WHO ARE
ORIENTAL & AFRICAN
Oriental & African is a consultancy specialising in project incubation - assembling the key components of projects, including funding, in the early stages. We are focused primarily on Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
ACTIVITIES
All projects are challenging. Projects in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia can be particularly challenging. Oriental & African, with its depth of experience and its strong network of business associates, joint venture partners and consultants, and its ability to bring positive intervention when required, can mitigate the challenge.
The same network can be leveraged for business opportunities that are looking for quality introductions in those regions.
APPROACH
In the evaluation of projects Oriental & African draws on its extensive
experience of global and regional macro-economic trends to undertake a rigorous assessment of projects based on criteria such as: political stability, economic climate (including structural changes in economies and cyclical trends), currency risks,
trans-national trading flows (such as remittances) and domestic wealth creation.
Once a project is assessed at the macro level, Oriental & African will work with its partners at the micro level to evaluate, revalidate and assess the available options to optimise value. Financial design and engineering, risk management and sometimes re-engineering with ingenuity are important elements of this process.
Distinct from other entities, Oriental & African’s minimal institutional structure and intuition ensures a timely project assessment.
Throughout an assignment Oriental & African engages with pragmatism tempered by traditional values.
EXPERIENCE & INGENUITY
INTUITION & PRAGMATISM
TRADITIONAL VALUES
Giles Catchpole - Principal
Giles has 45 years’ experience of corporate and project finance and has a history of executing challenging assignments principally in emerging markets. Since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PWC), he has worked in corporate and project finance for Antony Gibbs (which became part of HSBC Investment Bank), Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, Citibank (Johannesburg), Citicorp Investment Bank in London, and Indosuez Asia in Hong Kong where he was Managing Director. He was a founder shareholder and Audit Committee member of Venture Capital Bank of Bahrain (www.vc-bank.com). Currently he is a Consultant to JE Consortium (www.jeconsortium.org), an infrastructure development financial solutions company based out of Washington DC, to DABF, a spinoff from IGI Inex (www.igi-inex.com) focused on asset securitisation, and to Forma International Advisory, a Dubai-based hospitality advisory company. He is a shareholder and director of Argisol Building Systems Limited (Argisol UK), a joint venture with Argisol International (www.argisol.de) which acts as EPC&F contractor for Argisol projects and is a Director of Al-Yaqeen Reality, an Omani real estate developer engaged in major developments in Salalah.
Giles’s experience covers international mergers and acquisitions, fund management products, direct investment and project finance. He obtained a BA Hons in Middle Eastern History and Arabic from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Adam Ghadiali - Land Development Associate
Adam Ghadiali is a land development and investment advisory professional with over 20 years of experience across luxury hospitality, branded residences, large-scale mixed-use development, marinas, digital transformation, and global capital structuring.He is currently a Senior Advisor to Discover Collection (www.discovercollection.com), where he leads global investor engagement, capital structuring, and land opportunity origination for ultra-luxury hospitality and branded residential projects across Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
Alongside this role, Adam has founded a multidisciplinary real-estate advisory specialising in land origination, capital raising, operator selection, and development strategy for high-value hospitality, residential, and mixed-use projects worldwide. He works closely with landowners, developers, UHNWIs, family offices, and operators to structure commercially aligned, cross-border development platforms.
Previously, Adam led regional business development and operations across MENA for EFS Group, delivering integrated workplace solutions for major corporate clients while expanding service lines into new regional markets. He later directed global acquisitions and partnerships for YOO, securing branded residence developments, launching new business verticals, and building long-term relationships with developers, investors, and government stakeholders.
Adam holds a BSc (Hons) in Business Administration and Management from King’s College London.
