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EDFI appoints Luuk Zonneveld as Chairperson and David Kuijper as General Manager during Annual Meeting

25.05.2023

EDFI, the Association of European Development Finance Institutions, announced today, at the Annual Meeting in Copenhagen, the appointment of Luuk Zonneveld as the Chairperson. Additionally, David Kuijper is appointed as the new General Manager, taking the role on 1 September 2023.

Luuk Zonneveld, who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), brings a wealth of experience to his new role. He has been actively involved in the development sector since the 1980s, specializing in promoting and financing the private sector. Notably, Mr. Zonneveld played a key role in the global success of Fairtrade labelling as the Managing Director of Fairtrade International in Bonn from 2001 to 2007. With a background in Psychology, Sociology, and Economics, he began his professional journey as a journalist before transitioning to various roles in international trade businesses, NGOs, and organizations active in North-South Cooperation such as Oxfam, in the Netherlands, Germany, and Cuba. Since becoming CEO of BIO in 2021, Luuk Zonneveld oversaw BIO’s doubling of activity and its establishment of the SDG Frontier Fund, which enables institutional and private investors to co-invest with BIO. Luuk Zonneveld has been a EDFI’s Board of Directors member since 2020. Additionally, he chairs EDFI’s member DFIs’ Task Force on EU Partnership, significantly strengthening European Development Finance Institutions’ collaboration as part of Team Europe.

Expressing his gratitude, Mr. Zonneveld stated, “I am honoured to lead the EDFI board and remain committed to enhancing our unique collaborative approach and driving innovation in development finance. EDFI harnesses the collective strength of diverse national investment institutions with a shared mission of sustainable development, which we aim to further through strategic partnerships with other organizations dedicated to improving livelihoods through supporting private businesses in developing countries.”

David Kuijper, who currently serves as the Manager of Public Investment and Blended Finance at FMO – EDFI’s Dutch member, based in The Hague, brings diverse experience to his new role as EDFI’s General Manager. With a strong background in public finance, diplomacy, and development, began his career as an Advisor in the Dutch Parliament. He subsequently joined the Netherlands Foreign Service in 1998, where he held various positions, including Deputy Director for Environment, Climate, Water, and Energy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands to Pakistan, Senior Advisor to the Netherlands Executive Director in the Board of the World Bank, and Head of the Development Cooperation program at the Netherlands Embassy in Accra, Ghana. He is an alumnus of the Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and University College Dublin, Ireland.

Regarding his new role, David Kuijper stated, “I am delighted to join EDFI as General Manager and contribute to the vital work of European Development Finance Institutions. I believe in the power of finance as a catalyst for sustainable development, and I look forward to collaborating with EDFI members and with EDFI partners to drive positive change and create lasting impact.”

The appointments of Luuk Zonneveld as Chairperson and David Kuijper as General Manager mark an important milestone for EDFI, reinforcing its commitment to fostering sustainable development and inclusive growth across Europe.

 

For further information, please contact:

EDFI Communications Department

Email: n.lakovic@edfi.eu

 

About EDFI – the Association of European Development Finance Institutions:

EDFI promotes the work of 15 bilateral European development finance institutions that invest in the private sector in emerging and frontier markets to create jobs, boost growth, and fight poverty and climate change. Since EDFI was set up in 1992, its members have invested in approximately 15,000 projects, and they now manage a combined investment portfolio of US$50 billion across financial services, clean energy, industry, and many other sectors in more than 100 countries. A significant share of this portfolio is climate finance. An important part of EDFI’s work is to promote financial cooperation between its members and with the EU institutions, and for this purpose, EDFI has established the EDFI Management Company and other joint financing facilities.