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Copyright 2024 The Future of Energy

JEROME CHIMPHONDA

ASSOCIATE

Jerome is a senior associate at TFE and an off-grid renewable energy social and policy expert. He has 8 years of experience, which includes on-ground research surveys to evaluate how off-grid energy access contibutes to just energy transitions and facilitation of renewable energy courses at tertiary education level. He plays a key role in some of our high-profile projects with RTI International and NEFCO. Fluent in English and Chichewa, Jerome is originally from Lilongwe, Malawi and is now based in our office in Cape Town.

Dr. Tobias Engelmeier

Co-founder and strategic advisor

Tobias is our co-founder and continues to deliver strategic input in the expansion of TFE. Through the founding of VIDA.place in Germany, Bridge to India in India and TFE in South Africa, Tobias has established himself as an expert in emerging markets, distributed renewable energy business models, digital technologies, and the financing of distributed renewables. He has provided consulting services to energy industries in many sub-Saharan African countries and has advised governments on electrification planning and developed and raised infrastructure investment. Tobias holds a doctorate in political science.

LINDA SIBISI

Energy analyst

Linda Sibisi focuses on the intersection of environmental science, climate law, and renewable energy, advocating for sustainable and just transitions within the energy sector. His work includes research in climate change law, environmental impact assessments, and waste characterization. He holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Environmental & Geographical Science and Politics, a Bachelor of Science Honours in Environmental Management, and is currently pursuing an MPhil in Climate Change and Sustainable Development.

Nichola Richards

Project Manager

Nichola is a social scientist with expertise in energy transitions, energy policy and power sector reform. Nichola holds an MPhil in Sustainable Development and is an expert in the role of development finance in facilitating energy transitions. Since joining TFE in 2023, she has been managing one of our cornerstone projects with GET.invest and leading the structuring of bids for new impact-focused projects with development finance institutions.

Kelvin Kamande

Chief Data Scientist

Kelvin is a machine learning specialist with experience in feature engineering, machine learning model generation and model performance testing. Since 2020 Kelvin has worked on TFE projects across multiple sub-Saharan African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Mali and South Africa. He is also involved with our Superpower Africa Fund, where he builds yield prediction algorithms for mini grid connections using Python time-series prediction algorithms and analyses consumer survey data for energy consumption prediction. Kelvin knows his way around smart meter data – his work on clustering of mini grid consumers using their smart meter data and integration of GIS data with smart meter data for improved customer identification is central to our outputs. He holds a Master of Science in Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda.

DR. SAM DUBY

Managing Director

Multi-award winning innovator and thought leader in the energy access and frontier technology space, Sam has 15 years of field experience in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Sam leads our work on developing the Superpower Africa Fund, our upcoming receivables financing platform and is also involved in execution of our consulting work. Previously founding one of the pioneering mini grid and smart meter companies in Kenya has given him a deep understanding of the market dynamics that influence the success or failure of energy projects and practical experience with data and hardware in challenging environments. Sam holds a PhD in Low Cost Renewable Energies from Brunel University in the UK.

André Troost

Director of Consulting

André leads our consulting unit, bringing 10 years of experience improving the economics and tailoring the business models of distributed renewables in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. He joined TFE in its beginning days back in 2017, after completing his MPhil in Sustainable Development (Renewable Energy Economics) from Stellenbosch University. Over the last seven years, he has worked on the renewable energy markets of 15 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Djibouti and Myanmar. An expert in growing the markets for mini grids, solar home systems, captive power, clean cooking and electric mobility, André has a particular knack for getting down to the details: Running the numbers on techno-economic models, assessing the effects of taxes on the sector, mapping funding flows and presenting data-backed outputs to our clients.