Founder , The Varanda Network-Canada
Bernadette Fernandes is known throughout her network as a connector, quickly recognizing problems and connecting them to solutions within the ecosystem. She is a proud immigrant by birth and a proud New Brunswicker by choice, and she speaks five languages.
Bernadette is passionate about economic growth, having spent the previous six years attracting investment to the region, developing companies’ export readiness, and contributing to major exporters’ growth plans. Her enthusiasm also extends to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, and to facilitating partnerships between entrepreneurs and enterprise for collaboration.
With an additional 25 years of experience working in the private sector, four of those working in Ireland; the United States (specifically Boston, New York, Charlotte); Guatemala; El Salvador; and Trinidad & Tobago, and with business relationships in over 50 countries across all continents, she has a deep understanding of cross-cultural communications and international business development. Bernadette takes pride in enhancing the customer experience, taking time to thoroughly understand every client’s pain points, and providing guidance and clear cut advice while balancing market objectivity with insider empathy.
She spent most of her private sector career in senior management in telecom before branching out into sales methodology consulting in Oil & Gas; and executive positions in Business Process Outsourcing and e-Learning. Some of her career highlights include signing a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal with one of the World’s largest and most successful banks during a period of economic instability; and launching a 60-person operations center in a new country within 33 days of signing the MOU.
Currently, Bernadette is Founder & CEO of The Varanda Network, focused on three economic & community development streams: helping companies enter new, global markets through Trade & Export; attracting Foreign Direct Investment; and facilitating growing successful businesses in-market through International Business Development. Prior to The Varanda Network being selected as Canada’s Investment Team for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Canada in July, 2017, Bernadette spent five years working with the Province of New Brunswick’s Economic Development agencies focused on economic growth of the Innovation, Science & Technology sectors. As of January, 2018, The Varanda Network is on track to exceed Pennsylvania’s objectives and Key Performance Indicators.
Bernadette has a life motto of passion and purpose, spending much of her time giving back philanthropically to her community and abroad, and volunteering her time mentoring entrepreneurs, business immigrants, MBA candidates, startups, as well as empowering women, most recently in Africa. She has held several Board positions over the years and is currently sitting on the Boards of ConnexionWorks, the Business Immigrant Mentoring Program, and the Saint John Learning Exchange. Bernadette has studied internationally during her Bachelor’s Degree and her Master’s Degree. She enjoys traveling and networking always.
International Expert Adviser to the UN on Democratic Governance, Human Rights and IHL-Spain
Mr. de Cerón is a qualified lawyer and economist, PhD in Law and LLM in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.
He garnered a prestigious reputation as private banker, but he decided to make a change for a fight, as rewarding as less paid: peacekeeping, democratic governance and human rights.
In recent years, he has been committed to develop a challenging professional career within the United Nations and the OSCE. He has lived in singular places such as: Kosovo, Nepal, Palestine, Sierra-Leona, Timor-Leste, Uganda and Ukraine. He has faced hazard environments, risking his own life; he speaks several languages and has undertaken numerous projects. He is also Goodwill Ambassador and member of many institutions dedicated to Human Rights and Sustainable Development.
Founder of WaziData & Soko-Kenya
Catherine Mahugu is a seasoned techpreneur, changemaker, sustainable luxury enthusiast, youth empowerment champion and a strong advocate of gender equality and equity.
With her award-winning entrepreneurial experience, she founded Wazidata. A design-led innovation company. It’s focused on harnessing the power of data and design to change lives for social good by applying human-centered design methodologies. Wazidata has worked with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Safaricom, FHI360 and Quicksand.
Catherine Mahugu is also the Founder of Soko (www.shopsoko.com). Soko is an innovation in fashion & technology; an ethical fashion brand that expands access to economic opportunity for artisans in emerging economies.
At Soko, she has effectively overseen the end to end operational execution and delivery of products to over 450 international retailers, several large brands such as Nordstrom, Fossil, QVC, TJMaxx, Edun, Esprit, Anthropologie and global e-commerce consumers. Notable press that has featured Soko products include Vogue and Glamour magazine. Celebrities such as Lupita Nyongo, Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey and Emma Watson have been styled with Soko ‘s jewellery. By driving and supporting the technology innovation at Soko, she has contributed to transforming the traditional global supply chain and changing the fashion industry for good.
Her international achievements have made her a global thought leader in matters pertaining to the future of Africa, next-generation leaders and the role ICT and women play in the entrepreneurship realm. Her impressive contribution has become a point of reference in international case studies and successful experiences to follow.
An in-demand speaker, Catherine’s practical experiences, creative use of multimedia and her enthusiastic and passionate delivery, have proven to be a winning formula for tens of thousands of conference attendees including the Economist 2016 conference and Harvard 2017 conference.
She was featured in Forbes Magazine -June issue 2015 and Jan issue 2016 as one of the top 30 social entrepreneurs (2015 and 2016 ). She has also been featured on CNN, CNBC, Airbnb, Marie Claire, Alibaba, Huffington post, UN, World Bank and other mainstream media.
CEO, Hotel Partners Africa
I have advised people regarding African hotel investment for over 20 years. I have published two text books on hotels (Valuation of Hotels for Investors – 2008 and Hotels and resorts; an investors guide – 2016). I also publish the bi-annual The African Hotel Report, which discusses hotel investment in most of the countries on the continent, highlighting growth in values in the various regions.
CEO, Largo Financial Services- USA
“Douglas A. C. Eze established Largo Financial Services Inc. in 2000 with a vision to provide
individuals and small business owners with the education and guidance needed to achieve financial
freedom. As a wealth strategist and award-winning insurance agent, Douglas believes in helping his
clients find money in places they may be throwing it away unknowingly and unnecessarily. He equips
individuals with the information and knowledge to make sound financial decisions. Douglas has been
featured on nationally syndicated media outlets, including CBS Radio Network, NPR, SiriusXM’s
Urban View, Clear Channel Radio Network and The Bev Smith Show. Additionally, Douglas is the
author of the critically acclaimed Creating Generational Wealth®: What the Super Wealthy Know that
You Need to Know.
The hard work and dedication Douglas has exhibited in his many years of business have brought
him widespread recognition and awards. He has been awarded the ACE Award through American
Classic Agency for eight consecutive years. National Life Group has recognized him as a
Chairman’s Club Qualifier and Diamond Club member, a significant recognition reserved for the
company’s top insurance representatives throughout the nation. Douglas is a distinguished member
of the exclusive Million Dollar Roundtable Court of the Table, an organization of notable financial
representatives. He was awarded the 2013 EPNET Male Entrepreneur of the Year in addition to
being nominated among the Top 100 Financial Advisors of 2013 by the International Financial
Leadership Association (IFLA). As a leading business figure, Douglas has also been featured in
Profile Magazine and Power Broker Magazine as one of the Top 25 Top Wealth Builders and
Financial Professionals in the Tampa Bay Area.
With nearly two decades of experience in the financial services industry, Douglas has continually
studied and trained to stay current on the principles and trends of personal finance and wealth
accumulation. His ability to explain concepts to clients in a manner that they can understand is what
Douglas is most known for. His “common senseâ€, pragmatic approach when considering financial
alternatives stands out among others. The mission of Largo Financial is to help clients discover their
path toward wealth and financial independence by improving their financial intelligence.”
Chief Strategist, Cannon Asset Managers & Citadel Asset Management-South Africa
Chief Technical Advisor to World Bank
Ph.D., CEO Chief Mischief Maker, The Freeman Institute-USA
Founder, Sishima Holdings- Zambia
Economic Affairs Officer, Macroeconomic Policy Division, UNECA, Addis Ababa- Ethiopia
Eunice Ajambo is Economic Affairs Officer with the Macroeconomic Policy Division of the UNECA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She most recently served in the same position with the Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination at UN Headquarters in New York, where she evaluated and reported on progress of the implementation of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR), the primary policy instrument for defining the United Nations’ Operational Activities for Development. In December 2015, Eunice was granted a “Global Female Leadership Impact Award” and was inducted into the “Global Women Leaders Hall of Fame” by the Center for Economic and Leadership Development (CELD) in Dubai. In 2017, she was selected to be part of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS).
