The African Parks Network is governed by a Board consisting of the following individuals:

Robert-Jan van Ogtrop - Chairman
Robert-Jan van Ogtrop is currently a private investor in renewable energy and clean technology companies with a view to sustainability. He is also still a member of the Advisory Board and Industrial partner of CVC Capital Partners. Robert-Jan joined CVC after a successful career which included being Chairman/CEO of Bols Royal Distilleries and CEO of the Executive Board of Remy Cointreau-Bols. He has an MBA from the Graduate School of Management of the Netherlands and has studied at Harvard. He has worked to spread sound business principles, and the nurturing of local entrepreneurs, in East Africa through his Chairmanship of the Board of the TBL Mirror Fund. Robert-Jan has also been deeply involved in other ventures at the interface of conservation and good business ethics, such as the Foundation for Natural Leadership, the Wilderness Leadership School and the Wilderness Foundation.

Mavuso Msimang (Deputy Chairman)
Mavuso Msimang has a BSc and an MBA from the US International University in California. He was a senior member of the African National Congress and served on the Military High Command of Umkonto we Sizwe. In 1977 he joined the United Nations, working in Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia. He subsequently worked for the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and CARE International as Country Director in Ethiopia and Kenya before being appointed Head of Emergency Planning for WUSC working out of Ottawa, Canada. He returned to South African in 1993 and served in a number of positions including Executive Director of SA Tourism, CEO of South African National Parks (SANParks) and CEO of the State Information Technology Agency. Mavuso was one of the original Founders of African Parks. Mavuso his currently the Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs.

Cyril Ramaphosa
Cyril Ramaphosa is the former Secretary General of the African National Congress and former Chairman of the Constitutional Assembly that drafted South Africa’s Constitution. He is currently the Chairman and majority shareholder of Shanduko (Pty) Ltd.





Justice Richard Banda
Richard Banda is a barrister-at-law, Gray's Inn, London. He currently serves as the Chief Justice of Swaziland and was the Chief Justice of Malawi from 1992-2002. Other senior positions held in the Malawian legal system include Attorney General, Minister of Justice and Minister of Local Government. In 2000 he was elected as the President of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association and is currently the President of the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal. Richard also served as the Chairman of African Parks (Majete) since its inception in 2003, a position which e relinquished in 2007 when he was appointed as the Chief Justice of Swaziland.


Hon James Lembeli
James Lembeli was educated in Tanzania and completed his Diplomoa in Journalism. From 2005 to date he has been studying for his MA in Communication through Leister University, United Kingdom. He started his career as a Bank Clerk with the Central Bank, then as a journalist with Kiongozi Newspaper. James was the appointed as the Principal Public Relations Officer for the Co-operative Union of Tanzania before moving to Germany where he was presenter/editor for Radio Berlin International, and then Radio Deutsche Welle, Germany. He returned to Tanzania as the Public Relation Manager for the Co-operative Union of Tanzania and as from March 1994 until 2005 James was appointed as the Chief Manager for Public Relations for the Tanzania National Parks. Since 2005 James has served as a Member of Parliament.

Valentine Chitalu
Valentine Chitalu is a United Kingdom qualified Accountant and holds a Masters Degree in Development Economics from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. Valentine is an entrepreneur in Zambia and Southern Africa, specialising in private equity and local private sector development. Until December 2003, Valentine worked for CDC/Actis in London and Lusaka. He was previously Chief Executive Officer at the Zambia Privatisation Agency. Valentine also worked for KPMG Peat Marwick in the United Kingdom in the early part of his career. Valentine holds several Board positions in Zambia, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom and he is Chairman of Zambian Breweries, MTN (Zambia) Ltd, Stanbic Bank (Z) Ltd and ALBIDON (Zambia) Ltd. Valentine has also served on the Board of African Parks Zambia from its inception.

Peter Fearnhead (Chief Executive)
Peter Fearnhead was born and grew up in Zimbabwe, and graduated with a BSc in Agric Economics from the University of Natal and a MSC in Agric and Resource Economics from Oxford University. He was a management consultant with Deloitte, before joining South African National Parks, where he held a number of positions including Resource Economist, Advisor to the CEO, and Head of Commercial Development. Peter was also one of the Founders of African Parks and worked for it from 2002 until 2005. He left to start an organisation called Conservation Partnerships whose business interests were amalgamated with African Parks in February 2007, and he was appointed as the CEO.