J. Kofi Bucknor, Managing Partner (Accra)
Mr. Bucknor leads the investment team. He has over 30 years of investment banking, corporate finance and emerging markets experience. Prior to joining KZAM in 2004, Mr. Bucknor served as Chairman of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Managing Director of CAL Merchant Bank, Treasurer of African Development Bank, and Executive VP at Lehman Brothers. A Ghanaian national and fluent French speaker, he has a BSc in Administration from the University of Ghana and an MBA from Columbia University.
Sofiane Lahmar, Partner & Co-Chief Investment Officer (London)
Mr. Lahmar has over 11 years of experience spanning Private Equity Investing, M&A Investment Banking and Option Trading. Prior to joining KZAM in 2005, he was a Vice President in M&A at JPMorgan in New York where he advised on over US$25 billion worth of M&A transactions. Mr. Lahmar holds a MA in International Economics & Finance from Brandeis University (Boston) and a Master’s Degree from Dauphine University (Paris). Algerian by birth, Mr. Lahmar is a fluent Arabic and French speaker.
Panos Voutyritsas, Partner & Co-Chief Investment Officer (Johannesburg)
Previously, Mr. Voutyritsas worked in investment banking and leveraged finance at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, and was part of the founding team of Soros Real Estate Partners, South Eastern Europe. He has extensive experience in investment banking and private equity. Mr. Voutyritsas has a BS in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.
Nathan Mintah, Partner (Johannesburg)
As a former Director in Global Investment Banking at HSBC and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Project & Trade Finance at Asea Brown Boveri, Mr. Mintah has 20 years of investment banking and operating experience. He worked previously for Morgan Stanley & Co and for Lehman Brothers in New York. Ghanaian by birth, Mr. Mintah holds a BS in Mathematics from Eckerd College and an MBA from Yale School of Management.
Seyi Owodunni, Partner (Accra)
Prior to joining KZAM, Mr. Owodunni was the Chief Financial Officer of Starcomms Plc. He has previous experience in Corporate Finance, Product Management, Operational Optimization, Corporate M&A, Business Development and Auditing with Lucent Technologies and KPMG LLP. Mr. Owodunni hold a BSc in Business Administration from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as well as an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
NanaAma Dowuona, Chief Operating Officer (Accra)
A former Auditor for Deloitte & Touche, Ms. Dowuona has nearly ten years of experience as a corporate lawyer in New York and Accra. Ms. Dowuona holds a BA from Princeton University, a JD from Columbia Law School and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School. She is a Ghanaian national and a fluent French speaker.
Lekan Odugbesan, Vice President (Accra)
Before joining KZAM, Mr. Odugbesan worked at Rothschild, Inc. as an investment banker in the M&A group, and was formerly an investment banker in the technology group at Credit Suisse. He holds a B.Eng (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Liverpool, an MSc in Structural Engineering from Imperial College, University of London and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. A native of Nigeria, Mr. Odugbesan speaks Yoruba and French.
Patrick Duff, Vice President (Johannesburg)
Prior to becoming part of KZAM, Mr. Duff worked in M&A and leveraged finance at Bear Stearns and Co. in New York and held the position of Finance Controller at Cisco Systems in London. He has a BSc.(Hons) in Property Development Economics from the University of Cape Town and an MBA from Duke University. Mr. Duff is fluent in Afrikaans.
Saad Aouad, Vice President (London)
Mr. Aouad has over 3 years of investment banking experience. Prior to joining KZAM, Mr Aouad worked in the Telecoms, Media and Technology Investment Banking Group at JPMorgan. He graduated from EMLyon with a Masters degree in Finance. Moroccan by birth, Mr. Aouad speaks French and Arabic.
Andrea Geisser, Senior Advisor (New York)
Mr. Geisser has over 30 years of investing experience. He was a founder and Managing Director of Fenway Partners, a US$1bn+ buy-out firm. Previous to that, he was a senior partner with Butler Capital where he executed investments representing over US$1bn in capital across a variety of industries. Mr. Geisser also worked for the Agnelli family office and was a portfolio manager with Lazard Freres. He holds a PMD from Harvard University and a BA in Economics from Bocconi University in Milan. He is fluent in French, Spanish and Italian.
The KZAM investment committee participates actively in the review and decision-making with respect to investments. The investment committee members are:
Thomas C. Barry, CEO, Zephyr Management, L.P. (New York)
Mr. Barry has more than 30 years of experience in global fund management and has been investing in Africa since 1994. Prior to founding Zephyr Management, L.P. he was President and CEO of Rockefeller & Co., Inc. where he led the formation and management of private equity companies in 12 countries outside the US. Mr. Barry is a Founder and Director of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA). He has a BA in Latin American Studies from Yale University, an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Richard G. Corey, Managing Partner, Zephyr Management, L.P. (New York)
Prior to joining Zephyr Management, L.P. Mr. Corey was an investment banker in municipal finance with J.C. Bradford & Co. and Wertheim Schroder & Company, Inc. He was a Director of South Africa Capital Growth Fund, Ltd., the first international private equity fund dedicated to South Africa. Mr. Corey received a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, an MA in Administrative Sciences from Yale University, and a BA in Economics from Yale University.
William Garrett, Director, Zephyr Management, L.P. (London)
Mr. Garrett is the senior officer in Zephyr Management’s London office. He is the former Group CEO of Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd. and he has extensive African experience through Fleming Martin, a subsidiary of Robert Fleming, the Continent’s largest investment bank. Mr. Garrett holds a Law Degree from Cambridge University.
J. Kofi Bucknor, Managing Partner (Accra)
Mr. Bucknor leads the investment team. He has over 25 years of investment banking, corporate finance and emerging markets experience. Prior to joining KZAM in 2004, Mr. Bucknor served as Chairman of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Managing Director of CAL Merchant Bank, Treasurer of African Development Bank, and Executive VP at Lehman Brothers. A Ghanaian national and fluent French speaker, he has a BSc in Administration from the University of Ghana and an MBA from Columbia University.
