The Board and Local Advisory Committee

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Jeremy Lefroy

Board Member, EAA

Jeremy’s work centres on smallholder agriculture in Africa; supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and working with partners to tackle infectious diseases. He is Executive Director of the NGO Café Africa which supports work with coffee farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also director of companies in Tanzania and Kenya which lease tractors and other productive equipment to SMEs and cooperatives which find difficulty in obtaining asset finance. From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Jeremy Lefroy

Board Member, EAA

Jeremy’s work centres on smallholder agriculture in Africa; supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and working with partners to tackle infectious diseases. He is Executive Director of the NGO Café Africa which supports work with coffee farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also director of companies in Tanzania and Kenya which lease tractors and other productive equipment to SMEs and cooperatives which find difficulty in obtaining asset finance. From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Sir Jeffrey James KBE CMG

Board Member, EAA

Sir Jeffrey served as the British High Commissioner in Kenya from 1997 to 2001, after a diplomatic career which included earlier postings in South Africa, India and Iran. He was particularly involved in development, trade and economic policy and retains a strong interest in these issues across the East African region. Following retirement in 2001, he joined the EAA Executive Committee in 2005. He is also a longstanding member of the Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, a social science research institute with a base in Nairobi. He has been a regular visitor to Kenya and also supports the conservation work of Nature Kenya and the East African Wild Life Society.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Jeremy Lefroy

Board Member, EAA

Jeremy’s work centres on smallholder agriculture in Africa; supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and working with partners to tackle infectious diseases. He is Executive Director of the NGO Café Africa which supports work with coffee farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also director of companies in Tanzania and Kenya which lease tractors and other productive equipment to SMEs and cooperatives which find difficulty in obtaining asset finance. From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Sir Jeffrey James KBE CMG

Board Member, EAA

Sir Jeffrey served as the British High Commissioner in Kenya from 1997 to 2001, after a diplomatic career which included earlier postings in South Africa, India and Iran. He was particularly involved in development, trade and economic policy and retains a strong interest in these issues across the East African region. Following retirement in 2001, he joined the EAA Executive Committee in 2005. He is also a longstanding member of the Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, a social science research institute with a base in Nairobi. He has been a regular visitor to Kenya and also supports the conservation work of Nature Kenya and the East African Wild Life Society.

Joyce Karanja

Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Joyce Karanja is a Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney LLP in Nairobi where she heads the Competition practice. She has an LLB Hons from the University of Luton (now the University of Bedfordshire), UK, an LLM (Tax Law) from the University of London (Queen Mary), UK, completed the legal practice course from the College of Law, UK and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She started her career specialising in company, corporate and commercial work. She has extensive due diligence expertise as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate re-organisations, privatisations, banking and finance law, securities, competition law, real estate/ property development, conveyancing and project management. More recently, Joyce’s primary focus is on competition law having advised on a wide range of matters in relation to Kenya and COMESA including merger control, restrictive trade practices, abuse of dominance and consumer protection in various sectors of the economy such as cement, FMCG, telecommunications, aviation and automotives, to name a few. Joyce has also been involved in a number of stakeholder discussion fora and engagements with both the COMESA Competition Commission and the Competition Authority of Kenya. Awards & citations Joyce was featured as one of only three women in Africa for her work in the competition space by Global Competition Review, 2021 and in 2016 she was also featured as one of only two Bowmans partners. Chambers and Partners consistently ranked Joyce in Band 3 for Corporate/ Commercial for the past four consecutive years (2018 to 2021) and prior to that in Band 4 for the same category in 2017. Chamber and Partners also ranked Joyce in Band 4 for Corporate/ M&A in Kenya in 2021. IFLR1000’s Financial and Corporate Guide rated Joyce as a Highly Regarded Lawyer for her work in Capital Markets, Banking and M&A for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and for three consecutive years prior to that, as a Rising Star (from 2016 to 2019). Legal 500 2017 lists Joyce as a recommended lawyer for Competition. In the Business Daily, a regional newspaper, Joyce was lauded as a Top 40 Under 40 lawyer. Joyce has also been repeatedly ranked by Chambers and Partners since 2017.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Jeremy Lefroy

