Chairman and CEO, Southwest Energy (HK) Ltd.

Mr. Ashenafi is the Founder, Chairman & CEO of SouthWest Energy (HK) Ltd; the first Ethiopian oil and gas exploration company. He is also the Chairman of SouthWest Development, PLC; a leading Ethiopian oil and gas services 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.  He is on the international board of Right to Play; an international humanitarian and development organization. Mr. Ashenafi is also 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.