Eunice has researched and covered a diversity of contemporary economic and social issues, contributing to high-level policy development and providing intergovernmental support through the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA); undertaking strategic policy analysis at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) contributing to the first ever Africa Region Human Development Report; planning, leading, and coordinating a field mission with the African Development Bank (AfDB) East Africa Regional Service Center.
She has consulted, performing strategic policy and programme analysis for organizations including the Harvard China Fund, Allianz SE, AllAfrica Global Media, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). Her Africa-related work has been published in scholarly journals and online with the Michigan Journal of Political Science and Harvard Business Publishing among others. Her research work on “Public Financial Management, Macroeconomic Stability and Economic Governance Institutions” is published in “Macroeconomic Policy Framework for Africa’s Structural Transformation” Carlos Lopes, Hamdok and Elhiraika (eds) Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Eunice is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, with a Master of Public Policy degree. She studied the International Baccalaureate Diploma at Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway, and she holds a B.A (Hons) degree magna cum laude, international Political Economy from Carleton College, USA. Ms. Ajambo is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow at the African Leadership Institute at Oxford University, and a Public Policy and International Affairs’ Fellow through Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School.
Head of Political Risk & Trade Credit, Validus Holdings- New York, USA
Jared Kotler is Head of Political Risk and Credit, North America, at Validus Specialty. At Validus, Jared is in charge of underwriting and marketing political risk insurance and trade credit insurance throughout the North American region. Jared’s clients include international financial institutions, private equity firms and multinational companies who are either lending or investing in emerging markets. Before joining Validus, Jared was Assistant Vice President at Ace Political Risk and Credit where his responsibilities were similar to those that he currently has at Validus.
Prior to Ace, Jared worked as an Underwriter and Financial and Political Risk Analyst at Zurich Credit and Political Risk.Jared received a BA in Mathematics and Statistics from Rutgers University, an MBA in Finance from American University’s Kogod School of Business and an MA in International Economic Policy from American University’s School of International Service.
Co-Founder & CEO, Dedalus Global- USA
Founder and Presidentof JumpStart Academy Africa
Madelle Kangha is the Founder and President of JumpStart Academy Africa, a for impact social venture which seeks to transform Africa by fixing a broken education system. The Academy ensures inclusive and equitable quality education by improving learning outcomes for young people whilst supporting their personal and professional development. Since commencing operations in 2014, JumpStart Academy Africa has trained over 500 students, impacting them in the areas of Academic Excellence, Civic Engagement and Enterprise Creation. The Academy has also reached over 2500 students through community outreach programs and summer camps.
In recognition of her work with JumpStart Academy Africa, Madelle has been featured by Forbes as “Innovative Africans fixing a broken Education System”. She has also received awards and recognition from the Queens Young Leaders, American Express Emerging Innovators, Ashoka Changemakers, One Young World and Vital Voices. She was recently named as one of the 50 Most Influential Young Cameroonians 2016 by Avance Media Africa in the Personal Development & Academia Category.
Madelle is an alumnus of the African Leadership Academy, Watson University, the Monterey Institute of International Studies; and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Anthropology from the London School of Economics. Madelle is also the Founder of Youths4Change, a youth-led community based organization which mentors youths of all abilities across Cameroon. Madelle’s vision is to be a leading social entrepreneur, a mass recruiter of local change makers; a role model proving that citizens who channel their passion into action can achieve the impossible.
Partner, Middleton & Shrull, LLC- Boston, USA
Matthew is a partner at the law firm of Middleton & Shrull, LLC, where his practice is dedicated exclusively to customs and international trade law. Matthew’s experience includes developing and implementing import and export compliance reviews, audits, testing and programs; conducting import and export classification exercises; determining eligibility for free trade and other preferential tariff agreements; reviewing and recommending import and export valuation methodologies; assisting clients in structuring import and export transactions; completing import and export regulatory compliance due diligence in the context of mergers and acquisitions; making export license determinations and providing guidance on export license applications and management; and advocating, and filing disclosures, protests and petitions, on behalf of clients with the federal agencies that regulate international trade. Matthew was previously associated with a customs and international trade law firm in Dallas and Ernst and Young’s Global Trade practice in Dallas and Houston. Matthew is also a licensed customs broker and a fluent French speaker, having spent over a decade in francophone sub-Saharan Africa (Guinea and Togo).
Chairman at Ethium Capital Partners- Australia
CEO & Managing Director, Sky and Space Global- UK
“A jet fighter pilot, Lt. Col (Res.) of the IAF, has over 20 years of experience in management, R&D and operation of state-of-the-art projects in Space Systems and Unmanned Aerial Systems, among those acting as a deputy sq. commander and leading the MEIDEX experiment on Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) as the project manager for Israel’s first astronaut flight, managing Israel’s satellite projects (such as Ofeq, Tecsar) and more.
Meir has a B.Sc. in Physics and Computer Sciences (with honours) and an M.A. from the Diplomacy and National Security executive program (with honours). Currently he is working on his PhD in national security and space programs in Tel Aviv University, Israel. Meir has also received the Israel National Defence award in 2009.”
Construction and Infrastructure Forum: Africa (June 25, 2018)
Global Vice President & Executive Director for Africa, Ashoka- USA
Founder & CEO, Franchise Africa- United States
Founding Chief Executive Officer of the World of Money.org
Sabrina Lamb is the Founding Chief Executive Officer of the WorldofMoney.org, dedicated to the financial education of youth in the Tri-State New York City area. The organization was selected as a Promise Place by America’s Promise Alliance and by AOL Impact as one of ten top social good organizations in America. Since 2005, she has helmed the Youth Financial Education Training Institute, attracting financial experts adept in teaching youth 40 classroom hours of immersive financial education, as well as a mobile application. Near 4,000 youth, ages 7 – 18 have been empowered.
Sabrina has presided over the NASDAQ Opening/Closing ceremonies and testified on Capitol Hill before the House Sub-Committee Financial Services. Sabrina is a NAACP Image Awards nominee in Outstanding Literary Work-Instructional for her book “Do I Look Like An ATM? A Parent’s Guide To Raising Financially Educated African American Children”.
Sabrina has received several local, regional and national awards and commendations. Sabrina was one of the 2013 NBC News/The Grio 100 and one of Essence Magazine’s Shining Moments of 2013: “50 Women Who Made Us Proud”. She was the WBLS-FM correspondent at the 2008 – 2013 Democratic National Conventions and presidential inaugurations. Sabrina co-hosted “The Morning Shows” on WBLS-FM, 1600 WWRL; and WRKS-(KISS)-FM. In 2015, her sold out show “The Trial of Marissa Alexander” debuted Off- Broadway at the United Solo Festival and at the Cherry Lane Theater. Sabrina is a graduate of Lincoln University and attended St. John’s University School of Law.
Executive Director, Energy Action Partners- USA
Scott Kennedy has over 15 years experience leading and working on novel initiatives in higher education, international development, and sustainable energy. He currently serves as Executive Director of Energy Action Partners, an international nonprofit working to expand access to sustainable energy for developing communities.
Scott previously served as a faculty member and the founding Dean of Research at Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, where he was a member of the executive management team, led the development of research policy & infrastructure, and oversaw the institute’s government-funded research portfolio focusing on advanced energy and sustainable technologies. Prior to that, he founded and led a graduate MSc program in Energy and Environment at the Malaysia University of Science Technology in Kuala Lumpur.
Known for his passion for integrating engineering education, sustainable development and social justice, Scott has been recognized an innovative educator and tireless practitioner who thrives on finding new connections and building synergies across disparate disciplines.”
