Kenneth Legesi, CFA

CEO/CIO and Director

  +256 776 391 939
  klegesi@ortusafrica.com

Experience

Kenneth is the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Ortus Africa Capital. He is responsible for providing leadership and strategic oversight towards achieving the firm’s vision and mission to harness investment into and finding capital for entrepreneurs and businesses to drive Africa’s growth. Towards this, he oversees the development of Ortus Africa Capital’s investment platform. He oversees The 97Fund and Raw Financial which are venture and debt investment vehicles respectively managed by Ortus Africa Capital.

Prior to co-founding Ortus Africa Capital, he was a financial advisor and management consultant at Deloitte, initially in the UK and then in East Africa, based in Uganda. He advised on a number of assignments including: the formation and fundraising for an agribusiness private equity fund domiciled in Uganda which achieved a $20m close; a pioneer $1bn public private partnership (PPP) transaction in the transport sector in Uganda; a $200m public private partnership (PPP) transaction in the transport sector in Kenya; a $20m education sector grant programme targeting Karamoja Region in Uganda. He has advised public and private sector clients across different industries including financial services, technology, infrastructure & real assets and public sector. At the peak of the financial crisis, 2008 – 2011, he advised public and private sector players on how to navigate challenging economic times, including acting for distressed debt investors and banks to manage non-performing assets, advising governments on prioritizing of fiscal spend and making strategic investments in key sectors to unlock economic growth.

Previously, Kenneth trained and began his career as a civil and environmental engineer worked with engineering firms in Uganda and the UK including Atkins Plc (now SNC Lavalin), Black & Veatch, Royal Haskoning and Proman Consult rising to Senior Engineer and later Consultant / Transaction Advisor for Infrastructure & Real Asset projects. He has advised on pioneer infrastructure deals across the globe including in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Middle East, Asia, UK & Europe. He provided technical and financial advice across the project lifecycle to reach financial close and supported post financial close project implementation and secondary market M&A transactions.

Kenneth has co-founded and invested in companies including ventures in fintech/e-commerce, research and data analytics, transport & logistics, energy & infrastructure. He is passionate about working with and supporting entrepreneurs to grow. He is the Co-Founder and Trustee of the Kampala Angel Investment Network (KAIN), which is an angel investment network that prepares and matches early stage entrepreneurs in Uganda to angel investors locally and globally.

Professional Qualifications

• BSc Civil Engineering (Hons – 1st) – Makerere University, Uganda
• Msc Environmental Engineering & Business Management (with Distinction) – Imperial College London, UK
• Chartered Financial Analyst Program – CFA Institute, USA