Kroll Appoints Simmonds as Senior Consultant in Africa Practice

Kroll, the risk mitigation and response solutions specialist, announced that Rt. Hon. Mark Simmonds has joined the company as senior consultant in its Africa practice.

Simmonds will support African companies and governments, as well as inbound investors, with a broad range of services including market entry strategy, pre-transaction due diligence, fraud and corruption investigations, dispute advisory, asset recoveries and cyber risk management, Kroll said in a press release.

He joins Kroll following a successful career in British politics spanning 14 years during which he served as Member of Parliament for Boston and Skegness, parliamentary under-secretary (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and minister for Africa. Before standing for Parliament, Simmonds spent 20 years founding and operating his own commercial property business.

Kroll said it continues to invest in capabilities for Africa as a number of the continent’s economies are growing rapidly yet present a diverse mix of challenges for investors, regional businesses and governments alike.

“A big motivator behind my decision to join Kroll is its experience in Africa, the breadth of services it can offer and the quality of its people, who are engaged with governments and companies to develop the African economy,” said Simmonds.

“Public administrators and financial institutions can rely on Kroll’s help to cope with the additional regulatory load, the transparency agenda and the need to free up flows of capital. There is huge interest from companies all over the world to invest in the region, but it is important to remember that this is not a homogenous continent and that there’s a need to understand the complexities of doing business in different countries,” he added.

Emanuele Conti, Kroll’s chief executive officer, said that Simmonds’ experience gained in business and politics over many years will further strengthen the company’s capabilities in Africa. “The African continent represents a growing area of interest for our clients including governments and local businesses looking to expand internationally or multinationals investing across the continent.”

Source: Kroll