2023 JURY

Sumaya Mahomed is a seasoned sustainable development and energy access expert with over 16 years of experience in renewable energy infrastructural projects. She established Wekeza Energy in 2018 and has led the Uganda Integrated Energy programme for four years, managing day-to-day operations, developing strategies, and managing stakeholders. Sumaya has contributed to the development of Isolated Grid Regulations in Uganda, making it more conducive for the adoption of mini-grids. Sumaya's expertise spans technical implementation, strategy, policy, and business modeling, impacting Uganda's policies to ensure integrated energy adoption. Sumaya has also managed the City of Cape Town's Energy Efficiency Demand Side Management program, which included renewable energy. This led to the piloting of one of the first captive solar projects and the development of Cape Town's Small Scale Embedded Generation Guidelines. The City of Cape Town has won numerous awards, including ESKOM's 2012 ETA Award and an honorary award from the World Green Building Council for Energy Efficiency. Sumaya was recognized as the best capital project manager in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and was the lead on C40's Municipal Energy Efficiency Network. In 2022, she received the international award for best Energy Manager in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Association of Energy Engineers. Sumaya continues to work on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and smart metering projects in South Africa and East Africa, ensuring efficient monitoring and utilization of energy in the built environment. She is a board member of the Institute of Energy Professionals Africa and Enlit Conference.

Grace is the Operations Director at the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA), which represents private utilities developing small, renewable, and decentralized power grids in Africa. Grace has worked previously with Renewvia Energy, a minigrid developer; SparkMeter, a smart metering supplier; and Power Africa at USAID.

Sahele is the Energy Access and Transitions Programme manager at the African Climate Foundation (ACF), which is the first African-led strategic climate change grant-making foundation on the continent that works to identify strategic opportunities to support adaptation, resilience, and mitigation initiatives and to unlock new opportunities for sustainable development in Africa. Before joining ACF, Sahele was a Senior Power Engineer at the African Development Bank’s Ethiopia office, where he managed the bank's energy portfolio of projects in Ethiopia, worked on structuring of new energy projects and provided technical support on policy in the energy sector and other areas relevant to energy, environment and climate change. He was also director for Energy Study and Development at the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia, where he was responsible for national initiatives concerning energy sector policy, strategy and program formulation, initiatives shaped by a climate-resilient green economic development strategy and the need to secure access to sustainable energy for all. He had also worked at the national electricity regulator and the national electricity utility in Ethiopia in various capacities. He is an electrical engineer by training.

Adel is an Investment Director at Meridiam, he is currently involved in the development and investment of a wide array of infrastructure projects in North and West Africa. Before joining Meridiam, Adel was a Director at Renewable Energy Partner (“RnE”) a project development company and advisory boutique firm specializing in renewable energy projects in the Middle East and Africa. Prior to RnE, Adel worked at leading law firms in Paris and London. He was involved in the financing of energy and infrastructure transactions around the world. He is a qualified Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales as well as being admitted to the New York Bar.

Soustain Chigalu is the President of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi (REIAMA) and co-founder and Operations Director of INFLO LTD. At REIAMA he provides strategic to support sustainable and renewable energy project developers, off-grid SHS companies and energy professionals. At INFLO he leads renewable energy projects design and implementation for homes, SMEs, health facilities and commercial & industry (C&I) sectors. Soustain has 20 years industry experience spanning ICT, automotive and renewable energy industries.  Soustain Chigalu advises Malawi Government as a consultant on quality assurance for off-grid solar and mini-grids under the Malawi Energy Access Project (MEAP) funded by the World Bank. Soustain is a qualified electrical engineer, chartered marketer, member of the Malawi Engineering Institution (MEI) and Project Management Institute (PMI). As a member of the Global Policy Working Group for GOGLA, Soustain Chigalu advocates for favourable national policies for off-grid solar, e-waste management, productive use of renewable energy and universal energy access for developing nations.

Tanya is Head of Renewable Energy at GIB Insurance Brokers in South Africa. She is a specialist in providing bankable insurance solutions to projects to satisfy the Lenders requirements and have been involved with placing insurance programs since 2010, when the initial energy transition started via the REIPPP (Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Program). She has placed insurance programs for Wind, Solar, Biogas and Hydro and very involved with solar PV rooftops as well, in South Africa and on the Africa continent. Tanya, together with the GIB Team, have assisted many large Independent Power Producers with their insurance requirements, in reaching financial close and assisting clients with the remainder of the PPA (Power Purchase agreement) to effectively respond to the Project Owners’ needs.

Russell Lyseight is the Global Distributors Collective Head. Russell’s diverse professional background spans fifteen years in the UK financial services industry, two years in UK manufacturing and four years running LMD, Vitalite Zambia. He has served on the Boards of three UK-based nonprofits in the health, social housing and education sectors. Russell was Vice Chair of the local solar industry trade association in 2020 before stepping down in 2021 and was a member of the GDC Advisory Council in 2021/22. His expertise covers business transformation, organisational culture development, risk management, financial services and project.