Liaison Offices
To have a better geographical distribution and to increase our sourcing power, BIO has launched liaison offices for East and West Africa.
Having a local presence in a region allows BIO to closely monitor opportunities and challenges. A local liaison is a contact person for the staff in Brussels, as well as for the entrepreneurs in the area. The function allows for better sourcing, quicker and more efficient due diligence, and a more hands-on presence on the board of our equity participation. The local officers also maintain good working relations with both the Belgian and the international players active in the region.
West Africa
The local liaison office for West Africa was created in 2019 in Abidjan, capital of Côte d'Ivoire.
Gilles Dosogne
Gilles has joined BIO in 2019 and worked successively in the Portfolio and the Financial Institutions team, identifying, executing and monitoring projects, mainly in Asia. He was also a director at one of BIO's investees in Burundi. Gilles had previous expatriate experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the Belgian development agency Enabel, as well as international experience at Médecins Sans Frontières. After graduating from the University of Brussels (ULB) in Economics, he started his career in the investment banking division of Deutsche Bank .
Dorian Zohou
Born and raised in Côte d'Ivoire, Dorian has an MBA from Bangalore University, with a specialisation in finance and marketing. After his studies, he worked for the Atlantic banking group, the Banque International pour le Commerce et l'Industrie de la Côte d'Ivoire and First Capital, prior to joining BIO in its Abidjan office in March 2022 as an investment officer.
East Africa
The local liaison office for East Africa was created in 2019 in Nairobi, capital of Kenya.
Nada Shall
Nada is an accomplished impact finance professional with over 12 years of experience. She joined BIO in 2019 as an investment officer covering all sectors and all regions. She then specialised in infrastructure transactions in Africa identifying and executing projects in the renewable energy sector (on and off-grid), and in digital infrastructure. Nada is also a member of ElectriFI’s investment committee. After graduating from Solvay Business School, she began her career in a Big Four firm within the tax and deal advisory teams.
Pearl Nyaosi
Pearl has a degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Nairobi, an ACCA qualification from Strathmore University and a Master of Finance degree from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. After working for KPMG East Africa and AHL Venture Partners in Nairobi, she joined BIO in its Nairobi office in May 2022.