Board Member, EAA

Jeremy’s work centres on smallholder agriculture in Africa; supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and working with partners to tackle infectious diseases. He is Executive Director of the NGO Café Africa which supports work with coffee farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also director of companies in Tanzania and Kenya which lease tractors and other productive equipment to SMEs and cooperatives which find difficulty in obtaining asset finance. From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Sir Jeffrey James KBE CMG

Board Member, EAA

Sir Jeffrey served as the British High Commissioner in Kenya from 1997 to 2001, after a diplomatic career which included earlier postings in South Africa, India and Iran. He was particularly involved in development, trade and economic policy and retains a strong interest in these issues across the East African region. Following retirement in 2001, he joined the EAA Executive Committee in 2005. He is also a longstanding member of the Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, a social science research institute with a base in Nairobi. He has been a regular visitor to Kenya and also supports the conservation work of Nature Kenya and the East African Wild Life Society.

Joyce Karanja

Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Joyce Karanja is a Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney LLP in Nairobi where she heads the Competition practice. She has an LLB Hons from the University of Luton (now the University of Bedfordshire), UK, an LLM (Tax Law) from the University of London (Queen Mary), UK, completed the legal practice course from the College of Law, UK and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She started her career specialising in company, corporate and commercial work. She has extensive due diligence expertise as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate re-organisations, privatisations, banking and finance law, securities, competition law, real estate/ property development, conveyancing and project management. More recently, Joyce’s primary focus is on competition law having advised on a wide range of matters in relation to Kenya and COMESA including merger control, restrictive trade practices, abuse of dominance and consumer protection in various sectors of the economy such as cement, FMCG, telecommunications, aviation and automotives, to name a few. Joyce has also been involved in a number of stakeholder discussion fora and engagements with both the COMESA Competition Commission and the Competition Authority of Kenya. Awards & citations Joyce was featured as one of only three women in Africa for her work in the competition space by Global Competition Review, 2021 and in 2016 she was also featured as one of only two Bowmans partners. Chambers and Partners consistently ranked Joyce in Band 3 for Corporate/ Commercial for the past four consecutive years (2018 to 2021) and prior to that in Band 4 for the same category in 2017. Chamber and Partners also ranked Joyce in Band 4 for Corporate/ M&A in Kenya in 2021. IFLR1000’s Financial and Corporate Guide rated Joyce as a Highly Regarded Lawyer for her work in Capital Markets, Banking and M&A for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and for three consecutive years prior to that, as a Rising Star (from 2016 to 2019). Legal 500 2017 lists Joyce as a recommended lawyer for Competition. In the Business Daily, a regional newspaper, Joyce was lauded as a Top 40 Under 40 lawyer. Joyce has also been repeatedly ranked by Chambers and Partners since 2017.

Richard Markham

Safari operator, hotelier, travel agent

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Richard Markham is an experienced East African Safari Operator, Hotelier, Travel Agent and Car Hire Operator. He sits on the Advisory Committee of The Eastern Africa Association (EAA-LAC Board). Few individuals have as much experience in the East African hospitality industry as he does, having started at Abercrombie & Kent where he learned the very essence of the business. Richard has worked for and run some of Kenya’s top tourism companies.

Richard spent 10 years with A&K before being moved to establish the A&K hotel company together with an English Managing Director. Thereafter the company was sold to Lonrho, (a huge British trading conglomerate with businesses throughout Africa), where he remained for a further 9 years. During this time the company owned and managed some of Kenya’s most prestigious hotels including the Norfolk and the Mount Kenya Safari Club

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Jeremy Lefroy

Board Member, EAA

Jeremy’s work centres on smallholder agriculture in Africa; supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and working with partners to tackle infectious diseases. He is Executive Director of the NGO Café Africa which supports work with coffee farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also director of companies in Tanzania and Kenya which lease tractors and other productive equipment to SMEs and cooperatives which find difficulty in obtaining asset finance. From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Sir Jeffrey James KBE CMG

Board Member, EAA

Sir Jeffrey served as the British High Commissioner in Kenya from 1997 to 2001, after a diplomatic career which included earlier postings in South Africa, India and Iran. He was particularly involved in development, trade and economic policy and retains a strong interest in these issues across the East African region. Following retirement in 2001, he joined the EAA Executive Committee in 2005. He is also a longstanding member of the Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, a social science research institute with a base in Nairobi. He has been a regular visitor to Kenya and also supports the conservation work of Nature Kenya and the East African Wild Life Society.

