Nick Kolev has joined UNCDF as Senior Advisor, Capital Markets for Development (Director) based in New York reporting to the Executive Secretary.
Prior to UNCDF, Nick served as Senior Manager: Strategic Initiatives – Sovereigns, Supranationals, and Agencies at FirstRand Group. With reporting lines to the Group Treasurer and the London CEO, he managed FirstRand’s DFI Strategy.
Nick’s first experience in Development Finance was with African Development Bank. As Senior Treasury Officer in charge of private placements, swap trading, and buybacks, he originated/managed the issuance of the first supranational bonds denominated in Ghanaian Cedi, Kenyan Shilling, and Nigerian Naira, as well as the first supranational bond settled in South African Rand.
Nick left AfDB to become the founding Deputy Managing Director and a Statutory Director of TCX Investment Management Company—the manager of The Currency Exchange Fund (TCX). TCX granted him a fully-delegated responsibility for its transaction process, and he established and ran all Trading activities, managed relationships with investors and counterparties, and served as the point of contact for TCX’s Pricing Committee.
In the private sector, Nick has also collaborated with DFIs as Chief Investment Officer of Karoll Finance, Vice Chairman of Karoll Capital Management, and Chief Strategy Officer of Karoll Financial Group.
Born in Bulgaria, Nick is a citizen of Belgium and South Africa and holds master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Our Team
Pradeeep Kurukulasuriya, Executive Secretary
With extensive experience in environment finance and climate finance, Pradeep has provided strategic leadership and oversight of multi-billion dollar portfolios across numerous countries.
Shaima Hussein, Special Advisor the Executive Secretary
With over 2 decades of experience. Her extensive international development experience, leadership, and adept programme management skills have been cultivated through various roles within the UN.
Nick Kolev has joined UNCDF as Senior Advisor, Capital Markets for Development (Director) based in New York reporting to the Executive Secretary. Prior to UNCDF, Nick served as Senior Manager at FirstRand Group.
John Rutere, Head, Office of Finance & Management Services
Prior to joining UNCDF, John worked with UNDP for the last 12 years in the Office of Financial Resource Management (OFRM) where he held various roles including Chief of Financial Performance Management where his responsibilities.
Maria Perdomo became UNCDF's Regional Coordinator for Asia in 2021 and brought with her 15 years of experience working with public and private sector stakeholders to bring finance to the most excluded in the LDCs..
Casper Sonesson joined UNCDF in 2020 as Head of Policy. Prior to joining UNCDF, Casper served as Global Policy Adviser on the role of extractive industries and private sector.
