Tanja Havemann
Co-founder, Director
Tanja has over 20 years of experience in environmental finance. She has led mandates with companies, private and public investors, governments, NGOs and foundations on investments, research, strategy development and advisory. Since establishing Clarmondial in 2010, Tanja has launched innovative investment vehicles and successfully linked sustainable natural resources initiatives and capital markets. Tanja has an LLM in Environmental Law and Policy from University of Kent, and an MSc in Applied Environmental Economics (Imperial College London), and a BSc (Hons) in Tropical Environmental Science from University of Aberdeen. She has authored journal articles and papers on blended finance, climate finance, and impact investing. She also serves on the boards of the Sustainable Rice Platform, Centre for Global Advancement and SRI Executive. She was born and raised in Tanzania and Kenya, and speaks English and Danish fluently, and limited German, Portuguese and Swahili.
Fred Werneck
Co-founder, Partner
Fred is a specialist in private investments in emerging markets and financial structuring, with over 25 years of experience across various markets and financial products. He co-founded Clarmondial with Tanja Havemann in 2010, to design and implement investment solutions within the natural resource management sectors. Fred also acted as Chief Investment Officer of IFIT Fund Services from 2013 to 2016. Prior to joining IFIT, he was the fund manager of responsAbility Ventures I, a venture capital fund for businesses that address basic needs of low-income population in emerging markets. During his nearly 5 years at responsAbility, Fred led equity and quasi-equity investments in multiple sectors and continents, heading a team that analysed some 2’000 SMEs and microfinance institutions. He worked in investment banking (M&A) in South America from 1999 to 2006, before earning an MBA at London Business School, and leading climate-related investments at Climate Change Capital, a London-based asset manager. Swiss and Brazilian, Fred is a native Portuguese speaker, is fluent in English and Spanish, speaks French and is learning German.
Kaspar Baumann
Partner
Kaspar has over 15 years of experience in private investments in emerging and frontier markets, primarily in financial inclusion and sustainable natural resource management. Previously, he worked at a Swiss asset manager specialized in impact investments, where he was responsible for private equity investments in financial institutions in 14 countries Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Since 2014, Kaspar is an independent member of the board of directors of an SME-focused bank in North Macedonia. He holds an MSc in Neuroscience from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and an MBA from Saïd Business School (University of Oxford). He speaks German, English, French and Spanish.
Soumaila Diakite
Partner – West Africa
Based in Abidjan, Soumaila was an investment officer at Injaro Investments Ltd, a private equity fund manager specialized in growth equity investing along agricultural value chains in West Africa. He joined Injaro in 2012 and was responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence and transaction structuring on potential investments in the region. Prior to Injaro, Soumaila worked as a project & investment analyst for BNI Gestion, the asset management arm of the National Investment Bank of Côte d’Ivoire. In this role, he structured several mutual fund projects, performed equity research and monitored portfolio companies. Soumaila started his career in the market research service at Orange Côte d’Ivoire after graduating from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce d’Abidjan (ESCA). He holds a Master (MSc.) in Finance from EM Lyon Business School and the Executive Programme on Impact Investing from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Herbert Hatanga
Partner – East Africa
Based in Kenya, Herbert has over 20 years of experience across finance, banking and business operations. In parallel to his mandate with Clarmondial, he is managing the last divestments of an agricultural fund for East Africa. Until 2018, he was Group CFO at Milbridge Holding, a construction material manufacturer, where he oversaw the accounting, fundraising and project management of new initiatives, among other functions. Prior to that, he worked as an Investment manager at Fanisi Capital, building on his previous experience in various roles in banking and venture capital, funding and supporting SMEs across sectors in Rwanda and Uganda. He holds a Bachelor of Statistics from Makerere University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Management from Uganda Management Institute. He speaks English and has limited knowledge of Swahili and is fluent in several local dialects indigenous to Uganda and Rwanda.
Julia Langenegger
Julia has five years of professional experience across three continents with a strong background in strategic business development and analysis, inter alia completing in-depth market research and leading business expansion projects. Most recently she worked at a leading impact investment firm in Switzerland. She holds a B.Sc. in International Hospitality Management from Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne and a M.Sc. in Responsible Management with specialisation in sustainable businesses and human rights from the University of Geneva.
Advisors
Dr. Christine Negra
Christine has a PhD in Soil Science from the University of Vermont and is an internationally recognised expert in sustainable land management. Building on her early career as a soil chemist and agricultural Extension agent, Christine has led research programs for EcoAgriculture Partners, the CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Program (CCAFS), and the H. John Heinz III Centre for Science, Economics and Environment. She has also delivered multi-disciplinary research projects with the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the World Agroforestry Center, the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative, CSIRO, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Based in New York City, Christine’s work emphasizes policy and finance innovation to address climate change and other challenges facing agricultural landscapes.
Christian Speckhardt
Christian led the growth of responsAbility from USD 80 million in 2006 to over USD 3 billion in AUM in 2018 as CIO, member of the investment committee and member of executive management responsible for debt financing activities, origination, portfolio management, risk management, operations and finance. Following a degree in banking & finance, Christian worked at Credit Suisse First Boston’s corporate, investment banking and credit risk departments before joining Zurich Insurance Group’s group treasury corporate finance departments. He later headed the investor relations department of a small listed private equity company and became group treasurer of the Swiss cable and telco company Cablecom (including during its IPO preparations and trade sale).
Dr. Débísí Àràbà
Débísí is a public policy and strategy specialist. He is currently the Managing Director at the African Green Revolution Forum – AGRF, following almost 4 years as the Regional Director for Africa at the CGIAR’s International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), focusing on climate-smart agriculture, building ecosystems action, sustainable food systems and big data. He was previously the Senior Technical Adviser on Environmental Policy to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria and the team leader of the Environment and Climate Change Unit in the Ministry (2012-2015). Débísí holds a MSc in Clean Technology from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, a Doctorate degree from Imperial College London and a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.
Dr. Cathy Farnworth
Cathy is a gender specialist with over 20 years’ experience in pro-poor and gender-responsive value chain development, mainstreaming gender in projects and research, and gender-transformative methodologies. Cathy has a particular interest in change processes and how they are affecting smallholder agriculture systems. She has lived and worked in Madagascar, Kenya, Syria and China, and has obtained significant experience in other countries in Sub Saharan Africa and South and South East Asia. Former employers include the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT), World Vegetable Center, and others. Cathy has a PhD from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and a Masters in Gender Analysis in Development. She is based in Germany, and speaks fluent German and English and limited French. Cathy advises Clarmondial on gender-related topics.
Investment Advisory Committee
In relation to the Food Securities Fund
Frank Hicks
Based in Costa Rica, Frank has circa 30 years experience with sustainable land management investments, including sourcing, investments and technical assistance. He has significant experience with supporting new funds in the sustainable commodities sector, having acted as board chair (and currently as board committee member) to Root Capital and board member to the EcoEnterprises Fund. Frank also has extensive technical know-how through his work with Forest Trends, Rainforest Alliance, TechnoServe, USAID Biodiversity Conservation Network and the Ford Foundation. Frank holds a BA from Stanford in Human Biology and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Danny van Det
Danny has gained vast experience in banking with a focus on agriculture, credit, and risk, both in the Netherlands and abroad. In the Netherlands he has worked both for local banks and the Rabobank HQ until he moved to Tanzania in 2008 to become the Chief Credit Officer and later Chief Risk Officer of the NMB bank. In 2013, he left for Brazil to become Executive Director – Credit for Banco Sicredi (a major cooperative bank). In 2018, Danny returned to Africa to become the Chief Financial & Risk Officer of the Farm to Market Alliance based in Nairobi, Kenya. Since November 2019 he is the Risk Manager of Banco Regional (Paraguay), a Rabobank investee. Danny has a degree in Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and speaks Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spanish and Surinamese.
Jacques Taylor
Jacques has over 20 years of experience in banking, agricultural finance, credit operations and commodity trading internationally, with a particular focus on Sub Saharan Africa. He’s a managing director at CNH Industrial , where he has responsibility for the CASE IH brand in Southern Africa. Previously, Jacques led John Deere’s Agricultural & Turf Sub Saharan African operations, after acting as Managing Director of John Deere Bank in Luxembourg (2015-18) working across the European Union, and John Deere Financial in Sub Saharan Africa and Thailand (2013-15). Prior to joining John Deere, he worked as the Director of Specialized Finance at Stanbic IBTC Bank in Nigeria (2011-12) and Director of Agricultural Banking for Africa at Standard Bank (2008-11). Jacques started his career in positions at Standard Bank (South Africa), Nedbank and Suidewes Co-Op. Jacques is South African. He graduated from UNISA (South Africa) and holds a SAFEX Trader Certificate from the Johannes Stock Exchange.