CEO, Ghana Capital Partners- Ghana
Sidney founded Ghana Capital Partners (“GCP”) in 2012 as a boutique project developer and private equity investor focussing on investments in Africa.
Sidney has developed projects from greenfield in the renewable energy space, and also looks at typical minority equity investments into established businesses.
Sidney was instrumental in developing GCP’s 28MW solar PV project, which was awarded the runners-up prize at the West Africa Forum for Clean Energy Finance. Sidney has spent a considerable time on the continent and is a regular speaker at conferences. Sidney has been asked to speak at a number of conferences and roundtables, including:
• an EU roundtable in Brussels regarding energy access in Africa in 2013,
• a UN Foundation conference in Washington DC regarding mini-grids in Africa in 2014,
• Africa Investment Forums in Hong Kong in 2013,
• Africa Investment Exchange Power conference in London in 2015,
• Solar Media West African Solar conference in Accra, Ghana in 2015,
• The Lord Mayor’s roundtable on infrastructure in Accra, Ghana in 2015, and
• The Somali Renewable Energy Forum (“SREF”) in Hargeisa, Somaliland in 2016.
In addition to this, Sidney Yankson has consulted for the German Development Bank, KFW, regarding whether the GET-FiT programme could assist to galvanise the Ghanaian renewable energy market.
Prior to founding GCP, Sidney worked in finance for over 16 years and is a qualified barrister in Hong Kong.
Sidney has BSc Physics (Durham), LLB (Hons) in Law (London), LLM in American Law (Boston) and Postgraduate Certificate in Law (Hong Kong University).
In Sidney’s spare time he likes to play ice hockey, rugby, snowboard off piste and play royal tennis.
Executive Vice President, Hudson Consulting Group
Director, Shuraako- Colorado
Mr. Tony Pelz is the Director of Shuraako, a program of One Earth Future, where he leads all impact investment activities and philanthropic projects throughout Somalia. Mr. Pelz was formerly a distressed debt trader on ABN AMRO Bank NV’s proprietary trading desk based in Amsterdam. Prior to proprietary trading, Mr. Pelz worked with several investment banks including Credit Suisse, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and ABN AMRO Bank NV in roles ranging from corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions to credit and business development. He has substantial international work experience in Africa, Asia, U.S., Europe and Latin America and was based in New York City, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and Amsterdam. He is also the author of several option trading books including “The Biotech Trader Handbook” and “Option Trading Kung Fu”.
Founder and CEO, YES Builds-Tennessee, USA
Yesbuilds CEO Yolanda Shields USA Nashville native is a business leader and best-selling author. She has over 20 years of experience as a business leader and also does international workforce development and social entrepreneurship work in the continent of Africa and other 3rd World Countries. She is a much sought-after speaker and trainer in the area of small business, entrepreneurship, nonprofit startup and sustainability, fund development, grant writing, diversity, human capital management, career development, and social entrepreneurship. She has traveled extensively throughout the United States, France, and Africa. She was named in 2017 as one of the top African American in Nashville, TN.
She has earned a B.S. in Education and Social Work (APSU) MBA (HRM and Entrepreneurship). She has been appointed by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to the Statewide
Labor and Workforce Development Board for the State of Tennessee and Vice Chair the Oversight Committee. She has assisted over 20 corporations in the areas of fund
development, talent development, strategic planning, executive coaching/training, business operations and celebrity charity management. She is currently a mentor at
the Vanderbilt University Wond’ry Innovation Center.She has worked with such celebrities as CeCe Winans, Darrell Green, Art Monk, Tony Boselli, and many others.
Yolanda’s first book released in September 2013 which included a 10-city tour in 2013-2014 across the United States, France and continent of Africa where she shared
her inspirational book dedicated to “Mothers & Son’s” – “Letters to Our Sons” – A Mother’s Journey Raising Sons to Become Men with Character and Courage.Her 2nd Book focused on Entrepreneurship and Business Strategy released February 2016 “Entrepreneurship is a MindSet not a Storefront”. For more information on Ms. Yolanda Shields visit www.YolandaEShields.com
CEO, African Growth Group Incorporated - Canada
“Malcolm J Mansfield leadership abilities are founded on three decades of experience in the finance and business community both in Canada and abroad.
Before founding AGG in August 2012, Mr. Mansfield served as CEO of his own Family Office in Toronto, CFO for Gako Petroleum in Ghana and CEO of SD Consultants in Canada.
In Canada, Mr. Mansfield specialized in the acquisition, structuring turn around, and financing of projects in mining, real estate and renewable energy
A few of the corporations he worked with were Genvar Engineering, Potentia Solar and Cross Pacific in Toronto, Canada, Gako Petroleum in Accra, West Africa and Hanjer Bio-Tech Industries in Mumbai, India.
Malcolm started the corporation (AGG) in August, 2012 when he was asked by the Investment Committee of South Sudan to visit the country and help find solutions to the housing shortage there. By December he had made two exploratory visits to South Sudan and Kenya to view the housing shortage first hand and In December 2012, he signed an agreement with the Governor of Bor, Jongeli State for a 30,000 housing unit project.
Mr. Mansfield has spent the last seven years cultivating a host of potential finance partners from USA, Canada, Europe and UAE for large African development projects.
As the head of a Single Family Office he has attended and been an invited guest speaker at infrastructure conferences, investment forums and Family Office Conferences in Califonia USA, Dubai, Monacco and Switzerland. ” Panelist financing construction
President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Nigeria
Prince Kayode has served the Government of Nigeria as a Cabinet Minister in four different positions: Culture and Tourism; Labour, Employment and Productivity; Attorney General and Hon. Minister of Justice as well as Minister of Defence. As a dedicated Organized Private Sector (OPS) practitioner, he wishes to use his wealth of experience accumulated over the years to speak on Trade and Investment opportunities in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular.
Founder & Chairman, FASMICRO Group - United States
Deputy Executive Secretary, Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries - Rwanda
Senior Chief of Staff, Consumer & Industrial Products Industry, Deloitte Africa - South Africa
Currently serving in a business advisory role as Senior Chief of Staff for the African Consumer & Industrial Products Industry group of Deloitte. Dylan works through the value chain from manufacturers to retailers. He is responsible for global and local stakeholder engagement, go-to-market strategy, operations, & driving a Pan-African industry growth strategy. A qualified futurist (Cum Laude) Dylan provides scenario based, systemic thinking approaches to solutions in an uncertain, disruptive and exponential world. With over 12 years’ experience in strategy & business development, Dylan is skilled in creating value for senior local and global stakeholders.
He is Chairman of the Africa Ecommerce Forum – whose objective is the sustainable development of Ecommerce as a tool for private and public sector economic development in Africa – in this role he sits on the SA National Treasure ICT eCommerce committee and is at the forefront of the conversation of Digital (ecommerce), Africa, Industry 4.0 and Industrialisation. Dylan is part of the SADC/NBF Africa Industrialisation working committee where he was selected as a private sector delegate that presented the inaugural Esibayeni Declaration to the SADC (15 member state) Ministerial summit. As a Board member he leads the future growth strategy for iconic Arts NGO MIDm.
He has facilitated numerous executive panel discussions including on topics such as IoT, Agri, Ecommerce/Digital, Manufacturing, Export led growth and retail. In January 2017 he was a guest panellist & presenter at the Global Digital Leaders’ Summit in Luxembourg, and has presented in sessions with SAIIA (G20) and GEG Africa on leveraging Ecommerce & the Digital Economy for Africa’s economic development. In 2017 he has been invited as a judge of the SA Top Technology 100 companies (TT100) and the Creative Business Cup SA. He is a qualified Futurist currently completing his Master’s thesis in Future Studies, has a Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship, a Bachelors degree majoring in Economics and Politics, Executive Certificates in Knowledge and Change Management, and Strategic Brand Management.
