John Weakliam
Chief Executive Officer, Vita
John Weakliam is CEO of Vita, an Irish development partner which works with communities in Africa to fight hunger and climate change. He began his career in banking and finance before spending 14 years in Eritrea, developing Vita's first projects in Eritrea in 2000 and Ethiopia in 2005. John returned to Ireland and became chief executive of Vita in 2008. John has focused on developing next generation models of development and has a vision of Africa where rural economies thrive, with access to services, markets and livelihoods for all – an Africa that is free of hunger and the impacts of climate change.
John is also the director of the Vita Green Impact Fund. This innovative, high impact, low carbon social impact investment vehicle provides life-transforming programs in Africa while delivering triple bottom lines back to the investor. In the “proof of concept” phase launched in 2016, the Fund raised €2m and provided sustainable and affordable water and energy to 400,000 rural people in Eritrea and Ethiopia. In 2018, Vita is scaling up the Green Impact Fund to €20 million which will provide four million people in five countries in Africa with sustainable and affordable water, energy and forestry. It will generate up to four million tons of annual carbon emission savings, a highly significant climate change mitigation program.
Chief Executive Officer, Vita
John Weakliam is CEO of Vita, an Irish development partner which works with communities in Africa to fight hunger and climate change. He began his career in banking and finance before spending 14 years in Eritrea, developing Vita's first projects in Eritrea in 2000 and Ethiopia in 2005. John returned to Ireland and became chief executive of Vita in 2008. John has focused on developing next generation models of development and has a vision of Africa where rural economies thrive, with access to services, markets and livelihoods for all – an Africa that is free of hunger and the impacts of climate change.
John is also the director of the Vita Green Impact Fund. This innovative, high impact, low carbon social impact investment vehicle provides life-transforming programs in Africa while delivering triple bottom lines back to the investor. In the “proof of concept” phase launched in 2016, the Fund raised €2m and provided sustainable and affordable water and energy to 400,000 rural people in Eritrea and Ethiopia. In 2018, Vita is scaling up the Green Impact Fund to €20 million which will provide four million people in five countries in Africa with sustainable and affordable water, energy and forestry. It will generate up to four million tons of annual carbon emission savings, a highly significant climate change mitigation program.