Bruno Wenn is the Chairman of EDFI, serving in an individual capacity. Bruno Wenn was the Chairman of the Management Board of DEG from October 2009 until June 2018. Prior to that he had been working for KfW Bankengruppe since 1982, in his last position he was responsible for the Regional Division Sub-Saharan Africa. Bruno Wenn began his career as a trainee with KfW in Frankfurt after graduating from University of Bonn with a degree in economics and a post graduate training programme in development economics at the German Development Institute, Berlin. Bruno Wenn is an Honorary Member of the German Business Associations for Africa, Hamburg/Berlin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of AFOS Foundation for entrepreneurial Development, Cologne, Member of the Advisory Board of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Lagos, and Member of the Board of various cultural Associations in Cologne.

Ms. Baldino holds an Honours Degree in Economics from the Sapienza University in Rome and an MA in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

Since 2018, she has been the Chief International Development Finance Officer at Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. and board member of The Marguerite Fund, Credito Sportivo and Fintecna S.p.A.. She has been a Director on the Board of Terna S.p.A. since 18 May 2020.

She joined Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in 2015, where she held the position of Chief Business Officer until 2018. Previously, Ms. Baldino worked for key international financial institutions in the corporate, investment banking and research sectors, focusing on infrastructure, as well as public and development finance.

At the beginning of her career, Ms. Baldino served as an economist at the World Bank in the Central Western Africa Department and at The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Maria Håkansson is CEO of Swedfund, the Swedish Governments Development Finance Institution. Swedfund’s goal is to fight poverty through the creation of sustainable businesses in developing countries and thereby to contribute to Agenda 2030. Maria Håkansson is a business-oriented executive with experience from finance, M&A, sales, digitalization and new business models. She has a strong track record in building sustainable businesses and a long experience from leading global multi-cultural teams. Before joining Swedfund, Maria gained 20 years’ experience from a variety of senior positions at Ericsson, notably in her last position as Head of Internet of Things .

Françoise LOMBARD was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Proparco by the Board of Directors on 25 March 2022. 

She began her career in 2008 at the Directorate for Financial Affairs of the Ministry of Defence as Deputy Director then Director of the Budget Summary Office. She joined the Treasury Directorate of the Ministry of Finance in 2011, where she was responsible for franc zone monetary cooperation agreements between France and West Africa.

She joined Agence française de développement Group in 2016 as Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Executive Committee on 1 January 2018. 

Françoise LOMBARD graduated from Sciences Po and is an alumna of the National School of Administration.

Nick O’Donohoe joined BII (previously CDC) as its Chief Executive in June 2017 and is also a member of the BII Board. He was previously a Senior Adviser to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where he specialised in the use of blended finance models to support the work of the Foundation.

Prior to taking this role, Nick co-founded, with Sir Ronald Cohen, Big Society Capital (BSC). He served as its Chief Executive Officer from 2011 to December 2015. BSC is an independent financial institution established by the UK Government as “the world’s first social investment bank” and is capitalised with unclaimed UK bank accounts and investment by the largest UK banks.

Previously Nick worked at JP Morgan, latterly as Global Head of Research. He was a member of the Management Committee of the Investment Bank and the Executive Committee of JP Morgan Chase, as well as the senior sponsor for JP Morgan’s Social Finance  Unit. Nick co-authored “Impact Investments: An Emerging Asset Class”, published by JP Morgan and the Rockefeller Foundation in November 2010. Prior to JP Morgan, he spent fifteen years at Goldman Sachs.

Nick served as Chairman of the UK Dormant Assets Commission which reported in March 2017. He is also a board member of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and Deputy Chairman of the Global Steering Group on Impact Investment.

Luuk  Zonneveld is Chief Executive Officer of the Belgian Investment  Company  for  Developing Countries (BIO) since December 2012.

Luuk Zonneveld has worked in development since the 1980s, in particular in the promotion and financing of the private sector.

From 2008 to 2012, he was Managing Director of the Belgian non-profit  organisation Vredeseilanden. Previously, he was one of the architects of the success of Fairtrade labeling, as Managing director of its global umbrella Fairtrade International in Bonn, from 2001 to 2007.

After graduating in Psychology, Sociology and Economics in France and the Netherlands, he started his career as a journalist. Later he held various positions in the international trade business and within NGOs and organisations active in North-South Cooperation such as Oxfam, in the Netherlands, Germany and Cuba.

Nanno is the Honorary Chairman of EDFI. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the &Green Fund.

Nanno serves on the advisory boards of Forum International and Commonland. He is senior fellow of the World Resources Institute, a global research institute that focuses on critical issues at the intersection of environment and development.

Nanno served on the Management Board of the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) for 21 years, first as CFO and from 2008 to 2016 as CEO. He started his career with FMO in 1987 as an Investment Officer at the SME department. Prior to joining FMO, Nanno gained experience in development finance in the private sector while working for nearly 10 years in Peru, Mexico and Nicaragua.

Colin Buckley is Managing Director & General Counsel at BII and Interim General Manager at EDFI.

Colin Buckley is responsible for British International Investment’s relations with external stakeholders and oversees legal, compliance, business integrity and communications functions. He has previously held the positions of Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy. He joined British International Investment in 2013.Prior to joining BII, Colin was Executive Director at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Colin began his career in international development working for the International Finance Corporation, ultimately managing IFC’s corporate governance projects in the former Soviet Union. He then joined the Millennium Challenge Corporation as Country Director for the Republic of Georgia, overseeing the building of highways, rehabilitation of gas pipelines, and establishment of the first investment fund in Georgia. After the Russo-Georgian war of 2008, he advised the Prime Minister of Georgia on the country’s economic reconstruction. Prior to his work in international development, Colin practiced as a US attorney and a UK solicitor in Boston and London. In 2000, he represented FICS, a Belgian company, in the first cross-border internet transaction over $1 billion.

Laure Blanchard-Brunac is the Director of Policy & Partnerships of the Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI). Laure’s main areas of expertise are investment, development finance and EU policy. Prior to her role at EDFI, she worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction Development in various senior functions, and at the European Commission, and French Development Finance Institution PROPARCO. After spending more than 10 years executing debt and equity transactions, Laure has contributed to the implementation of key EU policy initiatives, including EU financial instruments. Laure has also been recently appointed as Investment Committee member of InvestEU, an EU flagship initiative to support sustainable investments in the EU. Laure holds a postgraduate Grande Ecole degree from HEC Paris.

mathilde.poncelet@edfi.eu