Solomon Asamoah is an accomplished investment and development finance professional with more than three decades of experience originating, structuring and executing transactions across both mature and emerging markets. Over the course of his career, he has personally led and closed over US $5 billion in deals across the African continent, holding senior leadership positions at several of the world’s most influential development finance institutions. His track record spans infrastructure, private sector development, financial markets and institutional strategy, giving him a broad perspective on how capital, policy and partnerships interact to drive sustainable growth.
Most recently, Solomon completed two terms as the first substantive Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Ghana’s sovereign investment vehicle. Under his leadership, GIIF doubled its capital base from US $250 million to US $500 million through a combination of internally generated profits and successful international fundraising. He deployed US $325 million into a diversified portfolio of 13 infrastructure projects across seven sectors in Ghana, catalysing over ten times that amount in external investment. Prior to heading GIIF, he advised the Federal Government of Nigeria on the implementation of national infrastructure priorities, deepening his engagement with policy environments and public-private partnership frameworks.
Before this, Solomon served as Vice President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration at the African Development Bank (AfDB), where he was responsible for roughly 70% of the Bank’s lending programme. His remit covered power, transport, ICT, private sector operations, financial markets and equity investments, including oversight of private equity funds and regional projects. His earlier role as Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer at the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) saw him help build the institution from the ground up, overseeing its investment portfolio, operational systems and strategic direction. During his tenure, the AFC secured an A3 investment-grade rating from Moody’s, underscoring the institution’s credibility in global markets.
Solomon’s experience also includes senior posts at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), where he led operations across 10 countries, and several leadership roles at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), including serving as Chief of Staff to its CEO and Managing Director of the World Bank Group. He began his career in London as an investment banker with HSBC Markets before transitioning into development finance.
Educated at Imperial College London in Chemical Engineering, Solomon has also completed executive programmes at Harvard Business School, London Business School and INSEAD. Across all roles, he is recognised for his strategic clarity, technical expertise and deep understanding of African investment landscapes.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
• Reading (novels, articles, African development issues, board papers for investment projects, biographies, political pieces, US politics)
• Writing (articles, diaries)
• Meetings social and business
How do you bring ideas to life?
• Think them through based on my knowledge and experiences, write them down, bounce them off others, finalize and look to execute as appropriate.
What’s one trend that excites you?
• Increasing ability to access worldwide information from your fingertips, and (hopefully) be able to confirm its veracity and authenticity
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
• Self-reflection and interacting with other people and debating contrasting opinions
What advice would you give your younger self?
• Treat people below you with the same respect you treat superiors
• Take time to acknowledge your achievements and enjoy them at the time
• Don’t always assume the best in people. Prepare in case they do their worst to you
• Don’t limit yourself or your ambitions. Just go for it.
• Spend even more time with your family
• Invest in true friends, especially time and effort
• Have a short and long term plan which you can update when necessary
• Buy real estate earlier, it’s a good insurance hedge for your career
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
• Don’t steal and cheat people, even when you won’t get caught. Be honest
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
• Always do your best at work, and get a reputation for producing good work in good time
• Think before you speak. Don’t always be quick to let people know what you think
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
• Calm down. Take a deep breath. Break the problem down into smaller pieces and tackle them in the right sequence
• If possible, get advice from a trusted source who has done it before
• Don’t put off taking action too long. Problems don’t tend to solve themselves
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
• Prepare well and give yourself space and time in case solutions take longer than expected.
• Manage your work profile. Address and correct misinformation and critics early
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
• Hesitated when a great opportunity came along and lost it to someone who moved faster. Worked and planned hard to get another opportunity and grabbed it quickly.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
• Africa has great investment opportunities, but you must know what you are doing, how to get it done and who to do it with.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
• AI for proof reading my written documents
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
• Restored my old photos
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
• Godfather series, The Usual Suspects : Tells you a lot about the motivations of powerful people
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
• Godfather series, The Usual Suspects : Tells you a lot about the motivations of powerful people
Key learnings:
• Importance of acknowledging your achievements as they happen, as a motivation to repeat
• Life is often not fair. Bad things can happen to good people
• Invest in positive relationships
• When you look back at your life, you realize that life comes down to maybe 5 strategic moments and the decisions that you took. Learn from them