Saad started his career in 2004 in JP Morgan’s London M&A Middle East team, moving to the TMT team in 2005 where he helped execute several transactions including : (i) Advising leading regional telecom operators in their international expansion – namely Orascom, Qtel and Etisalat (incl. its $2.9 billion acquisition of Egypt’s third mobile license). (ii) Advising French media group Lagardere on its acquisition of a 20% stake in Canal+ Group (€1.5 billion+), and KKR on its acquisition of Pages Jaunes (€6 billion+). In 2008, Saad joined Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management (KZAM) the leading pan-African private equity fund at the time. At KZAM, Saad sourced, executed, managed and exited multiple transactions including the full exit from CNIA Saada in Morocco (insurance company), where he led the successful IPO. He also worked on a number of transactions that became a success in the Africa PE space, namely OSEAD Mining, IHS Towers, Banque Atlantique and GTA (insurance).

In 2011 he moved to London based asset manager Duet Group where he co-founded and managed its Africa private equity platform. At Duet, he led the origination and execution of the second largest private equity transaction in Ethiopia to date ($90 million in Dashen Brewery; the second largest brewery in the country) as well as investments into QCIL in Uganda.

Saad graduated from EM Lyon with an MSc in Finance. He is a native Arabic and French speaker, and is fluent in English.

Joachim Yebouet holds over 30 years of extensive experience with the private and public sector organizations, having covered several senior management positions in multinationals and family conglomerates, and in-depth operational management expertise across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He has held the position of Vice-President for Foods Supply Chain at Unilever and was responsible for Africa, Middle East and Turkey region for around 10 years. He re-joined FOODCO in 2018 after a three stent as CEO of Tiger Brands East African Industries from 2015 to 2018. From 2009 to 2013 he held the role of COO at Al Islami Foods in the UAE.

Joachim was a speaker at the 2017 The Economist & Unido GMIS (Global Manufacturing & Industrialization summit) in Abu Dhabi. He was also a Speaker at the World Manufacturing Symposium at Kings College Cambridge in the UK, and at the World Foods Secure Chain conference in Hong Kong speaking about Foods chain integrity. He was also speaker at Gulfoods in Dubai also at the Wharton Club Africa Executive CEO Forum in Addis Ababa and most recently at Indus Foods World Supermarket chain in India. Joachim was a member of the 2016 Deloitte C-Executive Business Development Roadshow in West Africa.

Joachim is French National and holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Frehiwot rejoined 54capFMCG in January 2020 and she is responsible for all Finance department activities including cash flow management, banking relations, Record control and reporting, Auditing, Tax, IT, Budgeting and forecasting, annual and management reports including shareholder reports, Relationship with investors and Shareholders are some of her responsibilities. She has more than 13 years of experience in different organizations in a role of Deputy CFO, Finance Manager, Process Improvement manager, Financial Planning and Analysis Manager.

Frehiwot holds an MBA from Jimma university and earns a BA in Economics from Addis Ababa University. Currently she is working on her CMA certification.

Edom Joined the company in April 2020 and responsible for all Human resources department including employee engagement, compensation and benefits, staffing strategies, performance management and talent development across the organization.  She has over 16 years of combined Administrative & Human Resources experience.  Prior to joining 54 FMCG, Edom worked at Ethio-chicken as Human Resources Director, worked at the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) in different Human Resources profession and other different organizations under the human resources function. Edom holds Master of Businness Administration; specialized in human resources Management, Bachelor of Science degree & diploma in computer science.  Edom has certificate of Leadership from African Management initiative.

Aziz Iraqi is experienced executive with solid history of success in business and commercial aspects of international FMCG, food, bakery, personal care, and home care within MNC and family businesses. Administered company operations and commercial strategies in UAE/GCC and Africa, as International Commercial Director at Moulin D’or/ Gapaco for 4 years, Sales and Marketing Director at Al Islami Foods, and other significant leadership positions through out his professional years.

Aziz Iraqi is a native Arabic and French speaker, and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Sales & Distribution specialist experienced in business development, managing large team, greenfield projects, NPD launch with hands-on workable solution. Held executive positions in multinational companies like Glaxo, Nestle, Henkel, Kuwaiti Danish Dairy.

Started sales career with Pharma industry and moved on to FMCG domain. 27 years of rich and diversified experience. Managed all types of trade channels like General / Modern Retail, Institutions / Corporates for bulk sales, HoReCa Customers, online & alternate channels.

Handled diversified product categories like beverages, baby foods, chocolates & confectionery, culinary, detergents, home & personal care and sports nutrition.

Abraham started his career as a Business Studies teacher in 2008 at The British International School, in 2009 he become The Business Manager and the after 1 year Human Resources and Administration Manger of the same company. In 2013 he changed a sector and joined the manufacturing industry Kalilty Foods S.Co (Cherealia) as Human Resources Development and Administration Department Head, in a summary he has been working in a Brewery, Cash and Carry retail chain and then joined 54FMCG 2017 as a director of Human Resources.

Currently Abraham is serving as Chief of Staff and corporate relations.

Abraham holds MA in Human Resources, BA in Business Management and Diploma in International Management. He is Ethiopian Citizen. He is a native Amharic speaker, fluent in English.   

Mirkarim started his career at Arthur Andersen LLP in Russia, and after completing his business degree, his professional career primarily focused in FMCG sector. He spent several years at Philip Morris Inc.’s Corporate Audit focusing on Food Business of Kraft Foods Inc. (prior to its spin off) working in EMEA region.  He later joined Kraft Foods Inc. (later known as Mondelez International Inc.) where he led CEE & MEA regional Finance Controlling organization and supported the execution of M&A transactions (acquisitions of Cadbury Inc., Danone Biscuit, Family Nutrition, Kar Gida). Prior to joining 54 FMCG companies, Mirkarim led corporate finance organization for Global SQRC at Reckitt Benckiser plc in the UK and supported integration of Mead Johnson Nutrition.

Mirkarim holds a MBA from IESE Business School in Spain. He is native/fluent in English, Russian and conversational in German and Spanish.