Lord Valentine Cecil is a member of the Advisory Board of SABR.  Lord Valentine is the fourth son of the 6th Marquis of Salisbury and a member of one of England's most distinguished and prominent families.  His family shares centuries of history with Africa that continues today.  Although primarily based in London, Lord Valentine has retained an interest in Africa for over 35 years and spends several months a year in the region, particularly Kenya and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. 

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Lord Valentine continued his family's recognised tradition of serving his country.  A career military officer with the British Armed Forces, Lord Valentine served with distinction in incrementally more responsible positions that included executive roles within NATO and the Ministry of Defence regarding Europe and Africa.  He retired as a Major in 1992.

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Following his distinguished military career, Lord Valentine acquired Wilken Telecommunications Limited, based in Kenya with regional business interests, as well as an interest in Tracker Security Group offering security services in Kenya and Uganda for vehicle recovery.  Also, Lord Valentine was instrumental in growing AfSat into Africa's VSAT and satellite ISP service operator with customers in 26 African countries, from which he divested in 2007 - now part of MWeb Africa Limited, a subsidiary of Naspers Limited, listed on the Johannesburg exchange. 

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Beyond his business interests, Lord Valentine is Chairman of the Eastern Africa Association which represents the business interests of its members in East Africa.

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Lord Valentine is a graduate of the Staff College and speaks English and French fluently.