Penda was established in November 2014 by four passionate investors Starting paper recycling in your office is a win-win opportunity We help you keep your facilities and environment clean from paper & carton waste Jointly we can create a job opportunity! For every ton of waste paper & carton out there we can generate a sustainable monthly salary for one unemployed youth We all contribute to making Ethiopia a “green” middle income country in 2025
Build a sustainable circular economy for waste paper & carton in Ethiopia
Contribute to building a green middle income country by 2025
Create 20,000 job and income opportunities in recycling
Our Team
Marie Nielsen
Founder, Shareholder and General Manager. Before establishing Penda, Marie worked 8 years in McKinsey & Company, where she was part of the founding team of McKinsey’s branch office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ahmad Farroukh
Shareholder in Penda, with a track record of holding senior executive positions in leading MEA based telcos, including CEO of Etisalat in Saudi Arabia, Group COO of MTN, VP of the MTN WECA Region, and CEO of MTN South Africa and MTN Nigeria
Trond Riiber Knudsen
Founder of TRK Group, an Oslo-based Advisory and Active Ownership Firm, and shareholder in Penda. EarlierTrond was a Director at McKinsey & Company for 20 years. Trond was born in Addis Ababa, and is actively involved in several investments in East Africa
Michael Halbye
Shareholder in Penda and Director at McKinsey & Company for 30 years. For 4 years Michael served as McKinsey’s regional head of Europe Middle East and Africa. He is also a board member of The Mary Foundation and on the presidium of WWF in Denmark