Team

Paulo has over 25 years’ experience in the public and private sectors, serving in senior positions at institutions such as the World Bank and the West African Development Bank (BOAD). He has assisted heads of state and governments on key projects throughout the African continent. He is also a founding member of the Green Climate Finance Fund, the world’s largest dedicated fund to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to respond to climate change, which was set up by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He is also a member of the BioGuinea Foundation, formed to protect the biodiversity of Guinea Bissau and to serve as long-term financing mechanism for managing its parks and biodiversity.

He is the Founder of Constelor Holdings and Co-Founder of New African Capital Partners, a pan-African investment platform focused on delivering financial and social returns. He also serves on the board of the COVID-19 Response Fund set up by the African Union (AU)/the Africa Center Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). He is also a founding member and the Co-Chairman of the AfroChampions Initiative. Paulo has served on the boards of firms such as AFIG, Asky Airlines and Ecobank. He is a founder of the South East Asia-Africa Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Advisory. He is also a senior advisor to PIL Group. Paulo holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics from ILERI, Paris and a Masters Degree from Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He was also recently appointed as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow for the Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School (NTU – SBF) Center for African Studies, in Singapore.

Mr Ometoruwa has been in international banking for 35 years, based in Nigeria, Egypt and USA.

After graduating with a First Class B.Sc degree in Finance from the University of Lagos Nigeria, he began his career as a Credit and Marketing Analyst for Chase Manhattan Bank in Lagos, before moving on to the Bank of Boston as General Manager in their Lagos, London and Boston offices.

After that, he held the Strategy Consulting role with Standard Bank of South Africa (Stanbic Nigeria) in Lagos.

Appointed First Nigerian Board Executive Director of Citibank Nigeria and Regional Director of Corporate Project Finance and Investment Bank, Citigroup West Africa and later the Middle East North Africa (MENA) in 2001.

He left Citigroup in 2007 to found as its pioneer President and CEO, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).

A long term trusted adviser of the Dangote Group and recently Group Executive Director of Corporate Finance and Treasury.

Founded and manages his US Massachusetts based family-owned Boston Trico Capital LLC and Trico Capital International Limited, providing capital structuring and financial advisory for infrastructure, natural resources and conservation finance investment assets for African Development.

Mr Ometoruwa is Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Itsekiri Trust Fund, the largest oil and gas producing Itsekiri royal community in the Delta of Nigeria.

Otmane is the former Executive Vice President, Legal and Corporate Affairs of OCP Group, a global leader in the fertiliser industry based in Morocco, a geo-strategic role in an industry essential for global food security. He oversaw a team of 65 professionals spread across the legal, compliance, corporate governance and corporate affairs departments. Otmane has extensive experience in M&A transactions, financing, international debt capital markets, institutional architecture design and development as evidenced by his role in developing OCP’s 50+ domestic and international subsidiaries and affiliates.

He served as a member of finance and investment committees and has held board seats in Africa, Amsterdam, Paris, New York and Switzerland. Otmane was the Group lead in negotiating and shaping policy and regulatory issues with various international policymakers and regulators. He left OCP in 2020 to set-up an international legal and corporate affairs advisory firm focused on international investments to and from Africa.

Otmane is a licensed attorney and a member of good standing of the Canadian Bar. He obtained a B.A in Economics and Managerial Studies from Rice University in Houston, Texas and his Law Degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He also holds two Executive Master’s Degrees from HEC, Paris and MIT.

Chief Economist Kahwa Douoguih brings her unique international, multi-sector experience in both the private and public sectors to the Orango team.

Her early experience in mining and commodities analysis at the International Monetary Fund and Inco (now Vale) sparked her interest in the global economic systems that affect African economies. As an entrepreneur, Kahwa has founded and advised early-stage mining and technology ventures in the US and Africa and is currently developing curriculum for the 21st century workforce. Kahwa has a practical and broad-based understanding of the complex and interconnected factors that have driven the African development success stories in recent years and that will facilitate future successes. Kahwa holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland, a MS in Mineral Economics from Colorado School of Mines and a BA from Stanford University.

