Paul brings over 15 years of emerging market and finance experience to the position and is joining from his previous role as Executive Director of J.P. Morgan’s Sub-Saharan Africa Natural Resources team.
By Abdulrahman Aliagan, Abuja
Starsight Energy, the leading African Commercial and Industrial (“C&I”) solar power-as-a-service provider has announced Paul van Zijl as the company’s new Group Chief Financial Officer.
This is contained in a press release made available to Time Nigeria and signed by John Nikolaou
Account Manager of Starsight Energy Nigeria.
According to the statement, “Paul brings over 15 years of emerging market and finance experience to the position and is joining from his previous role as Executive Director of J.P. Morgan’s Sub-Saharan Africa Natural Resources team.
“Paul has served in various advisory and corporate finance-related roles in positions at KPMG LLP, Rand Merchant Bank, and J.P. Morgan.
“He has advised on over $10 billion worth of acquisitions, fundraises, IPOs, rights issues, and lending facilities for many of the continent’s largest players in the mining, oil and gas, and renewables sectors. Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.
The statement further said, “He began his career in South Africa and has worked in several African countries, as well as in Europe, North America, and the Middle East.Starsight Energy CEO Tony Carr, commented, “we are delighted to have Paul join our team as Group CFO. His vast corporate advisory experience in Africa and elsewhere, in addition to his understanding of the African energy sector, makes him the ideal person to lead our finance team moving forward.
Starsight Energy is entering an important stage of its growth following our expansion into Ghana and East Africa via our Premier Solar acquisition, and our upcoming potential expansion into other countries in Africa. We look forward to having Paul as our Group CFO as we continue to deliver best-in -class solar and cooling solutions to clients across Africa.”Paul van Zijl commented, “it is a great privilege to be joining Starsight Energy at such an interesting juncture.
“The renewables sector in Africa is often referred to as the “holy grail” and I look forward to playing my small part to contribute to sustainable economic growth on the continent through Starsight Energy. The opportunity to work alongside Tony and the rest of the management team with the support of such distinguished shareholders could not be turned down. I am excited about the road that lies ahead and getting entrenched in this role.” It said.
Starsight Energy Founded in 2015, Starsight Energy is the leading technology-enabled African Commercial & Industrial (C&I) power-as-a -service provider. It has deployed 41 MW of installed generating capacity, 33 MWh of battery storage, and 16,320 HP in cooling capacity across 547 sites in all Nigerian states and Ghana.
The Company’s team of highly experienced professionals provides power solutions to the most demanding enterprises, including banks, petrol station operators, schools, universities, and large commercial agricultural companies. Starsight’s proprietary smart technology optimizes energy consumption enabling customers to significantly reduce energy costs and boost profitability without incurring any upfront expense.
Starsight delivers an end-to-end service, from assessing a client’s energy needs to the installation and maintenance of a renewable energy solution to ongoing technical support. Starsight’s long-term relationships with its blue-chip clients reflect the quality of its in-house engineering, procurement, and construction services, along with the reliability of its operations, maintenance, and customer service. Together these provide customers with the peace of mind that all their power-related issues are in trustworthy hands.Starsight Energy has consistently maintained the highest ESG credentials and continues to reduce its customers’ carbon footprint and harmful diesel emissions.
The Company is backed by Helios Investment Partners and African Infrastructure Investment Managers.