Henok Assefa

Co-Founder and General Partner at African Renaissance Partners

Speaker

Henok is a leading advisor in business strategy and economic development in Ethiopia. He is a Co-Founder and General Partner at African Renaissance Partners, the VC fund investing in transformative businesses in East Africa; and Founder and Managing Partner of Precise, where he has led more than 200 strategic engagements with investors, development agencies, and government in the past 16 years.

Through the corporate finance advisory service of Precise, his work has resulted in tens of millions of dollars of investment by private equity firms. As Chairman of Precise Investments, Henok oversees investments in real estate, agribusiness, and retail/wholesale sectors. As Co-Founder of the Addis Abeba Angels, he invests in Ethiopia’s emerging digital entrepreneurs. Henok has led multimillion dollar business incubation and acceleration initiatives.

He designed and led execution work for Ethiopia’s first agribusiness incubator (ESAI) and Ethiopia’s first renewable energy sector accelerator (EMA). Henok also led the World Bank/IFC’s Climate Innovation Center, a cleantech incubator.

Henok holds a bachelor and master’s degrees in economics from Fordham University in New York City.