ACT's management team
• Michael van den Berg – ACT Investment Director
Michael has two decades of experience in impact investing and financial management with a focus on mobilising, managing and deploying funds in food and agriculture across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was the CFO of an agricultural social enterprise in Myanmar and fund manager of the global sustainable agriculture fund at Triodos. He is a director on a number of impact fund boards and has qualifications from Harvard, SOAS and IIMA.
• Fatima-Zohra Yaagoub – ACT Impact Manager
Zohra is an expert in impact quantification, measurement and development finance with a background in strategy, agriculture and public-private partnerships. She has more than a decade of experience with GIZ, UNECE, the OECD, IFAD and Cambridge University CISL on global development issues and impact, a Masters in Public Policy from Sciences Po and Hertie School of Governance and post graduate qualifications from Cambridge University and INSEAD.
Specialist knowledge at the CFC
A range of in-house expertise at the CFC will provide ACT with a wide network of specialists in cross-commodity issues including climate finance, carbon markets and supply chain management as well as broader management support. They include:
• Nicolaus Cromme – Chief Operating Officer. Nicolaus has 23 years of investment experience with KFW and the CFC, holds an MSc in Tropical Agriculture from Hohenheim University and an MBA from Salford, UK.
• Hector Besong – Risk manager. Hector has worked for the CFC for over 7 years. Before CFC, he spent nearly 11 years at Siemens Bank GmbH in various roles, including Risk Manager and Director of Project & Export Finance. Earlier, he was a Partner at FGI Financial Services. Hector holds an MBA from Drexel University.
• Eva M. Johansson – TA Manager. Eva has wide experience of managing complex programmes for USAID and Sida and has a MSc in International Development from the University of Amsterdam.
• Peter Nielsen – Carbon specialist and Impact Investment Manager. Peter has a strong track record in agribusiness, a BSc in economics from SOAS and a MPhil from Cambridge University.
• Tia Sudjarwo – Treasury Assistant. Tia has 25 years of treasury experience, is an ACAMS certified associate in KYC/CDD and holds an accountancy degree from Atmajaya University, Jakarta.
• Michele Schwarz – Head of Accounting & Administration. Michele has an MBA from Heriot Watt University, a BSc in Business Administration and is an anti-money laundering specialist.
SDG - aligned impact is central to ACT
ACT aims to meet criteria under article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), prioritising impact while securing a financial return on investments. ACT targets investments that contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 No poverty, SDG 5 Gender equality, SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth, SDG 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries, SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production, and SDG 13 Climate action.
Sustainability risks management
The CFC’s social and environmental risk management system (SEMS) was co-designed with the International Labour Organisation. ACT will use SEMS to identify social and environmental risks associated with an investment prior to a transaction and during the lifetime of the investment.
Impact assessment
Impact measurement will be appraised by an expert third party at the beginning and end of each investment, with a bespoke approach for investee companies, financial institutions, traders and processors. In addition, investee companies will report their impact on an annual basis to identify areas for impact growth during the investment period and to continually mitigate risks.