LJD Week 2023 | Financing Energy Transition: Crowding in The Next Generation of Private Investment

Makhtar Diop has been Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) since March 2021. Prior to this appointment, he was the World Bank’s Vice President for Infrastructure, where he led the Bank’s global efforts to build sustainable infrastructure in developing and emerging economies. In this role, he also oversaw the Bank’s critical work in energy, transport, digital infrastructure, and public-private partnerships. Prior to this, Mr. Diop served as the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Director for Finance, Private Sector & Infrastructure in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Country Director for Brazil, and Country Director for Kenya, Eritrea, and Somalia. Mr. Diop has also held government positions, most notably as Minister of Economy and Finance of Senegal. A recognized opinion leader in the economic and social development field, he has been named one of the 100 most influential Africans in the world and received the prestigious Regents’ Lectureship Award in 2015.

                    @Diop_IFC                    @IFC_org

Vera Rechsteiner is Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth. Her practice concentrates on the development, financing, acquisition and disposition of energy, oil and gas, and infrastructure facilities and tax structuring for energy acquisitions and international project development. She has worked on energy, infrastructure and related projects in the U.S. and throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia. Ms. Rechsteiner’s work in the area of international energy transactions has included advising U.S. energy companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions, cross-border acquisitions, joint venture tax-planning, equipment sale and leasing transactions, and the development and financing of energy projects and acquisitions. In addition, she has assisted governments in a number of Latin American countries with the privatization of their energy industries and the restructuring of their energy regulatory frameworks. Ms. Rechsteiner has been named among Latin America’s Top 100 Lawyers for Banking and Finance and Project Finance by Latinvex.

                    @HuntonAK

Demetrios Papathanasiou leads the Global Units of the Energy and Extractives Global Practice of the World Bank. He coordinates the overall strategic direction of the Practice, advances the knowledge and learning agenda for the Bank’s energy and extractives professionals, and oversees corporate reporting, trust funds, and partnerships for the Practice. Dr. Papathanasiou has worked for more than 20 years with the World Bank Group on Energy and Infrastructure in Africa, Latin America, East Europe and the Balkans, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands. He has contributed to developing energy policies in several countries and worked on power generation projects using many diverse technologies: thermal, hydropower, solar, wind, and geothermal. He has led large teams on complex utility and sector reforms, as well as sizeable public-private partnership transactions. As Manager for the Bank’s Energy Practice in South Asia, he was responsible for a portfolio of more than $10 billion.

                    @DemetriosPapat2                    @WBG_Energy

Ettie Philitas is an Executive Director with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where he serves as Head of Infrastructure Debt. He is also a member of the Infrastructure Debt Group’s Investment Committee and a Portfolio Manager. He was previously an Investment Director with Africa50’s Project Finance team where he originated and managed infrastructure investments across Africa. Prior to that, Mr. Philitas was an Associate with the Private Credit team at KKR, where he focused on direct lending, opportunistic credit, special situations, and equity investments. He has also worked with the Private Debt team at Muzinich & Co. and with the Leveraged Finance Origination & Restructuring group at Credit Suisse, where he advised clients on over $19bn of high-yield and leveraged loan financings and provided dedicated coverage to issuers in the Power & Utilities space. Mr. Philitas began his career as an Analyst with Deutsche Bank’s Private Wealth Management group in New York.

                    @Ettie_Philitas                    @WBG_Energy

Sameena Dost is Senior Counsel in the Structured Finance and Guarantees Unit of the Legal Department of the World Bank. She focuses on the World Bank’s structured finance and guarantee operations, including pan-World Bank Group platforms such as the Scaling Solar Program. She has also worked on the Bank’s lending operations, focusing on the energy and infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. Dost had worked as a litigation attorney with the World Trade Organization in Geneva. She began her career as an investment banker at Credit Suisse in energy and oil and gas in New York and London. Ms. Dost holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University and graduate degrees from University of Oxford and Harvard Law School. She is admitted to the bar in New York and Mumbai.