Joyce Karanja

Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Joyce Karanja is a Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney LLP in Nairobi where she heads the Competition practice. She has an LLB Hons from the University of Luton (now the University of Bedfordshire), UK, an LLM (Tax Law) from the University of London (Queen Mary), UK, completed the legal practice course from the College of Law, UK and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She started her career specialising in company, corporate and commercial work. She has extensive due diligence expertise as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate re-organisations, privatisations, banking and finance law, securities, competition law, real estate/ property development, conveyancing and project management. More recently, Joyce’s primary focus is on competition law having advised on a wide range of matters in relation to Kenya and COMESA including merger control, restrictive trade practices, abuse of dominance and consumer protection in various sectors of the economy such as cement, FMCG, telecommunications, aviation and automotives, to name a few. Joyce has also been involved in a number of stakeholder discussion fora and engagements with both the COMESA Competition Commission and the Competition Authority of Kenya. Awards & citations Joyce was featured as one of only three women in Africa for her work in the competition space by Global Competition Review, 2021 and in 2016 she was also featured as one of only two Bowmans partners. Chambers and Partners consistently ranked Joyce in Band 3 for Corporate/ Commercial for the past four consecutive years (2018 to 2021) and prior to that in Band 4 for the same category in 2017. Chamber and Partners also ranked Joyce in Band 4 for Corporate/ M&A in Kenya in 2021. IFLR1000’s Financial and Corporate Guide rated Joyce as a Highly Regarded Lawyer for her work in Capital Markets, Banking and M&A for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and for three consecutive years prior to that, as a Rising Star (from 2016 to 2019). Legal 500 2017 lists Joyce as a recommended lawyer for Competition. In the Business Daily, a regional newspaper, Joyce was lauded as a Top 40 Under 40 lawyer. Joyce has also been repeatedly ranked by Chambers and Partners since 2017.

Richard Markham

Safari operator, hotelier, travel agent

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Richard Markham is an experienced East African Safari Operator, Hotelier, Travel Agent and Car Hire Operator. He sits on the Advisory Committee of The Eastern Africa Association (EAA-LAC Board). Few individuals have as much experience in the East African hospitality industry as he does, having started at Abercrombie & Kent where he learned the very essence of the business. Richard has worked for and run some of Kenya’s top tourism companies.

Richard spent 10 years with A&K before being moved to establish the A&K hotel company together with an English Managing Director. Thereafter the company was sold to Lonrho, (a huge British trading conglomerate with businesses throughout Africa), where he remained for a further 9 years. During this time the company owned and managed some of Kenya’s most prestigious hotels including the Norfolk and the Mount Kenya Safari Club

Gayling May

Local Advisory Board Member

Eastern Africa Association

Born and schooled in Kenya. Qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England in 1965. Currently a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Other Qualifications: Member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. Member of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya. Joined the Eastern Africa Association in December 2002 as its Regional Representative, based in Nairobi until 2019 (16 years) when he retired. Professional Career: Joined a modest firm of professional accountants in Nairobi in 1965 – later to become Price Waterhouse Kenya in 1969. Remained with Price Waterhouse for 37 years, until retirement therefrom in 2002, during which time he was the Partner-in-Charge of Price Waterhouse in Kenya for 12 years, and Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse Africa for 8 years. Current Occupation: Self-employed business information consultancy. Directorships held: BAT Kenya Plc; Swissport Kenya Ltd; Stanbic Bank Kenya; Liberty Kenya Holdings; Liberty Life Assurance Ltd; Heritage Insurance Company Ltd. Charities: League of Mercy; Greenline Trust; 41 Club of Kenya (Round Table); Msaada Trust.

