Infrastructure · Strategy · Finance · Advisory
Twenty-five years in East Africa across two distinct mandates — preparing bankable proposals that satisfy commercial standards while advancing shared strategic interests, and running the programmes that deploy the capital well.
Lead author on fund proposals through to a board decision. Three are now approved and financed for Ethiopia, worth USD 110 million between them, serving 3.4 million end users — each listed on the fund's own portfolio and open to verification.
Country and programme leadership on bilateral and multilateral portfolios for FCDO, USAID, the World Bank and the African Development Bank — accountable for the budget being used efficiently and executed against the approved design, and rated accordingly in donor annual reviews.
Two lanes, kept deliberately distinct. Proposal work is a defined commission that ends at a funding decision. Programme work is a standing accountability for budget, plan and results. Both are built to the same test: proposals that satisfy commercial standards while advancing shared strategic interests.
Lead authorship of feasibility studies, business cases and full funding proposals built to satisfy the commercial standards private lenders, institutional investors and development finance institutions apply at investment committee. Includes concessional and blended finance submissions to the GCF, the Adaptation Fund and the FRLD — accredited entity liaison, no-objection processes, Secretariat and independent technical panel review, and the reviewer responses that carry a proposal to a board decision.
Proposal laneDirecting a team of economists, hydrogeologists, agronomists, irrigation and transport engineers, GIS analysts and safeguards specialists — holding the technical evidence, the economic case and the funder's requirements in one coherent document under deadline.
Proposal lanePre-feasibility and feasibility work, economic and financial modelling, capital structuring across senior debt, equity and blended financing instruments, IRR, DSCR and payback analysis, debt service schedules, and the commercial case that brings a private co-investor in alongside concessional capital.
Proposal laneRunning a donor-funded programme from mobilisation to close, accountable for the budget being spent efficiently and against the approved design: workplans, procurement, subcontractor management, risk registers, variance control and reporting cycles.
Delivery lanePortfolios delivered to FCDO, USAID, World Bank and African Development Bank standards — compliance, lender safeguards, monitoring frameworks, audit readiness and the reporting discipline funders score against.
Delivery laneMinistries, regional bureaux, regulators and municipal authorities. Securing the permissions, endorsements and institutional ownership that determine whether a programme survives its own handover.
Both lanesWhere I hold the budget, I am accountable for it being used efficiently and executed as the approved design set out. Four areas carry that accountability in practice.
Standing up offices, banking, registration, staffing and procurement systems from a standing start, under donor rules and country regulations at the same time.
Spend tracked against the approved design as well as the ceiling — forecasting, reallocation with donor consent, and early escalation when an activity is going to cost more than it was scoped to.
Selecting, contracting and supervising local delivery partners — scopes of work, milestone payment structures, quality assurance and the escalation route when a partner slips.
Donor financial management, procurement compliance, lender safeguard and permitting requirements, anti-fraud controls and audit-ready documentation maintained throughout the period of performance.
FCDO-funded, delivered through a PwC-led alliance. Accountable for the Ethiopia portfolio end to end — workplan, budget and its efficient use, alliance partners, government counterparts and close-out in July 2026. Delivered a USD 185M GCF concept note for Addis Ababa e-mass mobility, a USD 600M+ Berbera and Dire Dawa corridor pipeline, the country's first E-Mobility Technical Working Group, and a public transport dataset covering 184 bus and 385 minibus routes.
Ran in parallel with GCIEP. Led Ethiopia's submission to the FRLD on behalf of the Ministry of Finance — a USD 20M, 36-month recovery and reconstruction programme restoring household water, health and school infrastructure across Somali, Afar and Oromia. Assembled and directed the consultant team, convened the inter-ministerial FRLD Task Force, set the analytical framework and workplan, and authored the proposal through to submission.
Ran country operations across three markets simultaneously — budgets, staff, partner networks and government engagement — building the evidence and regulatory case for distributed generation as a commercially viable route to electrification.
Both lanes at once. Lead author on the successive GCF and Adaptation Fund submissions for Ethiopia listed below, working to the Ministry of Finance as Accredited Entity — while holding delivery and budget accountability for DFID-funded development programmes in national infrastructure planning and subnational capital investment.
Groundwater survey, borehole siting and well design across East Africa, including USAID-funded water supply work in Ethiopia. Geophysical survey, wire-line logging, contractor supervision and the resource assessments that determine whether a scheme is viable at all.
Lead author on each of the proposals below, directing a team of economists, hydrogeologists, agronomists, irrigation and transport engineers, GIS analysts and safeguards specialists.
Approved and financed
Each is a matter of public record on the GCF and Adaptation Fund portfolios, linked below. The Accredited and Implementing Entity in each case is Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance.
GCF FP243 · Board-approved 2024
Solar-powered water pumping and efficient irrigation across the drought-exposed Kobo-Girana Valley and Borena Zone, with recoverable grants to widen access to finance. Approved at B.40 in October 2024 and now under implementation to 2032. Anticipated 2.1 million end users served and diesel displacement equivalent to 173,000 tonnes over the asset life.
Lead author, funding proposal
GCF portfolio · FP243 →GCF FP058 · Board-approved 2017
Year-round drinking water and small-scale irrigation for rural service areas, combining solar-powered pumping with rehabilitation of degraded land around water sources. Fully disbursed, 1.3 million end users served across approximately 260,000 connected households.
Lead author, funding proposal
GCF portfolio · FP058 →Adaptation Fund · Completed
Drought risk reduction across seven agro-ecological landscapes through an integrated water, agriculture and natural resource management approach — water security, improved agronomy and irrigation practice, income diversification and local infrastructure planning. Approved March 2017, fully transferred, completed 2022.
Lead author, project proposal
Adaptation Fund portfolio →Structured and in pipeline
GCF · Concept note
A financing structure for 500 electric buses and 175 depot and terminal chargers, built on primary operator data collected from Addis Ababa fleets. The charger business case returns 27.5% IRR on a six-year payback, which is what brings a private build-own-operate partner alongside concessional capital.
Lead author · transport engineering team
FRLD · Full proposal
A three-component, 36-month proposal to the FRLD, developed under UNICEF contract with Ethiopia's CRGE Facility as access entity — results framework, fiduciary and safeguard architecture, institutional arrangements and phased budget.
Lead author
Corridor · Pipeline
Structured a multi-project infrastructure pipeline linking Ethiopian industrial demand to Red Sea port capacity, including rail logistics agreements and a preparation route to bankability.
Structuring lead
HK Consult is the trading name of Hailu Kebede LLC, a Virginia limited liability company registered and active in the System for Award Management. Available as prime contractor with vetted local delivery partners, as subcontractor to international primes, and for institutional consultancy and short-term technical assistance.
Best for: bankable proposal preparation for private, institutional and development finance investors, concessional and blended finance structuring, programme delivery and budget accountability, project preparation, and East Africa market entry. Based in Northern Virginia; works across US and East African time zones.