Eric has over 30 years’ experience in the banking and investment industry. He starting his banking career at the World Bank Finance Complex managing billions of dollars in multi-currency liquidity portfolios, and advising member governments on sovereign asset-liability management totaling over $100 bn in central bank reserves. He also advised on portfolio and transactions structuring, risk management and capacity building. He successfully launched Gravitas Capital, a boutique asset management company advising over $1.5 bn in central bank foreign exchange reserves, national insurance schemes and pension assets in Africa and the Caribbean – a model subsequently used by the World Bank Group to stabilise its revenues. He subsequently launched award-winning Homestrings, a diaspora investment and research platform, which invested over $30 million in 13 countries over 25 projects ranging from infrastructure to financial services. Homestrings’ success has led to advising USAID, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank and World Bank/IFC on diaspora finance solutions across Eastern Europe (Ukraine), Southeast Asia, (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia), Africa (Francophone Commonwealth), and the Caribbean (Jamaica, Haiti).

Eric is a graduate of Cheikh Anta Diop University, in Senegal, Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh, and Harvard Business School (MBA), where he was World Bank Scholar and was awarded a Harvard Fellowship.

Rebecca is a seasoned investment professional with a background in management and strategic consulting. She is the Managing Director, Investments, National Vision Binladin Holding Co. (BHC), covering the investment portfolio of the Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), the largest family-owned conglomerate in the Middle East, with over US$10bn in its portfolio and over 400 holdings. She is also a board member of Growthgate Capital, a private investment firm engaged in direct equity investments with a focus on the middle market segment, with a USD 400-500mn portfolio.

She spent 10 years with A.T. Kearney working in the Middle East and Australia. She was also Senior Manager – Strategy, Real Estate and Banking at Macquarie Bank. Rebecca is also experienced in corporate strategy, operating model development and performance improvement; strategic due diligence, investment and business strategic review and M&A; executive management reorganisation and cost reduction; as well as investment and portfolio management. Her accomplishments also include Angel Investing across e-commerce, digital media and content development, legal tech and others, with four individual direct investments to date. Rebecca holds a BA in Journalism from the University of South Australia and a Master of Commerce, International Business from the University of New South Wales.

Tosan is a scientist and strategist with over 17 years of experience in natural resources and ventures. He has international technical, finance and management experience with BP, Ivanhoe Capital, Westbridge Energy and Kaptepia Capital.

At BP, Tosan was integrally involved in the exploration and development of numerous major capital projects in Angola, US Gulf of Mexico and Trinidad.

After BP, Tosan joined Ivanhoe Capital Corporation (ICC) as Executive Vice President – Energy Ventures covering Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East reporting directly to ICC Founder Robert Friedland. At ICC, Tosan collaborated with stakeholders to originate and develop new energy projects and technologies using various venture capital and project finance strategies and worked to structure over $250 million in the process.

After his time at ICC, Tosan was appointed CEO and Director of Canadian, publicly listed Westbridge Energy. Tosan then Co-Founded and is Executive Director of Kaptepia Capital, a boutique ventures and advisory enterprise dedicated to advancing human society through a clear triple bottom line strategy and a focus on natural resources, startup ventures and technology.

Tosan holds a bachelor’s degree from the Colorado School of Mines in geological engineering, a master’s degree in geology from the University of Oklahoma and certificates in global executive management from IE Business School.

Charmaine is a legal and business management professional with a focus on global investments and international commerce, with in-house and private practice experience. Before joining Orango, she was the legal and compliance counsel for a defense conglomerate based out of Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Charmaine holds a first class LLB Honors degree and an International Business diploma from Middlesex University London. She is currently pursuing her CFA designation and legal qualification in the State of New York.