Top Influencers: 7 UK Co-Founding Partner’s To Follow in 2022

Miles co-founded DPI in 2007 after having become non-executive Chairman of Blakeney Management (Blakeney) in July 2006 by which time the firm was considered to be one of the largest portfolio investors in many African stock markets. Blakeney was set up by Miles in 1990, first as a consultancy and, since 1994, as an asset management firm, investing in Africa and the Middle East. Blakeney was one of the first investors in many African markets and Miles played an active role in the development of markets in countries such as Ghana, Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Tunisia. Before starting Blakeney, Miles spent 22 years in money management and investment banking in London and on Wall Street. Miles is also on the boards of SABMiller plc, the world’s second largest brewer and SouthWest Energy (BVI) Ltd, an Ethiopian oil exploration company. He was the founder and chairman for five years of the London Business School’s Africa Board. He read Law at the University of Oxford. Miles is a British citizen. Learn more about Miles Morland on Crunchbase…

Doug is a co-founding partner at 8 Miles with over eighteen years’ experience in private equity and real estate investment. He is a member of the Investment Committee, the Management Committee and the 8 Miles Board. Doug sits on the board of various portfolio companies, including Blue Skies Holdings, Eagle Chemicals, Awash Wine and Verde Beef Processing. Prior to 8 Miles, he was a senior member of Helios Investment Partners. Doug started his career at Terra Firma Capital Partners and holds a masters and a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London. Learn more about Dugald Agble on Crunchbase…

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Runa co-founded DPI in 2007. She has 29 years of investment banking, emerging market entrepreneurship and private equity experience. Before DPI, Runa was CEO of KZAM, a joint venture between Zephyr Management of New York and Kingdom Holding Company, which managed PAIP-PCAP, sponsored by the International Finance Corporation and the Commonwealth Secretariat. Runa also acted as CEO of ZMAIF (known as the New Africa Fund prior to Zephyr Management taking over the management in 2000 and Runa’s involvement), sponsored by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, where she helped implement a successful turnaround of the fund. Runa was formerly a director of the AIG Africa Infrastructure Fund, managed by Emerging Market Partnership in Washington, and has “on-the-ground” management experience in emerging markets having founded and managed both Peregrine Bangladesh and Union Capital Bangladesh in the 1990s. Runa started her career in New York working for investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in mergers and acquisitions and corporate and tax-exempt finance. Runa serves on the Eaton Towers Holding LLP, ETW Africa Holdings UK Limited, Guaranty Trust Assurance plc and Touax Africa SAS boards of directors, and has previously served on the Liberty Star Consumer Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, United Bank of Africa plc, Letshego Holdings Limited and Celtel boards of directors. Runa is Chair of the African Venture Capital Association and a member of the Emerging Market Private Equity Association advisory board and its Africa Council. She is also a member of the Millennium Promise’s UK board and is on the advisory board of The Tony Elumelu Foundation. Runa sits on the advisory council of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs, her Alma Mater. She holds a BA in International and Developmental Economics from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. She was also a Harry S. Truman Congressional Scholar. Runa is a US citizen. Learn more about Runa Alam on Crunchbase…

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Hemen is a co-founder of the firm, with a strong track record in operational management over the past three decades. He is a member of the Investment Committee, the Management Committee and the 8 Miles Board. Hemen sits on the boards of Awash Wine Share Company, Orient Bank and eleni LLC. Prior to 8 Miles, he held a number of senior management roles in Standard Chartered Bank in West Africa, and he also set up the Mumbai office for Boston Consulting Group. He holds a degree in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford Business School. Learn more about Hemen Shah on Crunchbase…