He has launched initiatives including the Inaugural SA Manufacturing Competiveness report ’13, the inaugural Africa Manufacturing Competitiveness survey and report ’17, is co-Author of the inaugural African Powers of Retail and African Powers of Consumer Products reports.
MD Photizo Life Foundation and Convener, African Hair Summit- Nigeria
Born to the family of Honorable and Mrs. Osita Egwuatu, Adanna (translated from the Ibo dialect as ‘first girl’) Ifeoma Enwezor grew up in the Northern region of Nigeria in the company of two brothers and one sister. Her place in the family as advocate for her siblings and a ‘bridge to peace’ in trying times, underscored with warmth and love would mold her life story. Later on in life, she would mature into womanhood in a home of public service in politics, the combination of which will see her become a fierce advocate for social development, a Life Counsellor, Public Speaker and Political Analyst, with a special gift for mentoring and leadership.
As an African Voice Ambassador in her educative years with University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, Adanna worked tirelessly with young children in schools, educating them on developmental issues that pertain to the African continent and later as the Coordinator and Nigerian Representative of the Young Business and Professional Women (BPW) International, where she successfully engaged local women and young girls in the aspect of personality development, health, leadership and skills acquisition.
Adanna today has over ten years of experience working with youths, children and women on social development and mental health through different Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). She is the founder and president of the African Women Inspire Network (AWIN), an international NGO and a social platform that encourages business collaborations and sustainable business ventures amongst African women around the world.
She holds an MA in Global Development and Africa from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom and a BSc in Sociology from the University of Abuja amongst other qualifications.
Adanna Enwezor is the Managing Director of Photizo Life Foundation, a non-governmental organization committed to ensuring the mental and social wellbeing of the human race. Through her foundation, she has begun a movement to save lives and improve social development through The African Hair Summit, an annual event hosted in the Capital City of Abuja in Nigeria.
The Summit sensitizes African women on the harmful health effects of toxic chemicals in hair, beauty products and practices same time, promotes an awakening of the African Hair and Beauty Industry by demonstrating the sheer and undiluted beauty of the African People through natural and healthy practices.
CEO, Afriscaper- China
International Logistics Coordinator, Hue Logistics- United States
Akbar Muhammad, is a Historian and Consultant on International Affairs, Africa and the Middle East. Akbar has traveled to and met top diplomatic officials to over 144 countries around the world—including 44 African nations—and has lived in Ghana, Africa for over a decade. Through the Africa and Middle East Literacy Foundation, he continues to consult with African and World leaders to promote humanitarian efforts in many parts of the world, including galvanizing Business & Political leaders from the diaspora to work in Africa and other developing nations. In 2007 he organized a historic trip for a press delegation to travel to the Sudan for a visit to Darfur on a fact-finding mission, and through his efforts secured exclusive one-on-one interviews with Sudan’s President Omar El-Bashir for Black Entertainment Television (BET) and the TV-One Network.
Akbar Muhammad dedicates his time speaking and encouraging others to travel, work and do business in Africa. Over the years he has accompanied and arranged travel to Africa for thousands of experienced and first time travelers including notable celebrities, major sports figures and influential civic and business leaders. Akbar Muhammad’s extensive work and travel in Africa are reflected in his column “Africa and the World” which is published in African-American newspapers nationally. He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Global Evangelical Christian Seminary at the University of Alabama. He is the founder of Youth 4 Africa Foundation, a non-profit organization based on the belief that Young Blacks in the Diaspora are due a personal journey “Back to Africa” to gain a historical perspective that reconnects lost cultural traditions of the past to present life choices. He believes “Taking Young People to Africa Can Make a Difference”. The Africa experience will aid our youth to understand their purpose, inspire fundamental discussions and shape positive self-images.
COO, Connectik Technologies Global- UK
Alain Dolium is a recognized expert on Digital Transformation and economic and social innovation with more than 22 years of experience. He is now Chief Operating Officer for Connectik -Technologies Global and CEO Connectik Africa. Alain has more than 22 years of experience in the design, innovation and implementation of disruptive strategies. Before joining Connectik Technologies Global (headquartered in London) as Chief Operating Officer, Alain was a member of the executive committees of DHL and CBS Outdoor in charge of the Digital Transformation, and founded two startups in the digital and big data industries.
Alain Dolium is a graduate of CHEDE (Cycle of High Studies for Economic Development) linked to the French Ministry of economy , of HEC Montreal in Financial Market, and the Amiens Business School in Marketing. He started his career in 1994 at Burke Marketing, world leader in Data Marketing, (Sold to the Taylor Nelson Sofres group since). He co-invents a model for the enrichment of customer knowledge in the field of banking and insurance.
Founder, AppsAfrica.com, and Africa Tech Summit- United Kingdom
Partner, Sofala Partners LLP- United Kingdom
Presidential Candidate, Democratic Republic of-Congo
D’Avenir (UPA), Ambassador of Peace, and currently a project development and independent business consultant in the UK. He has sojourned in many countries such as Ivory Coast, Switzerland and now resides both in the United Kingdom (20 years) and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is an independent business consultant in the United Kingdom. He brings investors and business opportunities to Africa. He helps to create teams of governmental officials to bring to life dormant projects in Africa by creating necessary contact with investors. Part of his experience is organizing international investors to visit project locations in the Congo DR. He is a lead negotiator with private investors to tackle projects in mining, road construction, environmental impact assessment and instigating project to effect the most convicting burden – “Building and Promoting the Land and the people of Africa”. Dr. Mukumbay was the Director of Contracts and Services of Ressource Afrique Ltd, London, UK from 2001 to 2004, where he executed company policies in Congo DR, Zambia and Ghana. His expertise involves trading in high temperature ores (copper, cobalt, coltan, cassiterite, etc…), Gold and Diamond. He traded in heavy industrial equipment and organizing shipping and delivery to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Ghana. He is very skillful in assessing trade requirements, negotiating contracts and implementing trade links with business partners and government officials in different countries.
Founder & CEO, The Cashew Apple Project, and wife of music legend Paul Okoye from rap duo P-Square - Nigeria
VP Global Projects, Netafim- Israel
Founder, Chairman & CEO, Labacorp Group of Companies- Cameroon
Managing Director, Kiza Solutions- Cincinnati, Ohio
Founder, Chairman and CEO, African Integrated Development Enterprise- Boston
CEO, Medicines for Africa- Switzerland
Dr Lenias Hwenda is the CEO of Medicines for Africa, a social enterprise that reduces the cost, process, information and communication technology barriers that reduce cost-effectiveness when buying quality medicines in the public sector of African countries. She is a global health policy expert with significant experience in international affairs, public and private health sector in Africa and Europe. Lenias worked at the World Health Organization with the African Group of country missions to the UN in Geneva. She later served as an external expert for the World Health Organisation Prequalification Programme for Medicines supporting improvements in production quality standards by manufacturers in India, China, Europe and Africa. She trained as an immunologist and began her career on improving access to medicines working on vaccine development at the University of Oxford.
Founder, Flying Doctors Nigeria- Nigeria
Dr Ola Orekunin is a medical doctor, a trainee helicopter pilot and an entrepreneur who founded West Africa’s first indigenous air ambulance service, The Flying Doctors Nigeria which saves hundreds of lives across the region every year.
She is extremely passionate about healthcare/entrepreneurship in Africa and works with various foundations, charities and governments to improve standards of healthcare.
Dr Ola was born and raised in the UK. She studied medicine and surgery at the Hull-York Medical School after which she worked in Acute Medicine across the UK. She then went on to be awarded the Japanese MEXT scholarship which allowed her to further her studies in Tokyo, Japan.
She has published two medical textbooks ‘EMQ’s in Paediatrics’ and ‘Pre-Hospital Care For Africa’ as well as articles in the British Medical Journal, New York Times and the Huffington Post.
She returned to Nigeria to start the air ambulance service which uses a pool of aircrafts and doctors to save lives across West Africa.
