Meet the expert...
Johannes Gunnell
Chief Financial Officer at Maris
Johannes Gunnell joined Maris Capital as a partner in 2010. Following Maris Africa Fund’s conversion into an investment holding company in 2014, he became interim CFO for Maris Ltd. He now sits as the Commercial Director of Maris Ltd and is responsible for new investments.
Previously, he spent seven years at UBS Investment Bank working in global equites. Johannes had a particular focus on socially responsible investments and was involved in the listing of various renewables companies, including the largest European IPO in 2008, EDP Renovaveis.
Maris is an operationally focused investment holding company and has started up or turned around 16 out of 18 of its businesses. It has investments in eight African countries; Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Angola, DRC, Rwanda and South Sudan. Maris actively invests in four key strategic divisions; Property Services, Business Services, Mining, and Agriculture and Forestry.
Maris Africa Fund was one of the top performing funds in Africa with a 24% net IRR. Since transformation to a permanent capital vehicle in 2014, Maris Ltd has both increased NAV and significantly outperformed stock markets and currencies.
Johannes sits on the board and heads the audit committee of Tatepa, a listed Tanzanian tea and avocado producer, Untu, a Zimbabwean microfinance business and EFG Hermes Pakistan, a listed investment bank. Johannes graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Magdalen College, Oxford.
