Jaakko Kangasniemi

Jaakko Kangasniemi has been the CEO of Finnfund (Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd.) since 2002.
Finnfund is a Finnish development finance company that provides long-term risk capital for private projects in developing countries. Previously he was economic advisor with Finland’s
Ministry for Foreign Affairs and agricultural economist with the World Bank.

Starting with his studies in the 1980s, Mr. Kangasniemi has focused on African economic development issues and for the past 17 years he has overseen Finnfund’s investments in private-sector projects in developing countries. During his tenure, Finnfund’s investment portfolio has expanded nine-fold, its primary focus
has shifted from Asia to Africa and energy and forestry have been made priority sectors.

He holds a Ph.D. (Agricultural Economics) degree from Michigan State University, an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics (currently the Aalto University School of Economics) and a M.Sc. (Economics) degree from the University of Helsinki.

Speaking at the following WCEF2019 sessions:

Monday 3 June at 14.30-16.00: The circular economy in Africa