The CDFS is governed by an independent board of directors and led by a management team with extensive experience in development finance and capital markets.

Team Category

Thomas Venon

Executive Director

Thomas Venon
Executive Director

Thomas is executive director of the CDFS and a founding partner at Eighteen East Capital. Thomas has 20 years’ experience in the asset management industry including as head of institutional business at African Alliance, a director at S&P Fund Research, and senior positions at RBS/ABN Amro and Old Mutual. He holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town and a Master’s in Applied Finance from the University of Melbourne.

Dave Portmann

Senior Advisor

Dave Portmann
Senior Advisor

Dave co-founded Eighteen East Capital in 2015 and is a senior advisor to the CDFS. He gained extensive experience across Africa during his time as a senior consultant at Douglas Parker Associates. He also spent four years in general management at USABCO. Dave was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa and holds B.Sc. (Hons) and MBA degrees from the University of Cape Town.

David Escoffier

Senior Advisor

David Escoffier
Senior Advisor

David is a partner at Eighteen East Capital and CEO of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility. An experienced banker he most recently held senior management positions as Global CEO of Newedge and Deputy Head of Global Markets at Société Générale. David has also served on several corporate boards, including Lyxor Asset Management. David is a graduate of Sciences-Po Lyon.

Wuraola Okuwobi

Associate

Wuraola Okuwobi
Associate

Wuraola is a Master’s in Finance student at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE). As a Wallenberg fellow, she completed an internship GEF Capital Partners. Prior to SSE, Wuraola worked in the international tax divisions at PwC and Andersen where she advised multinationals and domestic group companies on related party transactions. In addition she sits on the board of Green Growth Africa (formerly ISNAD-Africa).