Directors
The Board of the Company will comprise seven directors, including four independent directors. The Directors are responsible for the determination of the Company’s investment strategy (including approval of each investment), interaction with the Investment Adviser and review of the performance of the Investment Adviser (through the Management Engagement Committee).
As the Company is an investment company without executive management, those functions are to be provided by the investment adviser. The four independent non-executive directors will be responsible for approving any investments made by the Company.
Brief biographies of the Directors are set out below:
David Suratgar
Independent Non-Executive Chairman
David Suratgar is a board member of Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur.
He served as director and deputy chairman of Morgan Grenfell and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell International. He is a director of Global Alumina Inc., Lead International, Fortune Funds Ltd. and Garsington Opera Ltd.
He serves on a range of advisory boards such as Taylor-DeJongh Inc., the School of Oriental and African Studies, George Washington University, the Major Projects Association and the International Law Institute. He served on the Council of Chatham House between 1996 and 2006.
Mr Suratgar is an international lawyer and banker, educated at Oxford and Columbia Universities. He is a former senior lawyer at the World Bank and special adviser to the European Investment Bank, the Bank of England and the European Commission.
Francis Daniels
Non-Executive Director
Mr Daniels is a founder and director of African Opportunities Fund Limited, an investment company listed on AIM.
In addition, Mr Daniels is an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York. He practised on a full time basis in New York City as a banking lawyer at the firms of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloyand Watson, Farley & Williams. He also worked at the New York firm of Schulte, Roth & Zabel. Mr Daniels graduated with a LL.B (Hons.) degree from the University of Ghana in 1981, a LL.M degree from the University of Toronto in 1983, a LL.M (General) degree from New York University Law School in 1986, and a LL.M (Corporations) degree from New York University School in 1987.
Mr Daniels has 15 years of investing experience in Africa and has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, since 1998. He is a non-executive director of TA Holdings.
Yvonne Deeney
Independent Non-Executive Director
Ms Deeney holds a Masters in Law, and a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Econometrics. She has more than 15 years experience in senior executive positions, in the financial services sector.
Ms Deeney was Operations Director, and co-founder of Home Equity Release Company, a company that operated in the shared home equity market in London. Prior to that, between 2000 and 2004, she was the Managing Director of GE Re Management Services (which she had joined in 1998 as the Investment Director), which managed reinsurance portfolios and their investments for GE (Employers Reinsurance) and several of their global clients. Prior to that she was Head of Fixed Income Investments in the Saudi International Bank, and held senior positions in Hill Samuel Investment Management and Laurie Milbank, Chase Manhattan Bank, all in London. Ms Deeney currently sits on the Board of Tokio Marine Global Re, as a non-executive director.
Maureen Erasmus
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mrs Erasmus provides significant financial markets experience and strategic insight to the Board. She has identified and led transformational revenue growth strategies as well as restructuring of organisations. She has significant experience in all aspects of corporate strategy (market entry, business expansion, operational model efficiency), acquisitions, joint ventures and firm-wide risk management as well as having advised the boards of major financial institutions.
Over the past eight years, Mrs Erasmus has held leadership positions in two global financial institutions, namely Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. At Merrill Lynch she was responsible for the global strategy of all primary and secondary debt and equity investment banking businesses as well as principal businesses (private equity, hedge funds, real estate).
Prior to this, Mrs Erasmus held leadership positions in several global consulting firms, including A.T. Kearney, Coopers & Lybrand and Andersen Consulting. She has delivered significant engagements for Morgan Stanley, Chase, Bank of Tokyo, Mitsubishi, Goldman Sachs and Credit Lyonnais across Europe, North America and Asia.
Mrs Erasmus was born in Umtali (now renamed Mutare) in Zimbabwe.
Jason Harel
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr Harel is qualified both as a chartered accountant and barrister. Until May of 2005, Mr Harel was a senior associate within the trade finance and project finance group of Denton Wilde Sapte in London. He also has substantial experience in corporate and workout transactions. Based in Mauritius from 2009, Mr Harel has advised on numerous cross border transactions involving businesses in India, China, South Africa and Dubai and has also advised a number of Mauritius corporations and Mauritian financial institutions.
Shingai Mutasa
Non-Executive Director
Mr Mutasa graduated from the University College London with a B.Sc. (Econs) Hons degree in 1980.
Mr Mutasa returned to Zimbabwe from the UK in 1980, when he began his working career as a commodities trader. In 1989, he established FMI Holdings, an investment company focused on developing an African portfolio of investments. It was through this vehicle and its subsidiaries that he acquired a strategic stake in TA Holdings, a local Zimbabwean listed investment group. FMI Holdings is also the major shareholder in Joina City.
Mr Mutasa was appointed Chairman of TA Holdings on November 1997. He subsequently became executive chairman of TA Holdings. He also currently serves on the boards of several TA Holdings subsidiaries and associate companies in Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and the Channel Islands.
Iqbal Rajahbalee
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr Rajahbalee is a barrister with over 20 years experience and is considered by many to be the founder of the offshore financial services industry in Mauritius. Until July of 2005, he was the first chief executive of the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, the regulatory body of the non-banking finance industry. He has spent more than eight years as head of financial regulatory institutions and has occupied the post of Assistant Solicitor General at the Mauritius Attorney General’s Office. He has also practised at the Mauritian Bar where he advised on a number of cross border structured finance transactions, including asset financing, and investment funds.
Mr Rajahbalee has been responsible for the drafting of legislation in Mauritius, including the Securities Act, Financial Services Development Act and Insurance Act. He has been a director of the Bank of Mauritius and the chairman of Mauritius Telecom, where he was the lead negotiator for the government on the sale of 45% of the issued share capital to France Telecom.
Julian Vezey
Non-Executive Director
Mr Vezey is a chartered accountant and has spent most of his professional and business career in Zimbabwe. Following his appointment as a partner, Mr Vezey headed up the consultancy practice of Deloitte in Zimbabwe and then moved to Deloitte in London from where he was seconded to the practice in the Middle East to establish a consultancy practice in the region. He left Deloitte in 1993 and was a founder partner of a successful stock broking and financial services company in Zimbabwe. This company was purchased by HSBC plc in 1998.
For the past twelve years he has been an executive director of a large Zimbabwe listed company, Innscor Africa Limited (“Innscor”), having joined at the time of their listing. Having initially joined as group financial director, he moved into an operational role and led the expansion of the group’s Quick Service Restaurant concept into five African countries. Following completion of this expansion, he was appointed chief executive officer of Innscor’s manufacturing division, during which time he led the acquisitions by Innscor of Colcon Holdings Limited and National Foods Limited, two independently listed companies.
Investment Adviser
Masawara Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary, has been selected as the investment adviser and manager. Under the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement, the Investment Adviser will advise the Company on investment opportunities, acquisitions and sales, exit strategies and manage the Company’s portfolio of investments on a day-to-day basis with a view to achieving the Company’s investment objective and strategy.
The executive directors and senior management of Masawara Zimbabwe have in excess of 65 years combined experience in identifying opportunities and managing investments in Zimbabwe and the region. The Directors therefore believe that Masawara Zimbabwe in its capacity as the investment adviser has the requisite experience to successfully achieve the Group’s investment strategy and policy.
Shingai Mutasa, Julian Vezey and the other executives of Masawara Zimbabwe have significant relationships in Zimbabwe and the region. Initially, it is through these relationships that the various investment opportunities will be identified. However, as the Company matures it is expected that additional opportunities will arise as a result of the group’s track record.