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Chris Cleverly

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Chris Cleverly
Born (1967-07-27) 27 July 1967 (age 57)
Alma materKing's College London
Occupation(s)Lawyer, entrepreneur
RelativesJames Cleverly (cousin)

Christopher John Cleverly (born 27 July 1967) is a British lawyer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and businessman involved with ventures in Africa. He is a cousin of James Cleverly MP, the UK Home Secretary.

Early life and education

Cleverly was born in Essex, United Kingdom, in July 1967. He holds an LL.B. from King's College London (1988) and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Reading (2014).[1]

Cleverly's cousin is British politician James Cleverly, the Conservative MP for Braintree and, since 13 November 2023, UK Secretary of State for the Home Department [2][3][4]

Career

Cleverley was called to the bar in 1990. He was the youngest head of barrister's chambers while at Trafalgar Chambers (1999).[5] He is today a practising barrister with Millennium Chambers in London.[6]

During the 1990s, Chris Cleverly presented on Channel 4[7] and contributed to other television channels, radio and newspapers.[8][9]

In 2005, with British designer Ozwald Boateng, Cleverly co-founded the Made In Africa Foundation,[10] a Uganda-based organisation established to provide first-stage funding and business development of infrastructure projects. Boateng recalls that, in 2007, Cleverly wrote a speech, “The Tipping Point,” delivered by civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, at the African Union summit.[11]

In 2013, Cleverly was co-architect of a $1.5bn “Africa50” fund in conjunction with the African Development Bank.[12][13]

Later described by The Times as a someone "who ... has skipped from venture to venture with little apparent success",[14] Cleverly joined AIM-listed African Potash as its chairman in 2015. In the same time period, Peter Hain and Mark Simmonds also joined as directors.[15][16] African Potash was developing the Lac Dinga potash project in the Republic of Congo.[17][18] However, the business collapsed in value and was delisted from AIM. Later renamed Block Commodities it then focused on blockchain technology in 2018.[14][19] In 2019, Block Commodities was licensed to grow and import medicinal cannabis, striking deals to buy land in Sierra Leone.[2] However, the deals then collapsed, Cleverly stepped down as chair, and the firm's shares were suspended.[14]

Also in 2019, Cleverly, then a partner at private equity firm PAI Capital, led a bid to buy West Ham United Football Club.[14][3]

Cleverly is also a director and the president of Agri-Fintech Holdings, Inc (until April 2023, Tingo, Inc), a Nigeria-based agri-fintech company,[20] which is a holding company and 75% shareholder in NASDAQ-listed Tingo Group, Inc.[21]

Other activities

Cleverly is a member of the International Tribunal for Natural Justice,[1] which holds hearings on issues which it claims are being ignored by governments, giving "publicity to discredited medical professionals or conspiracy theorists."[14] In 2019, at an ITNJ hearing, he publicly questioned the safety of 5G.[14]

A portrait of Cleverly is in the National Portrait Gallery collection.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Tribunal Judges – International Tribunal for Natural Justice". Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b Bovey, Chris (31 March 2019). "Cousin of Tory MP buys 4k acre cannabis grow". Feed The Birds. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b Slater, Matt. "West Ham takeover bid: The legal dispute surrounding PAI Capital". The Athletic. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  4. ^ "The Rt Hon James Cleverly MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  5. ^ "Every mixed race marriage is building a better Britain". The Independent. 1999-03-04. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  6. ^ mic20202. "Christopher Cleverly". millenniumchambers. Retrieved 12 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Cleverly, Chris (27 December 1999). "Dividing line". Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  8. ^ Cleverly, Chris (14 June 1999). "Life's a pitch - and then you buy". Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Dr Chris Cleverly". www.africablockchainweek.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  10. ^ "David Adjaye designs office campus for new development in Uganda". Dezeen. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  11. ^ Boateng, Oswald (September–October 2012). "Commonwealth, A Diamond Opportunity" (PDF). Politics First. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Rebuilding Africa: Ozwald Boateng takes on biggest design project yet". the Guardian. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  13. ^ "AfDB and Made in Africa Foundation Launch Fundraising for Africa50 Infrastructure Fund". African Development Bank - Building today, a better Africa tomorrow. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Nimmo, Jamie (4 September 2021). "The curious past of the West Ham bid team". The Times. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  15. ^ "African Potash adds Lord Peter Hain to board". Proactiveinvestors UK. 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  16. ^ "African Potash appoints former politician to board". MINING.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  17. ^ Ralph, Alex. "Amid carnage, investors take shine to goldmines". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  18. ^ "UK firm eyes local fertilizer industry". Monitor. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  19. ^ "Vertu motoring along quite nicely amid uncertainty". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Management – TINGO INC". Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  21. ^ SEC Filing of Schedule 14C (available at https://tingoinc.com/investor-information/sec-filings/), 28 April 2023. Retrieved: 24 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Christopher John Cleverly - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
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