Corporate
Leadership Team
Chairman
Charles Bray
Charles has over 30 years of experience primarily focused in financial markets. A graduate of Yale University with a degree in Economics, Charles originally worked for O’Connor & Associates in both Philadelphia and New York as an exchange derivatives trader. In 1994, he joined the London derivatives team of Paribas Capital Markets, following which he joined Credit Suisse to manage the Convertible Finance Group which specialised in structuring, trading, and managing privately issued corporate debt, equity, and equity-linked products with a focus on small-mid cap issuers. In 2001, Charles founded the alternative fund management and capital markets boutique, Astin Capital Management Ltd. Charles joined the company in 2019 to lead its strategic refocus and recapitalisation which led to its move into Rwanda.
Director
Simon Rollason
Simon has over 30 years of international exploration and mining experience, having worked on a wide range of commodities and geological terranes, developing & building projects and companies. He completed a BSc (Hons) degree in geology from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has broad corporate exposure ranging from multi-nationals to junior and start-up companies, with a strong operational background in African countries and within the CIS. He has operated in both open pit and underground mining environments, managed surface and underground exploration on greenfield to brownfield projects and producing assets.
Non-Executive Director
Kasra Pezeshki
Kasra has over 17 years of experience in investment banking, structured finance, and private equity at institutions such as UBP, Morgan Stanley, Adveq, Bank of America and Enveq in London, New York, Geneva, and Zurich. As the co-founder and director of Enveq Investments, Kasra has originated, structured and executed deals for a wide range of clients varying from corporates to family offices, as well as having made direct investments in venture capital and private equity. Kasra holds a 1st Class BSc (Hons) degree from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department of the University of Hertfordshire and an MSc in Computer Science from Imperial College London.
Non-Executive Director
Devon Marais
Devon is a South African National experienced in technology, renewables and mining in Africa. He was founder and MP of a South African-based solar energy provider, which provided green solar power to more than 300 homes in South Africa, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda. He is co-founder and MP of the Reba Group of companies, which specialises in financing and commercialising high-profile technologies in Africa. Devon is a General Partner and Fund Manager at Emerging Africa Private Equity Fund, a regulated Private Equity Firm investing into AgriTech, pharmaceuticals, food security, and technology companies in Africa. He studied Alternative Investments through Harvard Business School.
Non-Executive Director
Alister Hume
Alister is an experienced investment professional with over a decade of experience working in private equity and capital markets in the natural resources industry. He has gained international exposure to the sector through his roles as an investment manager at The Sentient Group, a US$2.7b private equity fund focused on metals and mining, as director of business development at KoBold Metals, a data science-led resource investment vehicle and more recently as EVP of business development at Elemental Altus Royalties Corp, a role which he currently holds. Alister previously held board positions for East Africa Copper and Meridian Mining (TSXV: MNO) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Accounting) from Sydney University.
Chief Financial Officer : CFO
Graham Duncan
Graham is a UK-based chartered accountant with more than 25 years of capital markets experience. He also holds the Corporate Finance Diploma issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Since 2013, Graham has run a consultancy business providing transaction support and financial reporting advice to growing private and public companies in the UK and internationally, including advising on new admissions to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange. Prior to this, Graham was a capital markets and natural resources director with a major firm of Chartered Accountants in London. Graham has considerable international experience, including four years in Hong Kong where he advised on corporate transactions in the Asia Pacific region.