African Asset Finance Company Inc. (AAFC), a U.S.-based non-bank financial and equipment leasing firm, has hired Stephen “Steve” Hackett, a veteran in international structured finance and international leasing, as Senior Vice President of Structured Finance. He joins from Standard Chartered Bank, where he spent the past 10 years and most recently served as Head of Corporate Finance (Americas).

“A strategic priority for AAFC is to expand upon what we’ve achieved in Ethiopia and diversify into other markets where we see advantages in terms of size, scalability, favorable legislation and the need for access to equipment leases and asset backed financing,” said Frans VanSchaik, CEO and Chairman of AAFC. “This will require us to gain expanded access to debt and capital. Given his extensive background and international experience in leasing, structured finance and corporate finance, we expect Steve to play an integral role in enabling us to achieve these objectives.”

“The opportunity to expand our footprint in Africa is huge, and in the parts of the market AAFC has touched so far, the impact has been very significant,” said Hackett. “Key to our success in achieving our strategic objectives will be educating the market about the investment opportunity in Africa and ensuring transparency into the assets and leasing agreements underlying our portfolios.”

Hackett comes to AAFC with extensive experience in financial services, specializing in structured products. He has significant expertise in cross-border and domestic leasing and has worked across a range of industries including utilities, telecommunications and manufacturing, among others.

Aside from his most recent role, Hackett has also held a variety of other positions at Standard Chartered Bank, including President and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank International Limited. Prior to that, he served as Head of Structured Leasing and Head of Structured Asset Finance, Europe, at The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Managing Director, Head of Lease Financing Europe, at UBS Warburg. Earlier, he worked for Babcock and Brown and for National Westminster in London.