Mr. Tewodros Ashenafi / Founder and Chairman of SouthWest Holdings

Tewodros Ashenafi

Mr. Ashenafi is the founder, Chairman & CEO of SouthWest Energy (HK) Ltd; Africa’s leading indigenous oil and gas exploration and production company.  He is also the Chairman of SouthWest Development, PLC; a leading Ethiopian oil and gas service provider company.  Mr. Ashenafi is Chairman of Ambo Mineral Water S.C, one of the leading beverage brands in Ethiopia.  He started his career at Merrill Lynch & Co.  Prior to founding SouthWest Energy, Mr. Ashenafi did international, political and economic advisory work.  Mr. Ashenafi is on the board of EastWest Institute; a leading security think and do tank.  He is also on the International Advisory Board of Atlantic Council; a non partisan institution devoted to promoting transatlantic cooperation and international security.  Mr. Ashenafi is on the Advisory Board of Development Partners International (DPI); a leading Africa focused private equity firm. Mr Ashenafi holds a degree in Economics from Columbia University.  He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.  Mr. Ashenafi was named a Young Global Leader (YGL 2009) by the World Economic Forum (Davos) as one of 200 outstanding leaders in their field under the age of 40.