Hervé Assah

Hervé S. Assah is a national of Congo-Brazzaville with 35 years experience as a senior executive in various fields, including investment banking (corporate finance, project finance and structured finance) and development finance for regional institutions and governments, which has put him at the center of many innovative Public-Private Partnerships, mostly in infrastructure and mineral resources.

He is the Managing Partner of ᴁquaria Capital, a fund management company focused on growth companies in sub-Saharan Africa. After working, half way between industry and banking, as a Deputy Director with the Thales Group’s in-house Investment Bank in Paris, Herve Assah moved fully to banking with Deutsche Bank’s Emerging Markets Group in New York, London and with BNP-Paribas in the same city. There, Hervé led and participated in the teams that originated, structured financing, corporate investment opportunities for debt and equity investments or providing advisory services for large export-oriented companies across Latin America, the Middle-East and Africa.

Subsequently, Hervé worked 25 years for the World Bank Group including IFC’s Oil Gas and Mining Investment Department at the cutting edge of project finance and filled several senior official positions before culminating in the Finance Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice, where he advised governments on strategic sectors of the economy with the objective of improving their competitiveness and attracting increased foreign direct investments.

During that tenure, he went on secondment to the African Development Bank as the AfDB’s Country Manager for Nigeria and Ecowas. He also became a seasoned Non-Executive Director with Africa Reinsurance Corporation and West Africa Development Bank.

Hervé has an MBA in finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, an MSc in International Economics and Finance from Paris Sorbonne University, and a Master of Management and Business Administration from the Institut Supérieur de Gestion, Business School, Paris.