Mima Nedelcovych

Dr. Mima S. Nedelcovych is a Partner of the Schaffer Global Group (SGG) a Baton Rouge, Louisiana based project development, finance and implementation firm focused on agro-industrial and renewable energy projects in the emerging markets of Africa and the Americas, and maintains an independent consulting practice focused on project development, project finance, and public-private partnerships in Africa.  In that capacity he continues to consult regularly with SGG and Buchanan Renewables, in addition to a number of other clients.  

 

Dr. Nedelcovych served until recently as the Director for Business Development and Country Director in Liberia for Buchanan Renewables (BR), a Geneva based company focused on the development of renewable bio energy fuel sources in African countries for exports to the developed world, as well as the production of electricity in the supplying countries.  As Country Director, he was responsible for the oversight of all of the activities conducted by BR in Liberia, with a particular focus on a large project where redundant, post economic life rubber trees were being felled and chipped, creating a biomass product both for export markets (fuel, pulp and board industry) and for supplying the fuel for a 36 MW power station to be built in the outskirts of Monrovia.  The old trees being felled are systematically replaced with new young ones, thus also rejuvenating the national rubber industry

Prior to being seconded to and joining BR in 2008, Dr. Nedelcovych was Managing Director of the Schaffer Global Group (SGG) for 15 years. Dr. Nedelcovych was responsible for corporate and country clients, heading up all international financing and project development activities of the Group, spanning several continents and over 30 countries. In this capacity he is Chairman of the Board of the Markala Sugar Company in Mali, a major agro-industrial project being developed jointly with Illovo Sugar of South Africa as the strategic partner.

 

Dr. Nedelcovych served in the Administration of President George Bush from 1989 to 1993 as the U.S. Executive Director to the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. In this position, he represented the U.S. Government and U.S. shareholder interests on the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB). He was instrumental in formulating the "private sector initiative" at the AfDB that led to the creation of the $200 million private sector lending window, the African Business Roundtable and the African Export-Import Bank.  As the U.S. Executive Director, he championed U.S. business interests by spearheading an unprecedented increase in annual procurement of U.S. goods and services by the AfDB from $25 million to well over $100 million annually.

Prior to being named Executive Director to the AfDB, Dr. Nedelcovych held the position of Principal at Arthur Young's International Consulting Group, specializing in privatization, trade and export promotion, investment attraction, and joint-venture formation in developing countries. In this position he dealt with all emerging markets including Asia, Latin America and Europe. He is an expert in international finance and marketing in emerging economies, with 30 years experience living and working in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.  At the beginning of his career he also served as Peace Corps Country Director in Gabon, as a Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID, and as a Special Projects Officer at the US Trade and Development Agency.

He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Yale University, a Master of Arts in International Relations from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Political and Economic Development from Florida State University (in conjunction with Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco). He is fluent in English, French, and Serbian and is proficient in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.  Dr. Nedelcovych presently sits on the Boards of the Corporate Council on Africa and the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, and is a past Member of EXIM Bank’s Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee.