From Finance to Founder
Sidney Yankson (LLM’10) discusses how BU Law shaped his entrepreneurial journey.
Sidney Yankson graduated from Boston University School of Law in 2010 with an LLM in American Law and a vision to make the world a better place. His academic track record encompasses an LLB in law from the University of London (’09), an LLM in American Law from BU (’10), and a second postgraduate degree in law from the University of Hong Kong (’11).
With over 17 years of global financial experience under his belt, Yankson’s legal work covers diverse areas ranging from terrorism finance to Islamic law; private equity to international corporate finance. He has worked in senior positions in leading international banks and garnered clients across major financial centers such as Tokyo, New York, Singapore, London, and Hong Kong.
Yankson is the founder of Ghana Capital Partners (GCP), a boutique private equity firm focused on Africa. The company’s core focus is in renewable energy, infrastructure, and consumer distribution. GCP Solar, the first portfolio company, was established in September 2012, and aims to help the 620 million people in sub-Saharan Africa without electricity.
“My parents were both born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, but I was raised in London where I attended private boarding school.” says Yankson. He earned his first undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Durham and began working in London trading fixed income derivatives for a Japanese investment bank.
After over 12 years working in finance in London and Hong Kong, Yankson sought to add another dimension to his professional profile by qualifying as a barrister-at-law in Hong Kong. Between 2006 and 2009, he completed his bachelor of laws at the University of London. “After some deliberation, I decided on a full law degree, rather than the graduate diploma in law, as I prefer to look at subjects in some depth and wanted a more detailed understanding of the subject matter,” he says. “It allowed me to use my background in finance when tackling some of those thorny legal issues.”
BU Law’s influence
“Undertaking an LLM degree from BU Law was fundamental to my career trajectory,” says Yankson. When he joined the School, he already had about 16 years of experience in finance. Seeking a “broader view of the law,” he pursued his LLM in American Law.
“I found the broad range and depth of subjects offered at BU, from an international perspective, incredibly valuable,” he says. “For example, I was able to undertake the course on the CIA and the National Clandestine Service at the international relations school. This course allowed me to look at national security issues and some of the legal ramifications from the US perspective.”
During his second semester, Yankson completed an externship that allowed him to work as a legal assistant to Massachusetts Senator Karen Spilka, who was chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies for the Massachusetts Senate. Yankson assisted with drafting pieces of legislation which were then debated on the senate floor and went on to be enacted as statutes in the state of Massachusetts. “This experience was extremely valuable and I’m glad that I did it. It was hard work and stressful, but completing 21 credits forced me to be organized and work efficiently, even though I lived on very little sleep!”
At BU Law, Yankson delved into diverse subjects as public international law, intellectual property, human rights, and private equity. In order to consider issues and challenges facing the United Nations, one of his key interest areas, he also completed a course with the International Relations department at BU’s College of Arts and Sciences. One of his papers, which examined the role of the United Nations in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, was published in a peer-reviewed legal journal in Hong Kong.
Among the things BU Law instilled in Yankson were the fundamentals of high quality legal research and writing for peer-reviewed journals. Yankson notes, “The legal writing courses and seminars encouraged me to produce research papers of publishable quality, and opened doors for me to have my articles published by a number of leading journals.” One such paper, which looked critically at the United Nation’s application of international human rights norms while considering the sensitive subject of terrorism financing, was named Outstanding Paper of the Year by the Journal of Money Laundering Control (2010). He has since authored a book chapter on the anti-terrorism and money laundering ordinance (CAP. 615) in Hong Kong and recently published an article on a new project finance model for Africa.
Ghana Capital Partners (GCP)
With his ties to Africa running closer to home, Yankson founded Ghana Capital Partners to focus on Africa’s development and sought to address some of the fundamental roadblocks, such as lack of access to power and poor infrastructure, that are responsible for holding back the continent’s progress.
“Much of my thinking in setting up GCP was shaped by my BU Law experience,” he says. Various discussions with his classmates and professors offered him global perspectives about existing issues. “Professor Charles Dunbar, who taught international relations at BU, was particularly influential in my decision to start GCP. Having had a first hand experience working in the Western Sahara as the UN Secretary General’s special representative, he had a unique insight and understood the challenges prevalent in Africa more than most.”
At present, the aim of GCP Solar is to use solar power to provide clean, energy efficient power to the people of Africa. It follows a three-pronged approach to address access to energy: utility-scale projects supplying power to the national utility; rooftop solar to schools, churches, hospitals, and businesses to reduce transmission losses and provide electricity directly to the consumer; and finally, providing hand-held solar lanterns directly to the base of the pyramid in remote African villages.
Yankson’s experience conducting in-depth research in law school prepared him for the months of detailed research alongside various agencies to understand how and where in the African energy sector he could add value. During visits to numerous African villages in Mozambique, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, and Togo that had no electricity, he explored solar power’s potential to help with education and lifestyle improvement at the grassroots level. In particular, working with the World Bank’s ‘Lighting Africa’ team in Ghana helped him understand the research that had already been undertaken and revealed challenges and gaps that could be filled by commercial companies like GCP Solar.
He then implemented these findings in the field. “It was the challenge of taking the theory and making it a reality that helped me use my on-the-ground experience. My goal was always to help the most people and get the maximum impact with the minimum cost,” he says.
Reported by Indira Priyadarshini (COM’16).