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People

People are critical to the success of businesses.

We have a diverse, passionate team that believes in the potential Africa offers and has the skills and experience to contribute to the realisation of that potential.

Executive Management Team

Gavin Tipper

Gavin Tipper

Chief Executive Officer

Gavin is a seasoned business leader with over 30 years’ experience in the investment and financial services sectors. His career commenced at KPMG where he was a technical partner. He spent an extended period at Coronation Holdings Limited as Chief Operating Officer and has chaired the boards of several prominent companies. He has been associated with Arise for several years as the chair of the asset management committee.

Esther van As

Company Secretary

With over two decades of expertise as a corporate legal specialist and a trusted advisor, Esther brings a wealth of experience to her role. Before joining Arise in 2018 as Company Secretary, she garnered valuable experience working with international law firms. Esther holds master’s degrees in notarial law and tax law from Leiden University, complemented by postgraduate training at the prestigious Grotius Academie.
Esther van As

Investment Team

Fred Pelser

Gerrit Muller

Senior Investment Director

Gerrit has over 21 years’ experience in the industry, twelve of which were focused on African private equity. Before joining Arise, he was a member of Norfund’s financial institutions department for seven years and sat on the advisory boards of a number of private equity funds. Before Norfund, he was an executive at RMB Corvest, a private equity company in the FirstRand Group. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Transactions, where he performed various due diligence and valuation assignments. Gerrit is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelors and an Honours degree in Commerce and Accounting from the University of Pretoria.

Fred Pelser

Senior Investment Director

Fred has over 20 years’ of experience, 15 of which have been in private equity, largely focused on financial institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Having previously worked for Norfund as a member of the financial institutions department, he uses his extensive knowledge of Africa for the benefit of Arise. Fred is currently responsible for monitoring portfolio companies and identifying and executing new investment opportunities.

Fred is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa) and trained at KPMG. He holds both a Bachelor’s and an Honours degree in Accounting Science.

Fred Pelser
Fred Pelser

Lindani Samkange-Chikumbirike

Investment Manager

Lindani has over 16 years of experience in the investment sector having worked in private equity and corporate finance. He has worked on various M&A transactions across all deal phases and was instrumental in raising capital and the financial turnaround of a broad portfolio of companies in diversified sectors across several African countries.

Lindani holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences double major degree in Economics & Sociology from Africa University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He is also a member of the CFA Society of South Africa, the South African Institute of Financial Markets (SAIFM), the Institute of Risk Managers of South Africa, and the Investment Professionals Association of Zimbabwe (IPAZ).

Andani Madzena

Investment Manager

Andani joined Arise in 2019 as an investment trainee, directly from university. She holds an Honours Degree in Financial Markets from the University of Fort Hare.
Fred Pelser

Ariane Scheepers

Senior Investment Associate

Ariane joined Arise in 2022 as an Investment Analyst and has since gained valuable experience in investment management as a Senior Investment Associate. She is passionate about analysing investments and finding creative solutions that generate meaningful impact and long-term value. Prior to joining Arise, Ariane worked as an analyst in the insurance industry. She holds a BCom Honours degree in Financial Economics from Stellenbosch University.

Value Creation Team

Carla Bester

Head of Risk and Compliance

Carla is a Certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM GARP) and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). She boasts extensive banking and consulting experience across risk management disciplines that include governance, compliance, and operational, liquidity, market, treasury and credit risk. Prior to joining Arise she was a Senior Manager: Financial Services Risk and Regulation at PwC South Africa. Having held management positions at Standard Bank and Absa, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team. She holds a Master of Commerce degree from the University of Johannesburg, an Operational Risk Manager Certificate from the Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA), a Certificate in Financial Engineering and Risk Management from the University of Columbia, and a Bachelors and an Honours degree in Commerce (Economics) from Stellenbosch University.
Carla Bester
Carla Bester

Zahir Essop

Senior Manager: Banking & Innovation

Zahir is an IT and innovation specialist with more than 18 years’ experience. He began his career as a developer on e-business and workforce management systems in the telecommunications sector. Subsequently, he held several roles at Nedbank culminating as the Senior Innovation Strategist in the Retail and Commercial Banking business. During his tenure at Nedbank, he led several innovation initiatives and played an instrumental role in implementing Nedbank’s investments in Ecobank and Banco Único. In addition, he was tasked with the development, operationalisation and management of the post-acquisition programmes for both the Ecobank and Banco Único investments. Zahir holds a Bachelors and an Honours degree in Computer Science, and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Elan Theeboom

Environmental, Social and Governance Specialist

Elan is an ESG specialist with 19 years’ corporate experience. His focus is on enhancing portfolio value across the ‘three capitals’ – financial, social and natural. Prior to joining Arise, Elan worked at an international consultancy, based out of London and Cape Town, where he advised organisations that included listed corporates, various arms of the United Nations, multilateral financial institutions, international private equity firms and other financial institutions. Elan is a Chartered Environmentalist (UK) and a registered professional environmental scientist (South Africa).
Elan Theeboom
Elan Theeboom

Jennifer Green

ESG Associate

Jennifer has 7 years of professional ESG advisory experience and is responsible for assisting with managing and monitoring ESG risks as well as enhancing value across the Arise portfolio. Prior to joining Arise, Jennifer worked at an international consultancy, based out of Cape Town and later Dublin, where she developed expertise across ESG compliance auditing, licensing and permitting, and strategy. Jennifer holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Law from the University of Cape Town and an Honours degree in Geography and Environmental Studies from Stellenbosch University.

Support Team

Zeenat Parker

Zeenat
Parker

Head of Communications

Ton de Bruin

Ton
de Bruin

Finance and Administration Manager

Zeenat Parker

Emile
Oosthuizen

Financial Controller

Christianne Peters

Martine
Gross

Executive Assistant to the CEO and South African Office Manager

Bonita Mallum

Bonita
Mallum

Receptionist