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
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.
Albert Jonkergouw
Chief Financial Risk Officer
Albert has over four decades of experience in the banking, auditing, and insurance sectors, locally and abroad. Prior to joining Arise, he held several senior positions at leading financial and insurance institutions in the Netherlands, as well as at NMB Bank in Tanzania and ABSA Bank in South Africa.
Albert has served on several bank boards in Africa. He is a certified board professional and holds a Certificate in the Theory of Accountancy (CTA) and a B. Compt Honours degree. He also has financial certifications from NOREA (Netherlands Order of Registered IT Auditors), the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) and Nyenrode Business University.
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.
Investment Team
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.
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
Senior Investment Associate
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.
Ariane Scheepers
Investment Associate
Ariane joined Arise in 2022 as an Investment Analyst and has gained valuable investment management experience in her current role as an Investment Associate. Before 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.
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).
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
Head of Communications
Ton
de Bruin
Finance and Administration Manager
Emile
Oosthuizen
Financial Controller
Martine
Gross
Executive Assistant to the CEO and South African Office Manager
Christianne
Peters
Executive Assistant to the CFRO and Dutch Office Manager
