Jean Olemou is Co-Founder and Principal of GreenDev, an impact investment management firm dedicated to investing in the circular economy transition throughout the Global South, especially in Africa. GreenDev is especially focused on opportunities that commercialize innovation, circular business models and sustainable infrastructure in the waste management value chain.

Prior to GreenDev, Jean worked in consulting and investment banking for global organizations in the energy and infrastructure sector, covering all the stages of investing: sourcing, diligence, structuring, and execution.

Having lived and worked throughout Africa, Europe, and the Americas, he has observed how compounding economic and social challenges hold communities, cities, and nations back. As a result, Jean has focused his attentions to aligning investment with positive social and environmental impacts in emerging and frontier markets. He has worked primarily with buy-side and sell-side investors, including developers, infrastructure and pension funds, independent power producers, strategic investors, and government agencies. Through his international work on strategic investments in sustainable infrastructure and energy assets, Jean translates challenging circumstances into opportunities to foster economic and social inclusion.

Jean was featured by the 100 Magazine as a 2020 Top Canadian Professionals. He was named as a Global Talent and invited to attend the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals innovation lab (UNLEASH 2019) in Shenzhen, China. Jean is a sought-after expert advisor, public speaker and has a track record of contributing to thought leadership such as recent article ‘Post COVID-19 – The Circular Economy Critical to Building a New Normal.’ Jean was recently interviewed at the Global Landscape Forum in Luxembourg in November 2019 on “Rebooting recycling” and recently provided expert review of a UN Organization report on the future of circular economy globally.