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Jeremy Lefroy

Board Member, EAA

Jeremy’s work centres on smallholder agriculture in Africa; supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and working with partners to tackle infectious diseases. He is Executive Director of the NGO Café Africa which supports work with coffee farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also director of companies in Tanzania and Kenya which lease tractors and other productive equipment to SMEs and cooperatives which find difficulty in obtaining asset finance. From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Sir Jeffrey James KBE CMG

Board Member, EAA

Sir Jeffrey served as the British High Commissioner in Kenya from 1997 to 2001, after a diplomatic career which included earlier postings in South Africa, India and Iran. He was particularly involved in development, trade and economic policy and retains a strong interest in these issues across the East African region. Following retirement in 2001, he joined the EAA Executive Committee in 2005. He is also a longstanding member of the Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, a social science research institute with a base in Nairobi. He has been a regular visitor to Kenya and also supports the conservation work of Nature Kenya and the East African Wild Life Society.

Joyce Karanja

Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Joyce Karanja is a Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney LLP in Nairobi where she heads the Competition practice. She has an LLB Hons from the University of Luton (now the University of Bedfordshire), UK, an LLM (Tax Law) from the University of London (Queen Mary), UK, completed the legal practice course from the College of Law, UK and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She started her career specialising in company, corporate and commercial work. She has extensive due diligence expertise as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate re-organisations, privatisations, banking and finance law, securities, competition law, real estate/ property development, conveyancing and project management. More recently, Joyce’s primary focus is on competition law having advised on a wide range of matters in relation to Kenya and COMESA including merger control, restrictive trade practices, abuse of dominance and consumer protection in various sectors of the economy such as cement, FMCG, telecommunications, aviation and automotives, to name a few. Joyce has also been involved in a number of stakeholder discussion fora and engagements with both the COMESA Competition Commission and the Competition Authority of Kenya. Awards & citations Joyce was featured as one of only three women in Africa for her work in the competition space by Global Competition Review, 2021 and in 2016 she was also featured as one of only two Bowmans partners. Chambers and Partners consistently ranked Joyce in Band 3 for Corporate/ Commercial for the past four consecutive years (2018 to 2021) and prior to that in Band 4 for the same category in 2017. Chamber and Partners also ranked Joyce in Band 4 for Corporate/ M&A in Kenya in 2021. IFLR1000’s Financial and Corporate Guide rated Joyce as a Highly Regarded Lawyer for her work in Capital Markets, Banking and M&A for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and for three consecutive years prior to that, as a Rising Star (from 2016 to 2019). Legal 500 2017 lists Joyce as a recommended lawyer for Competition. In the Business Daily, a regional newspaper, Joyce was lauded as a Top 40 Under 40 lawyer. Joyce has also been repeatedly ranked by Chambers and Partners since 2017.

Richard Markham

Safari operator, hotelier, travel agent

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Richard Markham is an experienced East African Safari Operator, Hotelier, Travel Agent and Car Hire Operator. He sits on the Advisory Committee of The Eastern Africa Association (EAA-LAC Board). Few individuals have as much experience in the East African hospitality industry as he does, having started at Abercrombie & Kent where he learned the very essence of the business. Richard has worked for and run some of Kenya’s top tourism companies.

Richard spent 10 years with A&K before being moved to establish the A&K hotel company together with an English Managing Director. Thereafter the company was sold to Lonrho, (a huge British trading conglomerate with businesses throughout Africa), where he remained for a further 9 years. During this time the company owned and managed some of Kenya’s most prestigious hotels including the Norfolk and the Mount Kenya Safari Club

Gayling May

Local Advisory Board Member

Eastern Africa Association

Born and schooled in Kenya. Qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England in 1965. Currently a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Other Qualifications: Member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. Member of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya. Joined the Eastern Africa Association in December 2002 as its Regional Representative, based in Nairobi until 2019 (16 years) when he retired. Professional Career: Joined a modest firm of professional accountants in Nairobi in 1965 – later to become Price Waterhouse Kenya in 1969. Remained with Price Waterhouse for 37 years, until retirement therefrom in 2002, during which time he was the Partner-in-Charge of Price Waterhouse in Kenya for 12 years, and Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse Africa for 8 years. Current Occupation: Self-employed business information consultancy. Directorships held: BAT Kenya Plc; Swissport Kenya Ltd; Stanbic Bank Kenya; Liberty Kenya Holdings; Liberty Life Assurance Ltd; Heritage Insurance Company Ltd. Charities: League of Mercy; Greenline Trust; 41 Club of Kenya (Round Table); Msaada Trust.

Stewart Henderson MMM, JCD.