She is an international speaker who has received multiple awards and nominations. These include the Mouldbreaker’s Award, the THIS Day Award, The Future Award as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’, New Generation Leader for Africa, Ladybrille ‘Personality of the Month’, and Vanguard WOW Awards. She is also a TED fellow and has been honoured by the world economic forum as a Young Global Leader.
She is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians and an editor of the Journal of Emergency medical services.
She is a board member of & investor in tech-focused angel investment fund, Greentree Investment Company.
Chairman & CEO, Solomon Investments- Ghana
President, Africa Region, International Association for People and Performance Development- Ghana
President and CEO, African Integrated Development Enterprise
Dr. Chidi Chike Achebe, is a physician executive. He is currently the president and CEO of AIDE (African Integrated Development Enterprise). He has also served as the president and CEO of Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center and as assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine.
He earned his medical doctorate at Dartmouth Medical School; a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Yale University School of Management, and a Master’s in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. In his professional endeavors, Achebe advocates for health care equality. For his efforts in bridging health care disparities, he was awarded the 2012 Dartmouth College Martin Luther King Award – ongoing category.
Chairman of the United States Global Leadership Council-United States
Dr. Egolf is one of four founders and the Chairman of the United States Global Leadership Council. The USGLCouncil is an organization dedicated to the development and improvement of infrastructures through advanced business strategies and sustainable solutions. He speaks in economic business summits concerning ethics in business, leadership strategies, and structuring developing nations for success. He has acted as moderator for many global conferences.He is also a consultant and Advisor for Dr. Tshibangu Mukumbay’s presidential campaign in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dr. Egolf is also a consultant for a candidate in Zimbabwe.
Dr. Egolf works closely with Senator Richard Black of the 13th district of Virginia concerning Foreign Policy directly related to Syria.Dr. Egolf currently spearheads the debt reconstruction for three nations and is the liaison for economic development for Mauritania, Bahamas, Burundi, and Suriname. He is working with a colleague in developing an economic strategy for reconstruction for Syria – post war to be submitted to the Administration.Dr. Egolf was the Vice-President of the Human Rights Global Congress (HRGC) from 2013- 2016. A United Nations recognized organization that promoted civil dialogue and produced strategies for the defusing of conflict.
He is currently the host of Experience Life Today a weekly television program he and his wife founded in 2009 that is seen in four states Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia, including Washington DC.He received the Girma Wolde-Giogis Award (former president of Ethiopia) as a Human Conservation Solutionist as a result of his work as Vice President of the Human Rights Global Congress.
He was the Washington D.C. Capital Director for the United States National Prayer Council (USNPC) from May 2014 – Jan. 2016.He was co-founder and president of Mt. Calvary International Ministerial Fellowship (MCIMF) from 2003-2010. It began with 12 members and increased to 500 in seven years. Spiritual leaders represented six nations in West Africa. Dr. Egolf taught spiritual leadership principles and was a yearly conference speaker.
Partner at VesaliuX, and Consultant at TCMS Global- USA
Dr. John Weatherspoon, JD, PhD is an Intellectual Property Consultant at TCMS Global (www.tcmsglobal.com) and a Partner at VesaliuX, a Cross-Border Accelerator for technology companies (http://vesaliux.com/). Dr. Weatherspoon is also an experienced business, corporate and intellectual property attorney with extensive experience advising corporate legal departments. For over the past fifteen years, he has represented numerous corporations and other clients. He regularly advises clients on strategies for patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection. He has served as outside legal counsel and in-house counsel for clients. As a patent attorney, he has experience handling intellectual property cases that cover a wide range of different technologies including, for example, technologies from the telecommunications, semiconductor, computer, aerospace, electronics, petrochemical, biomedical, nanotechnology, genomics and pharmaceutical industries, to name just a few examples. He also has extensive experience counseling clients on developing their intellectual property portfolios, and also enforcing intellectual property rights (through licensing; litigation; settlement; etc); providing competitor intelligence; and conducting patentability, freedom-to-operate, infringement, validity and product clearance opinions for clients. He regularly assists clients with strategic issues involving the acquisition, development and monetization of their intellectual property. He also has many years of transactional experience including preparation of collaboration agreements, and he also regularly conducts intellectual property due diligence for clients.
Founder & Director of Marketing, The Cashew Apple Project - Nigeria/USA
Board Advisor at Sonangol- Angola
Co-Founder & COO Volta- California
CEO, Morgado, MorGroup- Netherlands
“Eng. Paulo J. Marques Morgado MBA, MPhill
CEO / Senior Partner International Strategy
Paulo J. Marques Morgado is the CEO of MorGroup, an initiative of international business experts with strong academic background born out of entrepreneurial spirit, and the desire to help companies across the world to thrive and grow in a sustainable manner. He is teaching at the University of Groningen, in the Faculty of Economics and Business, International Business and Management courses. Developed Learning Community themes involving cross discipline students and professionals towards solving real world challenges. He was Financial Director for Nalco Angola, a Joint Venture of Nalco Energy Services (an Ecolab Company) in Angola, to support the Oil and Gas industry. Elaborated a plan to improve finance, business reporting, and Business Operations. Developed profitability and performance visibility tools and engaged local and International Partners in several Projects to make improvements and build local capabilities. Between 2006 and 2013 worked at Eastman Chemical Company, based in The Netherlands as a Business Finance Analyst EMEA. Played a leadership role in driving new business development planning, Investment Appraisals, Capital Budgeting, Financial Planning, Strategic modeling, and support of the innovation process. Proposed numerous strategic investments to senior-level finance and business, and C-level executives.
His first university education is on Electrotechnics from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, with a specialty in Information systems, telecommunications and energy management. He has an MBA in General and Strategic Management from the Maastricht School of Management, and an MPhil in economics from the Maastricht School of Management. He is currently enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Groningen, with research on Sustained Competitiveness.
He worked in different industries like defense, telecom, data storage, FMCG, chemicals and Oil & Gas with large known international and global companies, in operations, sales and marketing and finance. He has people skills. He is creative and reveals vision and leadership, able to work with customers to solve sophisticated problems, generate ideas for new projects and programs. He has good presentation and coaching skills. He has developed competencies in finance, cross function processes, effective management, marketing, innovation, analytical and strategic problem-solving skills.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Project Management • Effective Project Management • Strategic Project Planning • Global Strategy • Innovation • Strategic Thinking • Financial Valuations for Joint Ventures • Global Perspectives • Six Sigma • Software Engineering • Strategic Account Sales • Applying Improvisation • Design Thinking • Excellence at work”
Co-founder, GreenWize Energy- Kenya
Evans Wadongo is a Co-founder at GreenWize Energy, which is advancing cutting-edge African-designed renewable energy solutions in Sub Saharan Africa. He is also the founder of Sustainable Development For All, an organisation that has helped lift thousands of mostly rural people out of poverty. Mr. Wadongo is also the Chairman of Wadson Ventures, an angel impact investment firm working with promising African start-ups. At 19, he designed the first-ever African designed solar lamp, dubbed MwangaBora®. Evans has received several global awards including CNN Hero, Outstanding Social Entrepreneur in Africa, Pan Commonwealth Youth Award for excellence in Development, and the Mikhail Gorbachev Award for Man Who Changed the World. He has also been named among Africa’s ’30 under 30’ best young entrepreneurs by Forbes, listed among top 35 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review, and named among 20 Men who will shape the next 20 years by UK’s Esquire magazine. Wadongo grew up in a rural village in western Kenya before earning a BSc. (Honors) in Electronic and Computer Engineering from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
Attorney, Foster LLP-Houston, Texas
Jr. Associate Director, Structured Trade Credit, Political Risk, Underwriting Africa Limited
Managing Partner of Chanzo Capital-Ghana
Eric Osiakwan, Managing Partner of Chanzo Capital is an Entrepreneur and Investor with 15 years of ICT industry leadership across Africa and the world. He has worked in 32 African countries setting up ISPs, ISPAs, IXPs and high-tech startups. He Co-Founded Angel Africa List, Angel Fair Africa and currently serves on the board of Farmerline, SMS GH, Forhey, Teranga Solutions, SeeSayDo, Oasis Websoft, Siqueries, Amp.it, SameLogic, Bisa app, Wanjo Foods, Ghana Cyber City and WABco – some of which are his investments.
