Jasandra Nyker is a South African entrepreneur and former CEO of BioTherm Energy, a South African developer of renewable energy sources and power plant operator.[1] She was a managing director of the International Power Fund at Denham Capital,[2] and a board member in the Emira Property Fund.[3] In 2021, she was appointed CEO of Nala Renewables, a company set up by Trafigura and IFM Investors.[4]
After working from Brait SE, and being senior vice president at PCG Asset Management LLC,[3][6] Jasandra Nyker became CEO of Biotherm Energy in 2011. She participated in renewable energy forums such as the World Economic Forum on Africa, held in Kigali, Rwanda in 2016,[7] and the 2017 Africa CEO Forum in Geneva.[8] In 2019 she became a managing director at Denham Capital, after the sale of Biotherm to Actis Capital.[9][10] In April 2021 she was appointed CEO of Nala Renewables,[4] a company set up by Trafigura and IFM Investors with the initial goal of reaching a two gigawatts renewables portfolio.[11] At the beginning of her tenure the company acquired a majority stake in Boston-based Swift Current Energy, together with Buckeye Partners.[12] In 2022 the company started construction of a 100 MWh battery project located at Nyrstar’s zinc smelting operation in Balen, Belgium.[13]
Nyker also serves as an nonexecutive director of the Emira Property Fund,[14] and the international banking and wealth management group Investec.[15]
She has supported business school students and young entrepreneurs by chairing the judges' panel for the 2012 Anzisha Prize,[16][17] and participating in the Odgers Berndtson CEOx1Day programme in 2017.[18]
Nyker has advocated for the importance of renewable energy in Africa as a way to combat poverty,[19] given the abundance of solar and wind natural resources in the continent.[20] In order for power projects to succeed she has emphasized the need for certainty and consistency in government energy policy,[21][22] and advocated for partnerships between government and the private sector,[23] warning about state capture and failings of utility companies, such as South Africa's Eskom.[24] She has said that the independent power producers help improve power grids run by state utility companies, and that more African countries would benefit from this type of collaboration.[25] However, for 2021 she expected the private renewable market to still dominate, with country-owned renewable power still lagging behind.[26]
Nyker was named a World Economic ForumYoung Global Leader in 2012.[27] She was included in the "Fifty Changemakers Advancing Gender Equality in South Africa" list, on the occasion of the first 50/50 Day in 2017.[28] In 2019, she received the Outstanding Contribution Award in Power at the African Power, Energy and Water Awards.[29][30]
