Funding Underserved African Energy Markets: Pete Joubert

The Energy Talk - Storytellers of Africa's Energy Transition

CrossBoundary is an investment firm focused on unlocking capital for sustainable growth and strong returns in underserved markets. Identifying Africa as one of the critically underserved markets a decade ago, CrossBoundary began its operations on the continent as an investment advisory for businesses and projects. A few years later, the firm identified an energy access gap on the continent and sought out opportunities to finance and own renewable energy businesses to deliver cleaner and cheaper power to African businesses.

Pete Joubert--Chief Investment Officer and now President at CrossBoundary Energy--joins us in this episode to discuss the early days of CrossBoundary's energy investments, its path to deploying capital in ways that meet Sub-Saharan Africa's needs, and the challenges and learnings the firm has encountered when dealing with public and private stakeholders in the African energy landscape.

Recommended Reading

• CrossBoundary EA Open Source: FINANCING APPROACH FOR MINI-GRIDS
• CrossBoundary fully exits first fund at 15% net IRR
• Blended finance unlocks a cleaner path for growth in Africa

Guest Bio:

Pieter Joubert is currently the President and Chief Investment Officer for CrossBoundary Energy and he's responsible for investment due diligence, project management, business development, and investor relations. Pieter has a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Accounting & Finance and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Bond University in Australia, where he studied as a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar. He is originally from South Africa and has also lived in Zimbabwe and Australia.

Prior to joining CrossBoundary, Pieter worked in J.P. Morgan’s Investment Banking Group in Sydney, where he was responsible for mergers and acquisitions and capital markets coverage and execution, focusing on the diversified industrials, mining services, and infrastructure sectors and transactions ranging from US$200m to US$1.5bn in value.

Learn more about CrossBoundary

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The Energy Talk is a platform dedicated to telling the energy transition story of Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing first on the perspective of Financiers, Policymakers, and Operators devoted to pushing the continent towards a sustainable energy future.

This podcast is hosted by Olubunmi Olajide and produced by Chigozie Ubah.