He was part of the team that built the TEAMS submarine cable in East Africa and an ICT Consultant for the WorldBank, Soros Foundations, UNDP, USAID, USDoJ, USDoS as well as African governments and private firms.
He authored “The KINGS of Africa’s Digital Economy”, co-authored the “Open Access Model”, adopted globally by the telecommunications industry, “Negotiating the Net” – the politics of Internet Diffusion in Africa and “The Internet in Ghana” with the Mosaic Group. He was invited to contribute ideas to Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa. Eric is a TED, Stanford, MIT and Harvard fellow.
Managing Director, First African Investment Holding- Angola
Co-founder and Executive Director, Asoko Insight- Nigeria
Co-Founding Director & Vice-President, Focal Point Global (FPG)- USA
Ms. Hussainatu Blake is Co-Founding Director & Vice-President of Focal Point Global (FPG)—an international EDTECH nonprofit empowering underserved youth to tackle community issues through global education and innovative technology. Since FPG launched in 2010, Hussainatu has developed and organized two HIVAIDS Education Initiatives, a Child Trafficking Awareness project, and their flagship project Youth Employment & Entrepreneurship Initiative (YEEI) connecting nearly 300 students from the US, Cameroon, The Gambia, Namibia, and South Africa.
Hussainatu began working with African immigrants while living in Germany, where she assisted the NAACP with educating Africans about their legal rights and available health resources. She also worked for World Relief in Maryland, where she assisted African immigrants, particularly teenagers, with legal issues. In addition, Hussainatu worked for the United Nations (UN) affiliate, International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Counter-Trafficking Department in South Africa, where she aided African immigrants who were trafficked throughout the African continent. She has written about slavery and racial discrimination in Africa for International Affairs Forum, a publication of the Center for International Relations in Washington, DC.
Hussainatu has been recognized by the US White House Champions of Change Initiative; featured on Black Enterprise; presented at TEDxEmory, and served as Keynote Speaker at the Southern Regional Model UN Conference and several top universities such as Harvard University, Tufts University, NYU, and Georgetown University. Hussainatu is also an Advisor for the Global Education Conference and member of the Global Campaign for Education – US coalition.
Hussainatu has a Bachelors of Arts from Tufts University, a Masters Degree in International Policy from Middlebury College and a law degree from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School.
Founder ICT Africa- United States
Transformational Brand Strategist at JBK Brand Design- USA
Director, Risk management Initiative in Microfinance (RIM)- Washington D.C, USA
Executive Director, Ignite Trade Africa- Kenya
“KEZY KAMAU-MUKIRI is a graduate of the University of Nairobi where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B) and a Master’s degree in International Relations. She was called to the bar in 2005 and practiced Civil, Commercial and Business Law.
She is the CEO /Founder of Zuri Events Ltd (www.zurievents.com) – a brand management and experiential marketing firm which is the leading champion of Sustainable Event Management in East Africa. In this role, she provides strategic leadership within the areas of branding, business development, marketing, risk management, resource mobilization and partnership development. A dynamic lawyer and entrepreneur, Kezy is passionate about building strong brands and sustainable enterprises on the African Continent. She has worked with some of the region’s largest MNCs, government institutions, International Organisations and MSMEs.
Kezy is also the Executive Director of Ignite Trade Africa (www.ignitetradeafrica.com) – a Business Development firm that is working to promote Inclusive trade for Sustainable Development. Ignite Trade Africa works to enhance the participation of SMEs in Intra-Africa trade by building the capacity of SMEs through training and providing access to market information.
She is also a senior partner at Mukiri Global Advocates (www.mga-legal.com) – a Law Firm that offers legal, tax and business consultancy services.
In 2015 Kezy was selected to join the Mandela Washington Fellowship. The fellowship is the flagship project of President Obama’s YALI -Young African Leaders Initiative. This opportunity gave her access to a vibrant network of young entrepreneurs across Africa.
In addition, in 2015, she was selected amongst only 69 women entrepreneurs across the globe for the Vital Voices Global Partnership fellowship which seeks to enhance the capacity of entrepreneurs to build sustainable enterprises and change communities. Kezy is also an alumnus of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program.
Kezy is passionate about Internationalization of Trade. She sits on the board of the Organisation of Women in International Trade (OWIT) (www.owitnairobi.org) where she facilitates access to opportunities and partnerships for local MSMEs to access global markets for their products and services. “
CEO, Henson Geodata Technologies Ltd- Ghana
Commissioner on African Affairs, Maryland, and CEO of Miss Africa USA Pageant- Washington DC USA
Senior Partner & COO, Compass Solutions- Washington DC, USA
“A Business Executive with over 20 years of successful Technology Industry experience ranging from Telecommunications, Internet technology, Infrastructure and Cyber
security to Software & Technology People Resource solutions.
A seasoned professional with solid understanding of the Public, Private, Commercial and Corporate business
sectors in the United States and Overseas.
Successful track record in International Business Development (IBD), with strong and practical understanding of Evolving and
Emerging Markets (EE&M)
“
Founder and Managing Director, Baobab Consulting- New York
Founder & Producer, L'Afrique c'est Chic World and Africa is Calling You- France
Founder & President, Leading Women of Africa (LWA)- South Africa
Madelein is a Visionary Entrepreneur whose dream is to shape a new generation of African leaders through various programmes. Madelein has built an unparalleled reputation for her innovative thinking and her strategic approach to women and business development in Africa. Through her leadership, she is building global influence, catalyzing change and driving innovation.
She is Founder & President of Leading Women of Africa (LWA) and currently the Director of LWA-Corporate Investment, a firm that increases the number of women involved in investment, international trade and other services in Africa. She sits on the board of South African Small and Medium Enterprise Federation (SASMEF) and has experience in business development, strategic planning, policy, programme design, implementation, leadership training and women’s empowerment strategies. Madelein’s passion is seeing women contribute to rebuilding the continent through access in the mainstream economy. She was mentored by one of the founders of Africa, the First President of Zambia, Dr. David Kenneth Kaunda.
CEO & President, Constituency for Africa (CFA)- United States
CEO, Ross Solar Energy- Texas, USA
Michael Ross is a veteran – former US army combat engineer, and president of Ross Solar Energy Co, a division of Ross Medical Supplies, LLC (RMS). We are a Veteran Owned Small Business, based in Austin, TX, with office in Lagos, Nigeria. RMS has been in business since 2009 and has several companies under its LLC umbrella to include the following fields: Solar Energy, Medical Supplies, Wellness, and a non-profit organization.
Managing Director of Accite Holdings
Michelle Adelman, Managing Director of Accite Holdings, has been named by CEO Magazine 2017’s “Most Influential Woman in Business” for Botswana & SADC North. She is a seasoned strategist, a recognized business leader, and a fierce social impact advocate who is passionate about developing sustainable methods to achieve food security in Africa and other emerging markets.
Accite is an impact investment fund building a portfolio of business in southern Africa based on renewable and sustainable technology. Accite’s development philosophy marries proven technologies, globally-experienced partners and localized business models to create businesses that create net new economic growth. Accite’s model focuses on investing in technology-led, renewable and sustainable projects in southern Africa. Current projects include utility production scale hydroponic horticulture and animal feed production.
Michelle also currently serves as Group Strategy Executive for Econet Wireless Group.
Author,co-founder & Managing Director of Africommunications Group (ACG)
Author, co-founder & Managing Director of Africommunications Group (ACG), a pan-African public relations company, Mimi Kalinda leverages her experience of almost two decades in communications in Africa and abroad to argue and highlight the importance of giving Africans a voice and recreating the African continent’s narrative.
