Peter George co-leads Spark+ Africa Fund, a $64 million Luxembourg-based impact fund managed by Enabling Qapital and backed by DFIs, pension funds, family offices, and foundations. Spark+ finances clean and modern energy solutions for cooking in Africa, often leveraged by climate finance. Peter also Chairs the Board of Stichting Modern Cooking, a Dutch Foundation which manages the fund’s Technical Assistance Facility and holds a 50% stake in its Luxembourg-based General Partner. Finally, Peter serves as a Director on the Board of Impact-Linked Finance Fund, a Dutch Foundation that acts as an operating platform for fund managers to deploy a variety of non-repayable and repayable financial instruments that link financial terms to realized outcomes, creating greater alignment between finance and impact.
Peter has 20 years of experience mobilizing capital in the renewable and traditional energy industries and climate finance space, having spent most of his career working across Africa as well as developing Asia and Latin America. Peter’s involvement in impact investing and development finance followed his experience in bulge bracket investment banking and private equity, having started his career as an analyst and then senior analyst in the energy group at Merrill Lynch and later as an associate at ArcLight Capital Partners, at the time one of the world’s largest energy-focused PE firms.
Peter holds dual citizenship in the United States and the United Kingdom and is a permanent resident of the Netherlands.
Peter has 20 years of experience mobilizing capital in the renewable and traditional energy industries and climate finance space, having spent most of his career working across Africa as well as developing Asia and Latin America. Peter’s involvement in impact investing and development finance followed his experience in bulge bracket investment banking and private equity, having started his career as an analyst and then senior analyst in the energy group at Merrill Lynch and later as an associate at ArcLight Capital Partners, at the time one of the world’s largest energy-focused PE firms.
Peter holds dual citizenship in the United States and the United Kingdom and is a permanent resident of the Netherlands.
Sara Shoff is the Program Manager leading GARI’s efforts in the Climate Adaptation Innovation Learning (CAIL) initiative and growing GARI’s global network and impact. Prior to GARI Sara led operations and impact at Provenance Capital Group, a start-up investment advisor focused on regenerative food and agriculture. Earlier she led Oikocredit US’ efforts to re-enter the US retail impact investing market. Sara started her career as an agro-forestry extension agent with the US Peace Corps in Senegal then support the US’s international development finance institution by implementing environmental and social safeguards. Sara holds a BS in Environmental Management from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Xavier Pierluca is an investment professional with 25 years’ experience, 20 of which are in the field of impact investing managing both private equity and debt funds. He has structured and raised several pioneering funds in clean cooking, access to energy, microfinance, fintech, SME finance, and healthcare for over USD 1 bn with family offices, DFIs and Institutional Investors through plain vanilla and blended finance structures.
Prior to launching Enabling Qapital, he was a founding Partner at SIMA where he structured, raised and managed one of the largest solar off-grid solar debt fund. He also engages in Corporate Finance Advisory and has led the valuation and fundraising of one of the largest global microfinance group.
Prior to SIMA, Xavier was the Chief Investment Officer of Financial Services for Bamboo Finance, a leading impact investing Private Equity manager. He had joined Bamboo Finance in 2007 as founding member of Bamboo covering Latin America, developing the investment strategy for that region prior to becoming the Chief Investment Officer in 2012, He designed the strategy, structured and raised the Bamboo Financial Inclusion Fund II, targeting SME banks and Fintech companies including mobile payments/remittances, correspondent banking and peer-to-peer lending.
Over the past twenty years, Xavier has designed innovative financial instruments to facilitate the development of impact investing including tripartite inventory transactions, carbon project SPVs, project finance, quasi-equity revenue sharing instruments. He led the largest and most complex equity transactions involving asset and share investment and divestment simulteanously involving co-investors and several counterparties, family offices, Development Finance Institutions, Private Equity Fund and NGOs. With his team, He supported the transformation in regulated banks of five microfinance companies in diverse geographies.
Previously, Xavier worked for the Deutsche Bank Impact Investing Division where he pioneered the structuring and fundrasing of the first commercial microfinance funds. He also worked for five years as management consultant for Deloitte Consulting and Ernst and Young Corporate Finance in the United States and in France. He specialized in mergers & acquisitions and access to finance for mid-cap companies.
Xavier holds a Masters in Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BsBA from Northeastern University. He is fluent in French, Spanish, and proficient in Romanian and Italian. He sat on the board of leading microfinance banks and investment funds globally including Banco FIE, MiBanco, Accion and Apoyo Integral. He currently sits on the Investment Committee of the World Bank Financed Fund for Access to Energy in Burundi.
Prior to launching Enabling Qapital, he was a founding Partner at SIMA where he structured, raised and managed one of the largest solar off-grid solar debt fund. He also engages in Corporate Finance Advisory and has led the valuation and fundraising of one of the largest global microfinance group.
Prior to SIMA, Xavier was the Chief Investment Officer of Financial Services for Bamboo Finance, a leading impact investing Private Equity manager. He had joined Bamboo Finance in 2007 as founding member of Bamboo covering Latin America, developing the investment strategy for that region prior to becoming the Chief Investment Officer in 2012, He designed the strategy, structured and raised the Bamboo Financial Inclusion Fund II, targeting SME banks and Fintech companies including mobile payments/remittances, correspondent banking and peer-to-peer lending.
Over the past twenty years, Xavier has designed innovative financial instruments to facilitate the development of impact investing including tripartite inventory transactions, carbon project SPVs, project finance, quasi-equity revenue sharing instruments. He led the largest and most complex equity transactions involving asset and share investment and divestment simulteanously involving co-investors and several counterparties, family offices, Development Finance Institutions, Private Equity Fund and NGOs. With his team, He supported the transformation in regulated banks of five microfinance companies in diverse geographies.
Previously, Xavier worked for the Deutsche Bank Impact Investing Division where he pioneered the structuring and fundrasing of the first commercial microfinance funds. He also worked for five years as management consultant for Deloitte Consulting and Ernst and Young Corporate Finance in the United States and in France. He specialized in mergers & acquisitions and access to finance for mid-cap companies.
Xavier holds a Masters in Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BsBA from Northeastern University. He is fluent in French, Spanish, and proficient in Romanian and Italian. He sat on the board of leading microfinance banks and investment funds globally including Banco FIE, MiBanco, Accion and Apoyo Integral. He currently sits on the Investment Committee of the World Bank Financed Fund for Access to Energy in Burundi.
