments, mergers and acquisitions.

Previously, he held the positions of chief operating officer at the Ecobank Group (2001 to 2004); executive director, senior vice president and regional leader for West Africa with the HSBC Group (1998 to 2001); and chief executive officer of Ecobank Benin (1992 to 1998). He is advisor to the board of Canadian Council on Africa and a member of the Canadian International Council. Twice, Rizwan filled the role of president of the Association of Bankers of Benin and he is also the founding president of the American Business Club, Benin.

Dr. Nedelcovych is the Founder and Chairman of AfricaGlobal Schaffer, a strategic consulting firm focused on project development, project finance, trade facilitation, and public-private partnerships in developing countries, with a particular focus on Africa. AfricaGlobal Schaffer (AfGS) is a project developer and boutique consulting firm that provides advisory services to a number of corporations with interests in agro-industry, renewable power and major infrastructure investments. AfGS has also provided advisory and consulting services to a number of African organizations, US government agencies and international financial institutions.

Dr. Nedelcovych sits on numerous corporate and non-profit Boards of Directors, including West Africa LNG, Vista Bank Group, Vista Bank Guinea, Moodai International Bank (in formation), Fayus Inc., BO Group Africa, the Corporate Council on Africa, Invest Africa US, and Niger Delta Partnership Initiative (NDPI). He is a member of the US EXIM Bank Sub Saharan African Advisory Committee and is a former inaugural Member and Co-Chair of the MCC Global Advisory Council.

Dr. Nedelcovych is past President & CEO of the Initiative for Global Development (IGD), a nonprofit organization that engages corporate leaders to reduce poverty through business growth and investment in Africa. During the four years of his tenure (while seconded from AfricaGlobal Schaffer) he had markedly grown the African SME participation in the Frontier 100 Leaders Program, and expanded IGD’s Advisory capacity and strengthened the voice of private sector leaders on development issues.
Prior to his appointment to IGD, Dr. Nedelcovych was a Partner at the Schaffer Global Group (SGG) and became Chairman of Schaffer International, the successor company to SGG. For the Schaffer Group, he led the new project development and financing for a number of agro-industrial projects in Africa and Central America (primarily in the cane sugar and rice sectors) and was the lead Partner in the establishment of the Markala Sugar Project in Mali.

Dr. Nedelcovych served in the Administration of President George Bush from 1989 to 1993 as the U.S. Executive Director to the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. He was instrumental in formulating and executing the "private sector initiative" at the AfDB, including the African Business Roundtable and the African Export-Import Bank. Prior to being named Executive Director to the AfDB, Dr. Nedelcovych held the position of Principal at Arthur Young's International Consulting Group, specializing in privatizations and private investments in Africa.

At the beginning of his career he served in the US Government as Peace Corps Country Director in Gabon, as Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID, and as Special Projects Officer at the US Trade and Development Agency.
He received a BA in Political Science from Yale University, an MA in International Relations from George Washington University, and a PhD in Comparative Political and Economic Development from Florida State University (in conjunction with Mohamed V University in Morocco). He speaks French, Spanish, Italian and Serbian fluently, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese.

Mr. Abib Gaye is a Senior Director at Lilium Capital focusing on digital transformation. A renowned a Fintech expert, he advises government, central banks and large retail banks within emerging markets. He has served as a senior advisor in the implementation of national payment and settle systems, national switch, and the digital transformation for central and retail banks.

Abib has over 24 years’ experience in banking, National Payment System Platform, National Transaction Switch, and National Credit Bureau. In the financial sector, he has led key divisions of business entities, large programs and diverse projects around the globe. His expertise extends to government agencies and international financial institutions such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank (WB) and the African Development Bank (ADB).

Abib has worked in over 40 countries around the world where he has advised governments in the financial sector and platform environment. He is a subject matter expert in technology and strategic business planning, IT portfolio and investment management, project design, financial management, and activities-based costing.

Abib has strong leadership skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all organizational levels, to reach consensus, and solve complex problems.
With his passion for technology, Mr. Gaye uses the latest innovations and solutions to transform banking operations. He is committed to financial inclusion and has implemented a number of initiatives that have helped to reach the unbanked through technology. He sees himself as a lifelong learner and remains abreast with innovations in technology and banking industry.

Prior to Lilium Capital, Abib built his tremendous consulting experience at Cooper&Lybrand, PWC LLP, IBM Corporation, KAM Consulting CIO/Co-Founder, MAP International CTO and the World Bank. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a dual master’s degree in Finance and Computer Information Systems and Technology at Stayer University and Howard University Washington DC.

Mr. Edrissa M. Jobe is the principal promoter of Atlas Energy Limited, one of the Gambia’s most recognized brands with a network of service stations across the country. Edrissa has wide experiences in management decision making and administrative processes, corporate governance, banking, finance, and capital markets. He is a prolific writer, is widely travelled and multi-cultural, with excellent people management skills.

Edrissa joined Shell in 1989 as the sales manager and technical adviser for Shell Gambia. He became the commercial and operations director of Shell Guinea where he was responsible for both marketing and engineering operations, building a network of 36 service stations and an IPP in the gold fields within three years. In Guinea, he also served as the commercial director for Shell Senegal, responsible for retail operations in the Gambia and Guinea Bissau.

He left Shell as the non-fuel retail manager for West and Central Africa, responsible for a network of over 600 outlets and 260 convenience stores in 14 countries. He has vast experience in the marketing, retail management, project finance, petroleum engineering and mining sectors. During the course of his career, Edrissa has served on numerous boards, including the chairmanship of Gamtel, a director at Gipfza, the Hospital Management Board, Icobahd, Gam Petroleum, Gambia Investment Group, First International Bank Ltd, and EM Holdings Ltd (all in the Gambia) as well as First International Bank (Conakry,
Guinea).

In 1981, Edrissa trained as a mechanical engineer at the prestigious UMIST, in the UK, where he also studied hospital engineering. After this, he became Gambia’s first hospital engineer, responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the equipment and medical estate across the country.

Edrissa has a post-graduate diploma in business administration, a BSC in mechanical engineering, and an MBA.

Mr. Yoro M. Diallo is a prominent banker, a financial strategist, a promoter of worldwide trade, and an investment advisor to African governments, international financial institutions, and multi-billion dollar corporates. His international financial advisory career spans 40 years.

His expertise in mergers & acquisitions are frequently sought by large public and private sector organizations. Yoro’s expert advice has enabled both governments and private-sector financial institutions to effectively undertake debt reduction, restructuring and privatization initiatives. He frequently intermediates on cross-border trade flows by providing advisory services to investors active in the African marketplace.

Yoro’s banking service models have been implemented in Citibank, where they were instrumental in establishing the world-renowned bank as the leading financial advisor and clearing bank to m ajor African financial institutions. He was vice president of Citibank Geneva (1991 to 1996) and Citibank New York (1983 to 1991) where he consistently generated over US$ 300 million in average
non-interest bearing deposits and over US$ 600 million in interest-bearing deposits.

Yoro concurrently serves as the managing director of Sahara Financial Management Services; chief financial officer of Tanexco; vice chairman of Signature Africa Ventures Ltd; and director of Global Finance and Capital Ltd, a London-based investment bank. Presently, he serves as director to Genesis Investment and as a board member of United Capital Plc, providing strategic investment services to government and private-sector clients.

Yoro’s close associations with prominent political and business figures from Africa and beyond, as well as his business associations with leading global financial institutions, allow him to be positioned among Africa’s top financial experts and advisors. Yoro has a master’s degree with honors in banking and finance from Saint Mary’s University in California.