MAHA CAPITAL PARTNERS - Key Persons


Alexandre Akhavi

Job Titles:
  • Director, Legal & Compliance
Alexandre has more than 19 years of extensive experience in banking, financial, business and international law. Prior to joining MCP, Alexandre was head of legal and an executive committee member at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Europe (ICBC Europe) in Paris, the world's largest commercial bank. Previously, he spent 11 years with EDF Group, which is the leading EU utility company. During this time, Alexandre was senior legal manager in charge of financing, treasury and cash management. Alexandre holds a Master's degree in law from the University of La Sorbonne in Paris (France) and a Master's degree in business law, specializing in M&A from the University of Evry (France).

Anna Zhang

Job Titles:
  • Manager, ESG Officer
Anna has more than 11 years of experience across global financial institutions, regulatory bodies and international organizations, gaining relevant emerging markets and corporate governance-related expertise. Prior to joining MCP, Anna was Team Lead in Investment Management Supervision at the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA). Previously, she was part of the General Secretariat at the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in Madrid. Anna began her career as an analyst in the Global Capital Markets division at Morgan Stanley (Hong Kong). Anna holds Bachelors' degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Melbourne (Australia) and has been admitted to the legal profession as an Australian Lawyer.

Herbert Lai - Chief Investment Officer

Job Titles:
  • Chief Investment Officer
Herbert has more than 20 years of experience in finance and investments. Prior to joining MCP, Herbert was part of the Global Transport Team at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington for 18 years, focusing on ports, shipping, and airports. During this time, Herbert was responsible for identifying, structuring and executing investment transactions across regions and led some of the most important infrastructure transactions in emerging and developing countries at the time. Previously, Herbert was investment officer in the private equity subsidiary of the world leading insurance group AIG, which has responsibility to manage AIG's own funds and develop assets to generate long-term returns by investing in private companies. Herbert holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management (US) and a BA from Columbia University (US).

Hijab Fysel

Job Titles:
  • Manager, Finance and Risk Officer
Hijab has more than 11 years of experience in financial services. He has strong multi-sectorial transactions' experience across both emerging (India) and developed markets (UK). Prior to joining MCP, Hijab was Manager at Ernst & Young (EY). He began his career as an auditor at EY and transitioned into M&A after 3 years. During this time, Hijab gained extensive experience in all aspects of M&A, and most notably on transaction diligence, carve-outs, financial modeling and valuations. Hijab holds a Bachelor's in Commerce from Madras University (India) and an MBA from INSEAD (France). Hijab is a Chartered Accountant (India).

Ignacio Lopez-Quesada

Job Titles:
  • Associate, Investment
Ignacio has more than 3 years of experience in M&A, infrastructure investments and private equity. Prior to joining MCP, he worked as junior investment analyst at Ardian Private Equity within the infrastructure investment team, covering Southern Europe and Latin America, with a focus on the renewable energy and transportation sectors. Previously, Ignacio was investment banking junior analyst at Société Générale, working on corporate finance and M&A transactions within the energy and technology, media and telecom sectors. Ignacio holds a BSc in Business Administration from ICADE (Spain) and NEOMA Business School (France).

Jorge de Pinho d'Almeida

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Leadership Execution Team
  • Senior Advisor
  • President of the Sines Port
Jorge has more than 40 years of experience in the maritime transport, logistics and container terminals management business in Portugal and the United States. Jorge is the President of the Sines Port and Logistics Community since 2017. Jorge also co-founded the consulting firm, Saconsult Lda in Portugal, and has been the Managing Director since 2014. During this time, he has actively been involved in a wide range of projects including port operations, ship management, ship design and building, and transport logistics. Prior to this, Jorge led the rail terminal operator, Conteparque SA and developed an integrated intermodal network that serves all Portuguese ports. He also managed the Singapore-based container terminal port operator Port of Singapore (PSA) Sines SA for 9 years. Jorge holds an MBA in International Finance and a money marketeer award from New York University (US) and a Master's degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US). He graduated in Naval Science at Escola Naval do Alfeite (the Portuguese Naval Academy).

Julien Boillot - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Founding Partner
  • Member of the Leadership Execution Team
Julien co-founded Maha Capital Partners in 2020 and is the architect of the fund's investment strategy. Julien has more than 30 years of experience in investment banking. Prior to the formation of MCP, Julien worked with the holding company of the Moroccan and pan-African group BMCE to develop its investment banking activities in Africa. During this time, Julien was actively involved in advising clients on major infrastructure projects across the African continent. Previously, Julien worked for 3 years as an independent adviser and also invested in several mining/industrial ventures across emerging and developing countries. Julien began his career in investment banking by joining S.G. Warburg & Co Ltd in London (which later became part of UBS). He spent 12 years in the firm and was Director in charge of the Africa team of the bank. In this capacity, he advised clients on corporate and project finance transactions across multiple sectors, with a focus on infrastructure. Julien holds a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from University Paris-Dauphine (France).

Muhammed Aboobacker

Job Titles:
  • Analyst, Investment
Prior to joining as a full-time Analyst, Muhammed worked 1 year as a graduate trainee with MCP. Muhammed holds an MSc in international business from the Hult International Business School (UK).

Oumar Diene Sakho

Job Titles:
  • Manager, Investment
Oumar Diene Sakho has more than 22 years of experience in the infrastructure sector across Africa. Prior to joining MCP, Oumar spent 4 years as a World Bank consultant where he assisted governments in the restructuring of the telecom sector, privatization of telecom operators and sale of 4G/5G licenses. Previously, Oumar conducted restructuring of state-owned companies in the oil and gas (downstream) and electricity sectors. He also contributed to the development of independent power producers (IPP). Oumar holds a degree in stochastic modeling analysis from the University of Rouen (France) and a Master's degree in financial market intermediation from University of Toulouse (France).

Subramanian Ramanathan

Job Titles:
  • Finance Officer
  • Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
Subramanian has more than 2 years of experience in financial accounting. Prior to joining MCP, Subramanian worked as Assistant Manager, Finance for TVS Electronics Limited, a listed company in India, where he was responsible for financial reporting. Subramanian is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Thierry Tanoh

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Leadership Execution Team
  • Vice Chairman
Thierry has more than 32 years of financial investments, banking and senior government experience worldwide. Prior to joining MCP, Thierry was the Minister of Oil, Energy and Renewable Energy in Côte d'Ivoire and served as Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Economic Affairs. Previously, Thierry was the CEO of the pan-African bank, Ecobank Group, where he led the team to the highest organic growth in the bank's history. Thierry also spent 18 years at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he last held the position of Vice President in charge of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, and Western Europe. During this time, he was responsible for the largest portfolio of investments of IFC. Thierry holds a Bachelor's in Business from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce d'Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), and an MBA from Harvard Business School (US). Thierry is a Certified Public Accountant (France).