Erik Charas is the Founder and Managing Director of Charas, LDA, a private sector company investing in and driving the growth of entrepreneurship in Mozambique. He is Vice-President of the Public Services Policy for Private Sector Committee at the Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations and one of three members of the Steering Committee of the British Council Management Express (MEX) programme in Mozambique. Charas was named MSN Hero of Africa 2005 and Archbishop Tutu African Leadership Initiative Fellow 2007. Charas chairs several boards of companies and non-profits based in Mozambique. He is also an invited lecturer at the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique's only public university. Charas has a degree in Engineering from the University of Cape Town and over 10 years experience in the private and public sectors in Southern Africa.