The study focuses of five CEO characteristics with the aim of discovering the possible link between these characteristics and the capital structures of the firms they are attributed to. The study applied parametric or non-parametric test (depending on the outcome of the normality test) to determine the nature of relationship between CEO characteristics and capital structure. Data for this study was obtained from three sub-Saharan African countries: Kenya (twenty companies), Nigeria (twenty-three companies) and South Africa (twenty-one companies) for a period of five years (2012 to 2016). CEO nationality characteristic (which is a proxy for international experience/competence for the CEO) was found to be significant to the capital structure of companies.
Keywords: CEO gender, CEO nationality, CEO share ownership, CEO tenure, Capital Structure, sub-Saharan Africa
