We are delighted to announce the appointment of Ritesh Shah to our senior leadership team as SunFunder’s new Chief Financial Officer. Ritesh brings over 25 years of global leadership experience in the financial services industry, with former roles including CEO of Rabobank Africa and CFO of Rabobank North America and Europe.
As SunFunder CFO, Ritesh leads our finance team and has overall responsibility for corporate planning, financial control and reporting, treasury and loan and investor operations. He joined SunFunder part-time in 2017, taking up the position full-time in our Nairobi headquarters in 2018.
SunFunder CEO Ryan Levinson commented:
“We couldn't be happier to have Ritesh join SunFunder as CFO. It's hard to imagine anyone better suited for this role given his strong experience in financial services both globally and in East Africa. In a short period of time he has started improving us across every aspect of our business and we're excited to grow to the next level with Ritesh.”
Ritesh commented:
“This is a great time to join the company. SunFunder has emerged as an industry leader for solar finance and is now ready to take a leap forward as Africa, Asia and the rest of the world deploy solar assets. I am thrilled to be helping SunFunder develop new financing products to match the growth of the solar industry.”
Born in Mombasa, Kenya, Ritesh has worked in six countries and managed teams on three continents. Prior to joining SunFunder, he was based in Nairobi as CEO of Rabobank Africa from 2014 to 2017, where he launched Rabobank International’s (US$100bn assets, 7,000 employees) first presence in Africa. Before that, he worked in New York for four years as the CFO of Rabobank North America. This position followed five years spent in the UK as CFO of Rabobank Europe, during which he improved the cost/income ratio of the European Corporate Bank by 40%.
His previous experience also includes 12 years at De Lage Landen International (€13bn assets, 3,000 employees), the global leader in lease financing for equipment manufacturers, where he created the group CFO function.
Fluent in English, French, Gujarati and Kiswahili, Ritesh was educated and trained at the London School of Economics and KPMG, and holds a professional Chartered Accountancy qualification. Immediately before joining SunFunder, he took a three-month sabbatical to drive 16,000km with his family from Nairobi to Cape Town and back.