Following on the release of her new e-book, the PR and Communications maven continues the work of ensuring Africans are given a platform to shift the African narrative as the host of a new show called #TalkingToAfrica on Africa Business Radio (ABR). The objective of the show is to discuss the tale of Africa: what it currently is, who shapes it, how it impacts the continent’s development and what can be done to ensure Africans own their own storytelling tools and platforms.
The New York University graduate is also the Director of Communications for the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), a network of centres of excellence incubating STEM education for Africa’s brightest students while searching for the next Einstein in Africa.
Her love for Africa has allowed her to form part of 2017 Archbishop Tutu Fellow Leadership programme. Additionally, she sits on the Africa Brand Counsel and was nominated for the Women4Africa Awards 2016 as a finalist for the International African Woman of the Year Award.
Visionary Founder & Managing Director, Empower Limited- Tanzania
University of California, Berkeley- California
Honorary Consul, Consulate of Sao Tome e Principe in The- Netherlands
Founder & President, EB5 Capital-USA
“Angelique Brunner is the Founder and President of EB5 Capital, a $500 million EB-5 investment fund. She provides strategic direction to the entire company including oversight of the investments, marketing and legal departments as well as the company’s expansion into African markets.
Ms. Brunner is an expert in the creative financing industry, a highly respected EB-5 investment fund manager and an enthusiastic advocate for innovative corporate financing solutions. She represents the EB-5 Investment Coalition (EB-5IC) as its Industry Membership Chair & Spokesperson and serves as a board member for Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the Washington Architectural Foundation (WAF), and is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is a Founding Member of the Silicon Valley Blockchain Society (SVBS).”
Chairman, Better Globe Group-Norway
Rino Solberg is a well-known Norwegian Inventor, Entrepreneur, Industrialist, Philanthropist, Speaker and Author who has built businesses on 4 continents over 50 years, written and published 10 Books within the area of “Personal and Business Development”.
Senior Director, Government Affairs & Policy, Sub Saharan Africa, Johnson & Johnson
Group CEO, Moro Group-Bostwana
Founder and CEO, Astro Mobile Africa- South Africa
Munyaradzi Alois Gwatidzo is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur born on the 29th of March 1983. He is the Founder and CEO of Astro Mobile Africa an Afro Centric tech company that designs, manufactures and distributes premium electronic devices including but not limited to Smart TVs, Mobile devices and accessories.
He Founded Astro Mobile Africa in 2012, after having attempted various entrepreneurial ventures. Under his leadership Astro Mobile Africa has grown to become a genuinely Pan-African Multinational by setting up offices in Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mauritius which serves as the headquarters. Astro Mobile Africa has a distribution network that spans the African continent. By 2020 Astro Mobile plans to be operating in 25 African countries. Currently Astro Mobile Africa is building a device manufacturing plant in Zimbabwe.
Munyaradzi Alois Gwatidzo’s vision and that of Astro is to pioneer innovation through localized creativity. This can be seen throughout Astro Mobile’s wide product range which is of premium quality designed for the African user and reasonably priced to ensure Affordability.
For his leadership excellence and business acumen, Munyaradzi has been recognized by business communities across Africa through the following accolades:
2015 AAE (African Awards for Entrepreneurs) Awards – Winner `Most Mature Business` Category. This Award Is Run by African Leadership Network.
2015 ZNCC (Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce) – Winner Young Entrepreneur of the Year
2015 SMES International Expo – Gold Medal in Telecommunications Category
ICT 2014 Achievers Awards – Runner Up Top ICT Company
ICT 2013 Achievers Awards – Top Young ICT Innovator of The Year
2013 Megafest Business Awards
2013 Buy Zimbabwe Awards – Innovation Award, 2nd Runner Up
ICT 2012 Achievers Awards – Runner Up Top Young ICT Innovator of the Year
In October 2015, Astro Mobile Africa was registered as the holding company domiciled in Mauritius with the strategic intent to support an aggressive multi-tiered African expansion with no less than seventeen priority countries targeted for activation by the end of 2020.
Partner, Trans Sahara Investment Corporation- Pennsylvania, USA
Business Development Specialist, Export-Import Bank of the- United States
Director, DNL Global Capital LLC- UK
Oladunni is a versatile business expert with almost 2 decades of cosmic professional experience spanning several industries such as Energy, Oil and Gas, FMCG, Education Management, Ecommerce, Real Estate, Investment banking and Project Finance (to mention a few) with wide geographical exposures across different countries. She has very strong analytical background designing business decision models for organisations.
Oladunni is also a certified business and career trainer, consultant and prolific writer. She has written several published and unpublished commentaries, quality management documents and professional books. She is the author of the award winning oil and gas book: “Blackgold Refinery Business Made Easy; the ultimate guide to Oil and Gas Refining business”, a book focused on refinery profitability.
As a business consultant and trainer, Oladunni has mentored several upcoming companies with major focus on profitability ensuring the companies made good return on investment (ROI) within realistic payback period. She has also coached several top level business executives. She is a frequent speaker at business events and has anchored several inductions, trainings, seminars and workshops for organisations across the several countries. She is currently the Director of Originations for DNL Global Capital an organisation focused on project finance for bankable projects across Africa and other Emerging markets.
Oladunni has a Bachelor of technology degree in Pure and Applied Mathematics, a MBA degree in Business Operations Research with a focus on Strategy and Decision Making. In addition to this she is a member of several professional bodies and institutes across several business fields.
Oladunni is an easy going, focused and result oriented professional with an amiable personality.
CEO of Invictus Group-Nigeria
BA (Global) International Studies & Forensic Criminology, Masters of International Relations and Counter-Terrorism Studies (Cum- laude)
Obinwanne Okeke is the founder of Invictus Group and has been extensively involved in sourcing, structuring, implementing and monitoring various private equity investments in African and Australian markets and has over 10 years of investment experience. Prior to founding Invictus Group, he assisted with founding and running other entrepreneurial establishments. He holds a Bachelors and a Master’s degree (MA) in International Relations and Counter Terrorism (cum laude) from Monash University, Australia and has received several leadership honorary awards from local as well as international organizations.
He has received several leadership honorary awards from local as well as international organizations and has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 30 entrepreneurs under 30 to watch. The leading publication also featured him on its cover for June 2016.
He is passionate about people and strongly believes in giving back. Over the last decade he has inspired both businesses and individuals in the private sector to invest in the less privileged and the uneducated in countries across the world. He spear headed inter alia the Literacy Africa project which saw 100 000 (one hundred thousand) books being donated to children in across the African continent in underprivileged schools.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dressmeoutlet.com- Nigeria
Chief Executive Officer, Footprint to Africa- Nigeria
Osita Oparaugo, Barrister at Law, is the President and CEO of Footprint to Africa Limited. www.footprint2africa.com Footprint to Africa is an investment bridge and financial news company promoting intra African trade and foreign investment opportunities in Africa. He’s a board member of over six companies in different African countries and member, board of directors of Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce. Osita Oparaugo received his Bachelor of Laws degree from The University of Buckingham, United Kingdom and holds several international certifications, including certifications on Capital Markets, Project Finance and Business Strategy from Harvard Business School and Diploma on Cinematography, Film/Video Producing from New York Film Academy. He has also taken courses on resource development centering on project planning, development and implementation in developing countries.Osita Oparaugo is a Merit Award Winner in recognition of his selfless contribution and dedication to rural development in Africa. He is actively involved in various charitable causes around Africa and a lover of football and golf.
Chairman, PDSIGROUP- Dubai, UAE
Founder and CEO, Rockwell Risk Advisors- New York, USA
Founder & Director, Selbourne Research- UK
I provide real time ground truth for businesses and development projects. With 10 years’ experience in payments services, data analysis and market research and a passion for data transparency and symmetry, i drive Selbourne Research’s vision, strategy and growth.
