Biography
Wall Street & International Finance
Charles Kofi Adu Boahen has spent more than three decades working with capital from virtually every perspective, advising on it, raising it, investing it, managing it, developing real assets with it and, in government, helping to shape policy around it.
His career began in international finance and took him through Wall Street and international investment banking, where he went on to hold senior investment banking and principal-investing roles focused on Sub-Saharan Africa. These experiences provided the foundation for a career spanning global finance, African capital markets, investment and entrepreneurship.
Building Businesses in Africa
Building on his experience in international finance, Charles founded Black Star Group, an investment banking, asset management and securities brokerage group, as well as Primrose Properties Ghana, a real estate development company.
His work as an entrepreneur and investor gave him a perspective on capital beyond advisory and financial markets, allowing him to experience firsthand what it means to deploy capital, put it at risk and transform investment and ideas into operating businesses and physical assets.
Public Service
In 2017, Charles entered public service and stepped away from the management of Black Star Group, resigning from its Board to avoid any perception of conflict of interest.
He spent almost six years at Ghana's Ministry of Finance, initially serving as Deputy Minister responsible for Finance and Debt Management and later as Minister of State.
His time in government added another dimension to his experience with capital, providing a policymaker's perspective on sovereign finance and the conditions required to mobilise capital for investment, infrastructure and economic development.
Investing & Building Today
Today, Charles's principal focus is Madison & Maine, his privately held investment, holding and advisory platform. Through it, he pursues principal investments, strategic advisory engagements and new business opportunities.
Madison & Maine Developers originates and oversees his current real estate development activities.
Across his career, Charles has experienced capital from multiple sides of the table: as an adviser helping businesses and governments raise it; an investor deciding where to deploy it; an entrepreneur putting capital at risk; a developer transforming capital and ideas into physical assets; and a policymaker addressing the conditions necessary to mobilise it.
His particular interests include African capital markets, sovereign finance, investment, infrastructure financing, real assets and major African transactions, with a broader focus on how Africa can mobilise and deploy capital more effectively to build businesses, infrastructure and prosperity.
He writes and speaks from a practitioner's perspective, beginning with the numbers, stripping away the noise and focusing on identifying the real question.
Beyond Finance: African Art, Education & Philanthropy
Beyond finance and investment, Charles is a longstanding collector and supporter of African art, with a particular interest in modern and contemporary works from Ghana and across the African continent.
He also supports education, mentorship and philanthropic initiatives focused on expanding opportunities for young Africans.
Education
MBA, Harvard Business School
BSc Chemical Engineering, University of Southern California
About
Charles Kofi Adu Boahen is an investor, investment banker and entrepreneur whose career spans Wall Street, African capital markets, infrastructure investment, real estate development, entrepreneurship and public service.
Over more than three decades, he has engaged with capital from virtually every angle: as an adviser helping businesses and governments raise financing; as an investor determining where and how capital should be deployed; as an entrepreneur putting capital at risk; as a developer transforming ideas and investment into tangible assets; and in public service, addressing the fiscal, policy and institutional conditions necessary to mobilise capital for growth.
Today, his principal professional focus is Madison & Maine. His broader intellectual interests centre on African capital markets, sovereign finance, investment, infrastructure financing, real assets and the major transactions shaping Africa’s economic development.