LEADERSHIP

Bio

Considered one of the leading experts in investing and operating in Africa, Canadian-born Charles Field-Marsham has over 25 years of experience in building businesses. Charles acquired a wide array of international business and investment experience, beginning in 1991 when he joined Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, then while living and working in Kenya between 1993 and 2003, and through a number of ventures that led him to found Kestrel Capital Management Capital (KCMC) in 2004, when he returned to Canada. KCMC provides strategic, investment and management consulting services to businesses outside of and in Canada. Charles owns or is a significant investor and is chairman or a director of the following businesses:

Kestrel Capital (East Africa) Limited, which he founded in 1995 and developed into the leading stockbroker for equities and bonds in Kenya; Panafrican Group which he founded in 1996 and grown from being the exclusive distributor of Komatsu equipment in Kenya to also distributing for Massey Ferguson and Wirtgen with operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Burundi.

In January 2020, Charles invested in and became a board member of Slingshot Sports LLC, a world-leading brand of kiteboarding equipment, headquartered in Hood River, Oregon.

Charles formerly owned Kenya Fluorspar Co (KFC), which was a fluorspar mine that he purchased in 1997 and took from bankrupt to profitable through restructuring, until its fixed 20-year-long mining lease expired in 2017. KFC was a low-cost producer of acid grade fluorspar located in Kenya and employed over 600 people. KFC was one of Kenya’s largest mines and leading foreign exchange-earners. KFC provided support for community needs and numerous services including housing, medical care and facilities, schools, sports and leisure facilities.

Nonprofit

In 2005, Charles became the principal benefactor and chairman of the Kenya Scholar Access Program (KENSAP), an initiative that since 2004 has helped secure full scholarships for over 215 high-achieving disadvantaged Kenyan students at top-tier American universities, including Harvard, Yale, MIT and Princeton. In 2009, Charles co-founded the Charles and Rita Field-Marsham Foundation In 2010, Charles became one of the founding donors and board directors of The Next Canada (formerly The Next 36) entrepreneurial program. Charles has also been a board director of numerous charities, including The Foundation of the Hospital for Sick Children, Grand Challenges Canada, African Medical Research Foundation Canada (AMREF).

Business

Founder and Chairman of Panafrican Group
Founder and Chairman of Kestrel Capital (East Africa) Ltd
Investor and Director of Slingshot Sports
Former owner and Chairman of Kenya Fluorspar Company

Nonprofit

Co-Founder and Chairman Field-Marsham Foundation
Board director of Knowledge Empowering Youth (KEY)
Sponsor and Chairman of Kenya Scholar Access Program (KenSAP)

Founding Donor and former Board member of Next Canada

Former Board member of AMREF Canada
Former Board member of Sick Kids Foundation
Former Board member of Grand Challenges Canada
Former Board member of The Canadian Council on Africa

News

Business Wire: 7-Nation / Slingshot Welcomes Charles Field-Marsham as New Partner
Financial Post: Sub-Saharan Africa’s big move up
The Globe and Mail: Investing Opportunities in Africa
The Globe and Mail: The Risk of Ignoring Africa when Investing
Business News Network: Charles Field-Marsham makes a case for investing in Africa
The Rising Africa Magazine: 4 P’s of Africa: be Polite, Patient, Persistent and Passionate