Leadership

Experienced operators, institutional standards

A senior team that has worked together since 2011, with more than 100 years of combined African forestry experience.

Leadership

Management and Chairman

Ian Paterson

Chief Executive Officer

30+ years of African forestry experience. Raised in Tanzania and Malawi, Ian has extensive experience in commercial feasibility, logistics and project management across Sub-Saharan Africa. He joined ETC in 2012 and led its turnaround.

Charlie Tryon

Chairman

20+ years of African forestry experience. Charlie co-founded Maris in 2009 and is a Director and CEO of Maris Limited. He has built a portfolio of venture businesses in Afghanistan and East Africa, and previously worked in investment banking at Société Générale.

Alex Kubasu

Chief Financial Officer

10+ years of African forestry experience. Alex joined ETC in 2017 and leads financial and investment operations across all group companies, as well as logistics and administration. He holds an MBA from United States International University.

Wiseman Zengeya

Silviculture Manager

15+ years of forestry operations experience across Africa. Wiseman joined in 2024 and is responsible for the nursery, forestry establishment, tending, harvesting, forest planning and the plantation database.

Board and Maris support

Oversight and ESG

Harry Minter

Non-executive Director (Maris nominee)

Joined Maris in 2012 and has spent 15 years managing businesses in East Africa. Harry started up three portfolio companies, led the exit of Equator Energy and now leads Maris’s Nairobi team. MBA, Warwick.

Rosemary Ngure

ESG oversight · Head of ESG, Maris

20+ years in ESG, sustainable investment, governance and compliance. Rosemary previously led ESG and impact at Catalyst Principal Partners, a USD 275m DFI-backed private equity platform.

100+

Years of combined experience

2011

Senior team together since

IFC

Performance Standards aligned

FSC

Re-certification under way

Our operating edge

Built for frontier conditions

Running forestry at scale in South Sudan means building systems that most operators never need: logistics over long, difficult supply routes, local recruitment and training, stakeholder management, fire prevention and security. That operating edge is hard to replicate, and it transfers directly to our Ugandan projects.

We keep the structure lean and run the full chain ourselves, from nursery to processing. Our estate and outgrower coffee model reduces our reliance on third parties.

Governance & ESG