Gridworks, the British International Investment-backed investor in Africa’s electricity networks, is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Flavin as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Chris was previously Gridworks’ Interim CEO and served as its Head of Business Development, having joined the company when it was founded in 2019. With a career spanning Africa, Asia, and Europe, Chris has extensive experience in international project development, mergers and acquisitions, and infrastructure finance.
Chris started his career as a private practice lawyer advising a wide range of institutional investors before joining Gridworks’ parent company, British International Investment, in 2014. He was involved in the strategy which led to Gridworks’ formation in 2019 and has served on Gridworks’ senior management team since, leading its project development and investment activities. He sits on the Boards of several of Gridworks’ portfolio companies including Amari Power Transmission, Anzana Electric Group and Sustainable Power Solutions.
Chris will lead Gridworks through its next phase of growth as it focuses on developing a series of ground-breaking projects to bring clean, affordable and reliable power to Africa’s people and its businesses. These include Independent Transmission Projects (ITPs) that offer African governments an alternative way of funding critical high voltage grid infrastructure. Gridworks’ ITP projects include Amari Power Transmission in Uganda, which will upgrade four key substations on the grid. Chimuara-Nacala Phases II & III, a 450km transmission line connecting central and northern regions of Mozambique; and Gamani Transmission, 80km of high-voltage lines and two new substations between Mbale, Bulambuli and Kween in eastern Uganda.
The Gridworks portfolio also includes Moyi Power, a program to build greenfield, solar-powered utilities providing electricity to a million people in three cities in northern DRC, Anzana Electric Group, an African utility that develops, invests, and operates distributed renewable power generation and grid distribution projects that bring reliable and low-cost power to rural communities across southern and eastern Africa, and Sustainable Power Solutions, a distributed utility company headquartered in South Africa which is operating a portfolio of 160MW of solar PV and 40MWh of battery storage for customers across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Welcoming the announcement, Gridworks’ Chairman, Patrick Crawford said:
“The Board and I are delighted that Chris has agreed to become CEO. Chris is highly regarded in, and has deep experience of, the African electricity sector. Having worked closely with Chris for several years, I know that he has the attributes and strategic vision needed to guide Gridworks on the next stage of our journey as the leading developer and investor in Africa’s electricity networks.”
Gridworks’ new CEO, Chris Flavin added:
“I’m proud to be appointed Gridworks CEO during an important time for the business. With a strong team in place and a good portfolio of investments, Gridworks is demonstrating the commercial potential of investment in African electricity networks. We plan to build on the progress we’ve made to date by mobilising even more capital to support critical infrastructure across the continent.”
Holger Rothenbusch, MD and Head of Infrastructure and Climate at BII, the UK’s development finance institution, commented:
“Chris’ appointment as CEO marks an exciting new chapter for Gridworks. His extensive experience combined with a proven track record at the company, makes him uniquely qualified to lead it into its next phase of growth. This leadership is critical as Gridworks scales its efforts to increase access to clean, affordable and reliable energy for communities across Africa, where over 600 million people lack access to electricity.”