Eastern Africa Association

Kenya Chairman

New Zealand Honorary Consul to Kenya. Wider Kenyan business involvement: Addressed the United Nations in Geneva, on Investing in Kenya Relevant present & past board participation: Chairman of the Eastern Africa Association in Kenya – this is particularly relevant to New Zealand business / investors as it enables access to Government, World Bank, IMF and sector related companies. Chairman of Dry & Associates; Investment Advisors; Association of Kenya Insurers; Capital Markets Authority Advisory Board; Centre for Corporate Governance Board; Kenya Insurance Advisory Board; Life Board of the African Insurance Organisation; Member of the Institute of Directors of Kenya. Career Employment: Indigo Telecom – CEO & Shareholder; Nedbank Eastern Africa – CEO; Old Mutual Kenya – CEO, Principal Officer and Director of subsidiary companies; Old Mutual South Africa – Sales Management; Turner Morris, Mining and Construction Equipment Sales; Douglasdale Dairy, Marketing Manager; South African Army, Citizen Force. MMM from President Nelson Mandela Business Schools: Harvard University; Witwatersrand University; University of Cape Town. Other interests: Bird and animal photography; Fly and deep-sea fishing; Social tennis; Cricket – Youth development in Kenya; Scottish heritage (past Chieftain, Caledonian Society of Kenya)

Lord Valentine Cecil

Eastern Africa Association

Chairman

Lord Valentine is an entrepreneur, executive, director, and investor with decades of experience in Eastern Africa. Retired with rank of Major from British Armed Forces after a career which included executive roles within NATO and Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa. Serial entrepreneur who purchased Wilken Telecommunications in Kenya and founded AfSat Communications which grew into Africa’s leading satellite-based Internet service provider. Chairman of Wilken Group in Kenya with interests in aviation, telecommunications, energy and logistics sectors in Africa. Graduate of the Staff College.

Toby Latta

Eastern Africa Association

Board member and advisor

Toby Latta is an advisor to the EAA. After a year and a half as the Association’s CEO, he handed over his management responsibilities to the Executive Director for UK and Europe and Executive Director for Eastern Africa in October 2022. He divides his time between various boards, including the EAA, and consulting roles in which he assists business leaders make sense of complex, unpredictable or crisis situations. Toby previously spent 25 years working for Control Risks, the global risk consulting firm, specialising in advising international companies on identifying and managing risks in the often opaque business environments of developing markets where they operate.

Nikhil Hira

Eastern Africa Association

Executive Director, East Africa

Nikhil is the Executive Director, EA of the Eastern Africa Association and a Partner in Kody Africa LLP. He holds a formidable skills set, particularly in tax advisory work and tax dispute resolution, honed in East Africa, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Nikhil is a Non-Executive Director of I&M Bank Kenya Ltd and I&M Bank Rwanda plc. He also chairs the board of GA Insurance Limited in Kenya. He was formerly senior tax partner for Deloitte in the East Africa region. He is a well-known presenter and commentator on tax and economic issues in East Africa. He is a former council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya and he also sat on the Tax & Public Finance and the Professional Standards Committees.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. He is also registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors in Tanzania. Nikhil has a BSc with Joint Honours in Accountancy and Process Engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, England

Agnes Gitau

Executive Director, UK and Europe

Eastern Africa Association

Agnes Gitau is the Eastern Africa Association’s Executive Director for the UK and Europe, based in the UK, Agnes is responsible for Member relations and delivering the EAA’s services. Previous to her appointment to this role, Agnes was the Managing Partner at advisory services firm. Her role involved supporting businesses overcome complex operational challenges associated with Sub Sahara Africa, providing strategic advisory on Africa’s political and economic risks, market entry strategies and stakeholder management. She has held various roles in both in public and private sector working collaboratively to promote competitive export market access for Africa’s commodities, trade competitiveness as well as regional integration. Agnes serves as a trustee for the Micro Finance Charity (Five Talents UK) whose program support women economic empowerment through financial literacy training. She is a Board member of the Intra Commonwealth SME Association and the Eastern Africa Association. Agnes works with the legal fraternity across East Africa to promote and build the region’s arbitration capacity through the Labfa Network and the East Africa International Arbitration Conference where she is a committee member.

