Guy Baron 2019 Speaker

Chief Investment Officer

Rwanda Development Board, Rwanda

Biography

Guy Baron is the Chief Investment Officer of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda’s Investment Promotion & Private Sector Development Agency. Guy is charged with overseeing investment activity in the country, by strategic, financial and private investors, across a broad range of sectors aligned with Rwanda’s economic development objectives.

Prior to his current role, Guy was a Strategic Advisor for the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) within the RDB, focused on investment promotion and ICT sector development. Before joining TBI in April 2017, Guy spent 22 years focused on Investment Banking and Institutional Research in the US capital markets. Most recently, Guy was a Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets, where he headed Institutional High Yield Research focused on the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sectors. Prior to that, Guy was a Director at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, focused on both advisory and research.

During his career, Guy has advised both large corporations and start-up companies on strategy and financings. He has worked on over 50 transactions, including some of the largest private equity buyouts and debt financings in the US Technology & Telecom sector. He has also advised a wide range of institutional investors, including mutual funds, hedge funds and sovereign funds. As a research analyst, he was awarded five times within the top tier of Institutional Investors’ All-America Research Team annual survey. Guy is an alum of Boston University and Harvard Business School.

Guy is originally from Zimbabwe, before relocating to the U.S. 25 years ago. Guy co-founded SCALE Africa in 2007, a non-profit organization to design and build rural primary schools in Zambia. Guy is married and has 10-year old twins, all living in Kigali, Rwanda.