Edward is the founder of the Fidelity Group and has been its Chief Executive Officer since inception (1998). Under Edward’s leadership, Fidelity has been able to establish itself as a leader in its markets in Ghana in terms of reputation, profitability and assets under management. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank in Ghana.

Edward has over 20 years experience as a senior finance executive. Previous positions held include: resident Director of Global Emerging Markets Ghana Limited (GEM), Group Risk Manager of Rudolf Wolff, the City of London based derivatives and foreign exchange trader and as a management consultant and audit manager with Coopers and Lybrand, London. He also holds other directorships in  Fidelity Equity Funds Limited, Takoradi International Company Limited, GAFCO Limited and Africa Capital Ghana Limited.

Edward is a chartered accountant by profession and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Ben Zwinkels is a Senior Investment Officer of the FMO. He joined the FMO in 1982 after working for a period of seven years in Africa (in Cameroon and Tunisia) for the Dutch Ministry of International Cooperation.

He has been very instrumental in FMO’s finance for private sector projects in Africa and the establishment of several private equity funds and management companies in several countries in Africa. He has also pioneered several pan-African investment and finance initiatives including the establishment of the €34million AfricInvest Fund (2002) and the highly successful African Venture Capital Association (AVCA) and the AfricInvest Financial Sector Fund (2007).

Through his initiative the FMO has participated in several commercial banks and leasing companies in Africa. He is a member of several boards of directors across several industries (including banking, micro-finance and private equity) and brings to the board extensive cross-cultural and multi-industry experience.

He holds a bachelors degree in Business Economics and Administration from the Business Administration School PREAHEP, Rotterdam and Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Claude Barras is the Managing Director of the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM).

He has more than 17 years experience in co-operation and investment activities with development and transitional countries. Claude started his career with the Swiss Government as an adviser for economic and bilateral relations with Asian countries. Subsequently he moved to Washington DC as the adviser to the Swiss Executive Director at the World Bank Group.

He was the head of the division of SECO in charge of emerging markets from 1999 untill he joined SIFEM as managing director in 2005. He is a member of the board of directors of several funs across Asia and Africa.

Claude holds a Master's Degree in Economics from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).

Aziz is a co-founder of Tuninvest Finance Group (TFG) and the founder of MarocInvest, TFG’s subsidiary in Morocco. He has extensive experience in structuring equity and debt deals in the Maghreb region, and raising funds for corporate and institutional clients. Aziz was voted among the Top 50 managers of the year in Africa by Economia 2003.

Aziz has structured over USD 150 million in financing to local and international corporations and financial institutions in North Africa. He has also led efforts in raising over USD 100 million in private equity funds both locally and internationally and was instrumental in the promotion and establishment of AfricInvest Fund, a pan African private equity fund,  as well as the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA).

Between 1991 and 1994, he was the General Manager of two industrial companies, ILVA Maghreb and Tunisacier International, which are affiliates of ILVA, a large Italian conglomerate, having held various management positions in these companies since 1988. 

He is a graduate of the engineering college, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, France.

Please see Stephen's profile under "Management"