Kamal Shah

Partner, Stephenson Harwood

Board member, EAA

Kamal is the head of Stephenson Harwood’s Africa and India groups, and is undoubtedly one of the top Africa-focused disputes lawyers at an international law firm, handling some of the biggest cases in recent years. He specialises in complex, cross-border international arbitration, litigation and fraud and asset recovery, highly regarded for his abilities in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a wide range of fraud schemes. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council and sits on the Court of Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.

Lord Bellingham, Kt.

Board Member, EAA

After 32 years in the House of Commons, Henry retired at the last General Election, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020. During his time in the Commons, he served as Minister for Africa , the UN and the Overseas Territories during the first part of the Coalition Government; he was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Malcolm Rifkind during his time as Foreign Secretary; Chaired the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; and also served on five different Select Committees. Since leaving the Commons he has joined the boards of four different Africa-focused businesses.

Praveen Moman

Founder, Volcanoes Safaris

Board member, EAA

Praveen Moman is the Founder of Volcanoes Safaris

He grew up in the wilds of Uganda and then moved to the UK as the family became refugees with the Amin expulsion. This was followed by a career as a political and policy adviser in the European Union and British Government.

In 1997 Praveen founded the awarding winning Volcanoes Safaris, which has been at the forefront of gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. He has built three lodges in Uganda – Mount Gahinga, Bwindi and Kyambura.

In 2000, Volcanoes Safaris started taking clients to Rwanda and in 2004 built the now renowned Virunga Lodge, the first lodge to built near the gorilla park after the war. The Volcanoes Safaris BLCF project helped kick-start gorilla tourism after the genocide. In 2009, Praveen established the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), a non-profit organisation connecting its lodges to local communities and conservation.

Praveen was educated in Uganda and at London and Cambridge University in the UK; He is married and has one son and lives in London, Uganda and Rwanda.

Jeremy Lefroy

Board Member, EAA

Jeremy’s work centres on smallholder agriculture in Africa; supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and working with partners to tackle infectious diseases. He is Executive Director of the NGO Café Africa which supports work with coffee farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also director of companies in Tanzania and Kenya which lease tractors and other productive equipment to SMEs and cooperatives which find difficulty in obtaining asset finance. From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Sir Jeffrey James KBE CMG

Board Member, EAA

Sir Jeffrey served as the British High Commissioner in Kenya from 1997 to 2001, after a diplomatic career which included earlier postings in South Africa, India and Iran. He was particularly involved in development, trade and economic policy and retains a strong interest in these issues across the East African region. Following retirement in 2001, he joined the EAA Executive Committee in 2005. He is also a longstanding member of the Council of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, a social science research institute with a base in Nairobi. He has been a regular visitor to Kenya and also supports the conservation work of Nature Kenya and the East African Wild Life Society.

Joyce Karanja

Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Joyce Karanja is a Partner at Bowmans, Coulson Harney LLP in Nairobi where she heads the Competition practice. She has an LLB Hons from the University of Luton (now the University of Bedfordshire), UK, an LLM (Tax Law) from the University of London (Queen Mary), UK, completed the legal practice course from the College of Law, UK and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. She started her career specialising in company, corporate and commercial work. She has extensive due diligence expertise as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate re-organisations, privatisations, banking and finance law, securities, competition law, real estate/ property development, conveyancing and project management. More recently, Joyce’s primary focus is on competition law having advised on a wide range of matters in relation to Kenya and COMESA including merger control, restrictive trade practices, abuse of dominance and consumer protection in various sectors of the economy such as cement, FMCG, telecommunications, aviation and automotives, to name a few. Joyce has also been involved in a number of stakeholder discussion fora and engagements with both the COMESA Competition Commission and the Competition Authority of Kenya. Awards & citations Joyce was featured as one of only three women in Africa for her work in the competition space by Global Competition Review, 2021 and in 2016 she was also featured as one of only two Bowmans partners. Chambers and Partners consistently ranked Joyce in Band 3 for Corporate/ Commercial for the past four consecutive years (2018 to 2021) and prior to that in Band 4 for the same category in 2017. Chamber and Partners also ranked Joyce in Band 4 for Corporate/ M&A in Kenya in 2021. IFLR1000’s Financial and Corporate Guide rated Joyce as a Highly Regarded Lawyer for her work in Capital Markets, Banking and M&A for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) and for three consecutive years prior to that, as a Rising Star (from 2016 to 2019). Legal 500 2017 lists Joyce as a recommended lawyer for Competition. In the Business Daily, a regional newspaper, Joyce was lauded as a Top 40 Under 40 lawyer. Joyce has also been repeatedly ranked by Chambers and Partners since 2017.

