Jonathan First has over 18 years of investment banking experience working in Toronto, London, and Johannesburg and nine years of development finance experience focused primarily on Southern Africa.

At the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Jonathan developed innovative structured finance solutions and sourced blended funding for large infrastructure projects in Sub Saharan Africa. He led the DBSA’s initiative to create a green bank which culminated in the establishment of the GCF co-funded Climate Finance Facility in 2018. Jonathan is chair of South Africa’s first Green Outcomes Fund and is a senior advisor to Climate Policy Initiative, including for its Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance. He was part of the task team that set up the Impact Investment National Advisory Board in South Africa and was a board member. He was recently appointed as an advisor to the Impact Boards, Emerging Markets.

Jonathan is qualified as a lawyer in South Africa.