Power To The People

Opportunities abound in electricity generation in South and Southeast Asia where some economies and their populations are growing in unprecedented numbers. As Summit Power International looks into maintaining its lead status in Bangladesh, and expanding into new markets, Managing Director and CEO, Ms. Ayesha Aziz Khan, talks about what the next phase of growth for the company will entail

- Marc Almagro

She has the face for a Lancome campaign and brains that can easily secure a seat at any good university, but Ms. Ayesha Aziz Khan thinks her biggest blessing is having parents who understand the importance of education. “They insisted that we finish school first before we go out there and pursue whatever we wanted,” she tells me. And so she completed her degree in economics and business at the University College London, followed it up with an MBA at Columbia University, and joined the family business. “In school I did well in mathematics, especially in higher maths,” Ms. Khan says. “I was something of a dork,” she adds with a laugh.

Today, Ms. Khan runs Summit Power International (SPI), the largest independent power producer (IPP) in Bangladesh, and serves as director in several companies at Summit Group, the conglomerate that her family owns. She reports to her father, eminent businessman Mr. Muhammed Aziz Khan, who is founder and chairman of the SPI board. “Each business under the Group is a separate legal entity and is run independently,” Ms. Khan explains. Meanwhile, professional CEOs have been hired to run the other businesses, for which some members of the family work.

At Summit, Ms. Khan has held various key positions, including director of finance management of Summit Power Limited, a publicly listed company in Bangladesh, and group finance director of Summit Corporation Limited. Through these, she mastered the complex task of financial management and structuring for power generation companies, and has spearheaded the financing of billion-dollar power projects.

THE BANGLADESHI BEHEMOTH