Edward Claessen is an experienced finance and investment professional with over 25 years of experience in banking, equity and fund investments and managerial experience both in the private and public sector. Mr. Claessen is the Head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Regional Office in Nairobi, responsible for East and Central Africa.
During his 18-year career at the EIB Group, he held various investment and managerial positions, including Deputy Head of Division Public Sector Lending Western Europe, and most recently Head of Division Equity & Microfinance for EIB Global. In this role he was responsible for all equity, fund and microfinance transactions outside the EU for EIB Global.
Mr. Claessen started his career at Ballast Nedam International in Qatar, as project engineer. Before joining the EIB Group in 2003, he was managing director of UCP UK Ltd (acquired by Amdocs, a NASDAQ-listed company), a London-based wireless technology company. He holds a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) and obtained a Bilingual Master of Business Administration from IESE Business School (Barcelona, Spain).