Mr Chris Cleverly. Mr Chancellor, it is genuinely an honour to present to you today, Mr Chris Cleverly, for the degree of Doctor of Laws.

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1 1 Mr Chris Cleverly Mr Chancellor, it is genuinely an honour to present to you today, Mr Chris Cleverly, for the degree of Doctor of Laws. As befits the status of an honorary graduate of this University, Mr Cleverly is an exceptional individual: a lawyer, business man, entrepreneur and philanthropist; a writer, poet and journalist, a television presenter and fashionista, an ambassador for Africa, and, although short lived as a career, a dancer too! Although Mr Cleverly graduates as a Doctor of Laws, it is fitting that he joins the Henley Business School ceremony today, for although he is a successful lawyer, at the age of 28, the youngest barrister to head his own Chambers in more than 100-years, it has been his entrepreneurial spirit that has driven his success. Mr Cleverly describes law as his backstage pass equipping him to get into any world that you could ever dream of it can be a force for both good and bad but it really gives you the skill to be able to deal with either it just depends on who you are. So, Mr Chancellor, who is Chris Cleverly?

television presenter and fashionista, an ambassador for Africa, and, although short lived as a career, a dancer too!

2 2 The son of an English father and a mother from Sierra Leone. Mr Cleverly went to his local comprehensive school in Essex, Moulsham High, from which he was the first ever student to be admitted to study Law at King s College, London. Mr Cleverly s entrepreneurial spirit was already clearly evident as a student at King s where, I get the impression, he spent as much time running nightclubs in and around London as on his legal studies. On graduation, his gift of the gab, honed as a law student, helped him to land his first job: a short-lived career as a dancer in Turkey before returning to London to train as a barrister, where his skills more evidently lay. Chris is not a conformist and understands that luck or good fortune is something which has to be created and doesn t just appear. Let s be honest, this snappily dressed, Boateng-suited, state educated, young black lawyer didn t exactly fit the mould of a 1990s barrister and pretty soon he realised that if he was going to get anywhere in the legal profession he had to set up his own chambers.

Mr Cleverly s entrepreneurial spirit was already clearly evident as a student at King s where, I get the impression, he spent as much time running nightclubs in and around London as on his legal

3 3 From an initial set of just 3 barristers based on Fleet Street, struggling to pay the rent, to, Britain s most diverse and, according to the Evening Standard, coolest chambers, not something most of those, shall we say, more traditional barristers, ever saw coming. Despite the success of his chambers, Chris was soon ready for wider business exposure and his entrepreneurial spirit came to the fore again with the development of a series of successful business ventures, including Sweet China, meeting that country s burgeoning appetite for chocolate and confectionary. Despite his African heritage, Africa wasn t really on Chris business agenda. He d never been to Africa as a child and later in life initially only for the BBC. But his business skills and now knowledge of emerging markets made him an obvious target for his friends, Saville Rowe tailor and designer, Oswald Boateng and Ugandan Prince, Hassan Kimbugwe, to, as diasporans, give something back to Africa, but importantly for them, not as charity. They were clear from the start, this would be development not through the traditional aid-led model, but one which sees development success through business success. Made in Africa was born and from which the Made in Africa Foundation, which Chris now leads, developed with a mission to ultimately give Africa independence through development and infrastructure.

Despite the success of his chambers, Chris was soon ready for wider business exposure and his entrepreneurial spirit came to the fore again with the development of a series of successful business

4 4 The Made in Africa Foundation, Chris s real passion, is making real progress. It has the backing stars of film and politics: Jamie Foxx, Isaiah Washington, Chris Tucker and Jessie Jackson to name just a few. But importantly, it s not a PR exercise or just another lobby group for Africa. It s really doing business to make a difference. Despite the tragic situation currently being faced in Chris maternal home, he has a strong belief that Africa is open for business and that business is and will be the greatest driver of development. Earlier this year, Comer Africa Real Estate (or C.A.R.E.) was launched, a joint venture between the Made in Africa Foundation and the UK luxury housing developers, the Comer Group. Already they are working on the continent s largest planned urban regeneration site in the centre of Kampala in Uganda. CARE shares the Made in Africa Foundation s vision for the development impact and value creation of bringing modern, planned real estate development to the great cities of Sub-Saharan Africa so that again, in Chris own words, a very different future can be built for today s African youth to the one found by earlier generations.

But importantly, it s not a PR exercise or just another lobby group for Africa. It s really doing business to make a difference.

5 5 Chris training as a lawyer has been invaluable to him in his work in business and as an entrepreneur. If you haven t yet met Chris, I can tell you now, he s not a shy man! He enjoys nothing more than a jury, be that jury in a court of law or a room full of politicians or business people. His legal training has also taught him the invaluable lesson that things can and do change. As Chris says, the first 10 laws may have been written in stone, but the rest were not. Mr. Chancellor, I present to you Mr Chris Cleverly for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

He enjoys nothing more than a jury, be that jury in a court of law or a room full of politicians or business people.

~SHARING MY PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE~

April 2012 ~SHARING MY PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE~ Dear Friends, It is a certainty that shared values encourage cooperative relationships. I don t know who first said this, but I certainly believe it to be true.