The Norwegian development finance agency Norfund has announced that Tellef Thorleifsson will become its new CEO on 1 October 2018.
A 55 year-old technology investor with more than 20 years’ experience, Thorleifsson offers Norfund a deep knowledge of businesses in developing countries, according to the bank’s statement.
Thorleifsson said he has “followed Norfund closely the last few years”, and he believes both the creation of new companies and a strong private sector in developing countries are “necessary to fight poverty and secure sustainable growth”.
“Being a successful investor is generally challenging. However, it is even more challenging when the mandate is to invest in some of the world’s most challenging markets,” he commented.
In 1996, Thorleifsson founded venture firm Northzone, which to date has invested in more than 130 companies. He also holds the position of co-founder and chairman of the investment committee for the Voxtra Foundation, an organisation that invests and extends grants to agribusiness ventures in east Africa.
Earlier this year, Norfund announced that its former CEO, Kjell Roland, would resign in the summer of this year, at the age of 65, after almost 12 years at the agency. Under Roland’s leadership, Norfund has grown its investment portfolio from US$461 million in 2007 to approximately US$2.6 billion in 2017 with the portfolio increasing from 60 to around 140 projects, while its employees number almost 70, 45 of whom are based in Norway.
Roland remains a long-standing member of the board of directors of the Association of bilateral European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI).