Tewodros Ashenafi

Ashenafi is Chairman of SouthWest Energy, Ethiopia’s first and only indigenous oil and gas company. He also serves as Chairman of SouthWest Development, which provides various services to oil and gas companies in Ethiopia, and Chairman of Ambo Mineral Water, a beverage brand in Ethiopia.

Ashenafi is on the Board of Directors of East West Institute, a New York-based security think tank. He also sits on the advisory board of Atlantic Council International, an organisation that promotes constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs. He is a member of the Advisory Board for Columbia University’s Africa Centre, an organisation that promotes academic excellence and works to enable the highest levels of knowledge and learning in and for Africa.

In July 2016 Ashenafi played a key role in Ethiopia’s largest ever privatisation deal, where Japan Tobacco International (with Ashenafi acting as the local partner) acquired 40% of Ethiopia’s National Tobacco Enterprise. The enterprise value of the deal was $1.4 billion, which is also one of largest private transactions in Africa.

Ashenafi was nominated as a Young Global Leader (YGL) in 2009 by the World Economic Forum, which recognizes the 200 most distinguished young leaders under the age of 40. He is also a member of Initiative for Global Development’s Frontier 100.

Ashenafi started his career at Merrill Lynch & Co in New York. Prior to founding SouthWest Energy in 2005, Mr. Ashenafi carried out international political and economic consulting work advising large international companies and pension funds about investment conditions in emerging markets, mainly in Latin America and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Tewodros Ashenafi (born 26 August 1969) is an Ethiopian entrepreneur. He currently serves as CEO of SouthWest Energy.