Leslie Nelson
Non Executive Director
Leslie is a Senior Business Executive, Entrepreneur, and investor with 20+ years Global business experience in Finance, Corporate Business Leadership, Private Equity, African Infrastructure Development and investments. He is the Founder of Nelstree Consulting, an Africa focused Finance and Advisory business focused on guiding Clients doing business in Africa (International and Regional) in the Infrastructure and Finance sectors. In this role the business supports fund-raising activities, advisory services on market entry strategy, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and local content. The Business has diverse reach with Clients from China, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Europe (Norway and Greece) and the USA.
Prior to the establishment of his own Practice, Leslie was the Managing Director Africa for New Fortress Energy (NFE – subsidiary of the Fortress Investment Group). In this role Leslie led all areas of the Business in Africa including deal origination and investments and was also part of the NFE Leadership team that successfully took the Company public in a $3Billion IPO on the NASDAQ. Prior to joining NFE, Leslie was the CEO for General Electric’s (GE) $800M USD Africa Power Business as well as the Dual Country CEO for GE in Ghana leading its Oil and Gas, Power, Aircraft Leasing, Healthcare, Finance and Transportation business platforms. He also held roles with GE Corporate Africa and GE Capital where he was a Vice President in the Global Sponsor Finance Group in New York.
Leslie Started his career with US investment Bank Merrill Lynch and also worked for UBS Financial Services, NJ and Global Satellite Telecoms company SES, HQ in Princeton, NJ. He sits on Board of a Technology Manufacturing Company in Calabar, Nigeria, is an Advisor to a US Sovereign Debt Advisory Firm for Africa based in the US and is the co-founder of a Real Estate investment company. He is a former Board Member of Baker Hughes Ghana and Vice President of the Ghana US Chamber of Commerce. He also served as an Advisory Board member for the China Africa Business School, Ashesi University and The University of Ghana Business School.
Leslie is a Ghanaian and holds a BA(Hons) Degree in History and English from the University of Ghana; a Masters in Business Administration (Finance and Global Business) from the New York University Stern School of Business and a Certificate in Asset management from the New York University School of Continuing Education, USA.