Richard Markham

Safari operator, hotelier, travel agent

Local Advisory Committee, EAA

Richard Markham is an experienced East African Safari Operator, Hotelier, Travel Agent and Car Hire Operator. He sits on the Advisory Committee of The Eastern Africa Association (EAA-LAC Board). Few individuals have as much experience in the East African hospitality industry as he does, having started at Abercrombie & Kent where he learned the very essence of the business. Richard has worked for and run some of Kenya’s top tourism companies.

Richard spent 10 years with A&K before being moved to establish the A&K hotel company together with an English Managing Director. Thereafter the company was sold to Lonrho, (a huge British trading conglomerate with businesses throughout Africa), where he remained for a further 9 years. During this time the company owned and managed some of Kenya’s most prestigious hotels including the Norfolk and the Mount Kenya Safari Club

Gayling May

Local Advisory Board Member

Eastern Africa Association

Born and schooled in Kenya. Qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England in 1965. Currently a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Other Qualifications: Member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya. Member of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya. Joined the Eastern Africa Association in December 2002 as its Regional Representative, based in Nairobi until 2019 (16 years) when he retired. Professional Career: Joined a modest firm of professional accountants in Nairobi in 1965 – later to become Price Waterhouse Kenya in 1969. Remained with Price Waterhouse for 37 years, until retirement therefrom in 2002, during which time he was the Partner-in-Charge of Price Waterhouse in Kenya for 12 years, and Senior Partner of Price Waterhouse Africa for 8 years. Current Occupation: Self-employed business information consultancy. Directorships held: BAT Kenya Plc; Swissport Kenya Ltd; Stanbic Bank Kenya; Liberty Kenya Holdings; Liberty Life Assurance Ltd; Heritage Insurance Company Ltd. Charities: League of Mercy; Greenline Trust; 41 Club of Kenya (Round Table); Msaada Trust.

Stewart Henderson MMM, JCD.

Eastern Africa Association

Kenya Chairman

New Zealand Honorary Consul to Kenya. Wider Kenyan business involvement: Addressed the United Nations in Geneva, on Investing in Kenya Relevant present & past board participation: Chairman of the Eastern Africa Association in Kenya – this is particularly relevant to New Zealand business / investors as it enables access to Government, World Bank, IMF and sector related companies. Chairman of Dry & Associates; Investment Advisors; Association of Kenya Insurers; Capital Markets Authority Advisory Board; Centre for Corporate Governance Board; Kenya Insurance Advisory Board; Life Board of the African Insurance Organisation; Member of the Institute of Directors of Kenya. Career Employment: Indigo Telecom – CEO & Shareholder; Nedbank Eastern Africa – CEO; Old Mutual Kenya – CEO, Principal Officer and Director of subsidiary companies; Old Mutual South Africa – Sales Management; Turner Morris, Mining and Construction Equipment Sales; Douglasdale Dairy, Marketing Manager; South African Army, Citizen Force. MMM from President Nelson Mandela Business Schools: Harvard University; Witwatersrand University; University of Cape Town. Other interests: Bird and animal photography; Fly and deep-sea fishing; Social tennis; Cricket – Youth development in Kenya; Scottish heritage (past Chieftain, Caledonian Society of Kenya)

Arun Mathur

Associate Director, I & M Burbidge Capital

Local Advisory Committee Member, EAA

Arun is a banking professional with international Board-level experience: He is currently an Associate Director, Financial Services, at I & M Burbidge Capital Former: CEO, I & M Bank Ltd ACADEMIC BACKGROUND B. Tech (1st Class Hons) Metallurgical Engineering, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India Diploma in Statistical Methods, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India Executive Program, Risk Management in Banking, INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France Courses in Advanced Credit, Behavioural Science; Merchant Banking and Resolving Stressed Loans, at SBI Staff College, Hyderabad and Grindlays International Training (GRIT), Mumbai