Herta von Stiegel Keynote Speaker

Herta established Ariya Capital in 2008 to focus on Africa as the next major opportunity for sustainable venture and private equity investments. She has 25 years of experience in international finance with a consistent track record of building profitable highly regulated structured finance businesses and has led/ executed debt and equity transactions in excess of $10 billion. She was Managing Director at AIG Financial Products, where she built a successful European structured finance division, and has also held senior positions at Citibank and JP Morgan in London and New York. She has specific expertise in finance, clean and renewable energy and risk management. As the founder and Executive Chair of Ariya Capital Group, Herta leads the firm in its three mutually reinforcing business divisions: (i) energy finance; (ii) clean energy independent power producer; and (iii) asset management.

A tax lawyer by training, she serves on several corporate and non-profit boards, including as a member of the Supervisory Board of LeasePlan Corporation N.V., the leading global fleet management company with activities in 32 countries. From 2006 to 2012, she served on the board of Camco International, a publicly listed global clean energy developer with significant operations in China, the US and Africa, where she chaired the audit committee and served on the remuneration and nominations committees.

Herta holds a Juris Doctor degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan, a Masters of Law degree in Taxation from New York University School of Law, a B.A. and Doctorate of Humane Letters (honoris causa) from Andrews University and completed the Executive Programme in Corporate Finance at the London Business School. Born and raised in emerging markets, Herta has committed this phase of her career to developing the power sector in Africa as a key engine for growth and poverty alleviation.

Born in Transylvania, Herta has lived and worked in numerous developed and emerging markets, is a citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, bilingual in English and German and fluent in Romanian. She currently resides with her husband in Nairobi, Kenya.