Executive Director, Horizon Africa-Virginia USA
“Philomena Desmond
International Consultant
Trade and Investment Business Development, Government Relations
and Diplomacy
Philomena Desmond is an international development professional, promoting US-Africa trade and investment, advising investors and companies on doing business in Africa. Ms. Desmond has been very successful at building relationships and strategic partnerships between US investors and companies interested in exploring the African market. She is an accomplished executive with over twenty years of experience in Africa market entry, project and deal identification, investment facilitation, and in-depth work in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, financial services, healthcare and the education sectors.
Ms. Desmond has a global corporate and government clientele that ranges from Nigerian State governments, to clients in the United States, China, India, Nigeria, Guinea, Congo, Togo, Mali, DRC etc. In her business development capacity, Ms. Desmond is responsible for driving the development of new business opportunities through developing strategic relationships and joint ventures through integration and cooperation.
Previously, Philomena Desmond was a Senior Consultant for Business Women Network on International Business, where she headed their international product strategy, including international product research, brand development, and market entry strategy implementation. She was a member of the private sector coalition that lobbied for the passage of the Africa Growth and Opportunities (AGOA) act into law during President Jefferson Clinton’s administration, and was invited by President Clinton to the White House to witness the first signing into law the AGOA Bill. She has organized numerous successful trade missions to Africa from the United States and vice versa. She is the Executive Director for Horizon Africa.
Education, Credentials & Affiliations:
. Rowan State University, in Glassboro, New Jersey, Bachelors in Microbiology
. Southeastern University in Washington, DC Masters degree in Business and Public Administration
. Howard University, Washington, DC, graduate work in Microbiology
. Vice-President and Founding Member, African Business Women Network
. Member, American/African Business Women Association
. Member, Association of Women in International Business
. Member, Nigeria Peoples Forum
. Member, American Women Association of Lagos, Nigeria
. Vice-Chair, Friends of the Children of Angola”
Managing Director & CEO, Nabo Capital Limited- Kenya
“Pius Muchiri is the founding CEO of Nabo Capital Ltd, a boots-on-the-ground fund manager that helps investors to grow their wealth by identifying and seizing lucrative opportunities in Africa.
Growing up, it always puzzled him why only a few people enjoyed wealth and financial freedom while the vast majority languished in abject poverty. Driven to seek solutions and do his little bit to change the world he lived in, he pursued and attained CPA qualification in the year 2000 and subsequently launched his career in the field of accounting. Whilst accounting gave him a solid foundation on the basics of finance, it failed to satisfy his desire for a platform to change the economic fortunes of many.
A timely opportunity presented itself in 2004, when he joined the prestigious Centum Investment Plc; the largest private equity firm in East and Central Africa. Still burning with the passionate flame to create and grow wealth for others, the move to Centum was a natural fit that ushered him into the world of investments. He gladly switched careers and has since become one of that exalted fraternity of the less than 100 CFA Charter-holders in East Africa.
Pius then played a key role in formulating and implementing the now famous “Centum 2.0 Strategyâ€, that began the challenging journey of transforming the once laid -back $60 Million investment firm into a $1.8 Billion AUM one; certainly one of Africa’s most notable growth stories.
In 2009, he then took charge of the Public Markets Portfolio, then worth $23million, and pursued an ingenious “Quoted Private Equity†strategy, which was founded on the premise that, given the relative non- liquid nature of most listed securities in Africa, a rare opportunity existed to make extra-ordinary returns by applying the firm’s rich private equity expertise in the listed space across Africa. For 5 years, Pius and his team dedicated themselves to traveling across the continent, finding and investing in securities that were under-researched, below-the-radar, but that harboured significant growth potential. The strategy proved so fruitful that the portfolio more than quadrupled.
Encouraged by this unprecedented success, Pius and his entire team, urged on by colleagues and satisfied investors, made yet another trailblazing decision to spin-off from Centum and form a fully-fledged and independent asset management firm, licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). In 2013, they incorporated Nabo Capital Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centum in the business of helping individuals and institutions to create multi-generational wealth. This move flung the door open for other investors, besides Centum, to leverage on the team’s experience and expertise to partake of this team’s success equation.
Today, Pius manages portfolios on behalf of some of the largest Sovereign Wealth Funds in the world, insurance companies, investment companies and ultra-high net-worth individuals. He is not shy to note that he has the best job in the world; he believes Africa is the place to be for anyone wishing to make a remarkable difference and leave a legacy.
Despite his obviously demanding schedule, he remains the happily married father of three wonderful boys, and enjoys reading, traveling, fishing and swimming for rest and recuperation away from the daily grind. He is also an active member of his local Church. Obviously, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is yet another of his many talents.”
Dean College of Administrative & Financial Sciences, Arab American University-Jenin, Palestine
Dr. Sussan has over 20 years of experience in the world of higher education, where he had taught graduate and undergraduate students at New York Institute of
Technology, University of Central Florida, and at the University of South Florida, as well as at Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Sussan has over15 years of
consultation and training in countries such as Europe, South America, Central America, The Middle-East, The Caribbean Islands, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile,
Thailand, and the United States. He had served as a Dean of Academic Affairs (U.S.A) and as a Chair for the Department of International Business (U.S.A). He had
published over sixty research papers in per review journals and published a textbook in “Industrial Management”. Currently, serving in the Editorial Board as a
reviewer in six academic journals.
Dr. Sussan is a senior member of the I.I.E (Institute of Industrial Engineer) and had provided educational seminars, teaching, and research in a variety of
organizations in the area of global strategic management, quality management, management of technology, and research & development, some of which include Dow Chemical,
Westinghouse Nuclear Facility, Harris Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Corporation, Florida Power & Light, Bellsouth, AT&T, American Express, International Trade
Alliances, as well as many others, and serving as a Chair for student’s dissertation for the Ph.D., and D.B.A, programs.
He completed his B.S. degree in Engineering Technology from Gannon University in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Afterward he earned his M.S degree in Industrial Engineering from
Columbia University in New York, U.S.A. His Doctoral degree, from Nova Southeastern University in Florida, U.S.A, has two specialties, one in Human Resources
Management and the other in International Business.
University of California, Berkeley- California
Founder Director, World Development Foundation-India
“RC as he likes to be called, is a veteran in several facets of International Business Management. He was born on 01-01-1952. He is an academician, top executive and a management Practitioner. His educational accolades are B.E. (Hons) E&C Engineering (Madras University); B.E. (IIIE- Indl. Engineering); PGDIT (IIFT-New Delhi); MBA (Bangalore University); PhD in Management (Pondicherry University); PhD (Honoris causa-USA): PhD (Honoris causa-Uganda)- He is Cleared by WES (USA) for teaching in US Universities
His experience in dealing with many projects came about because he was a Managing Director of a premier Consulting Organization for 15 years, dealing with many global projects in all aspects of conceptualization, designing and execution of large projects. His Consulting career, academic career and industry career have run almost parallel.
His area of specialty is, creating a congenial environment for entry of firms into a foreign land (leveling the field) for sustainable and profitable businesses. His PhD thesis is a Global study of 25 countries about the Export and Trade Promotion Policies in finance and business development and directly relates to his actual work experience.
More data can be seen by googling raju chandrasekar”
Executive Chairman, Biosirus-Inc-Canada
After 35+ year career in Electric Utilities/Power Systems, Ravi Seethapathy is now an Advisor to the Utility/Industry, and sits on the Boards of Power Transmission & Distribution (IC) Division of Larsen & Toubro, India; Biosirus Inc., Canada Smart Grid Canada, and India Smart Grid Forum. His current international activities include (1) CIGRE Convener WGC6.28-Remote Grids; (2) IEA PVPS Taskforce 14 – Large Scale Solar Integration; (3) IEC TC 120 – Energy Storage; (4) IEC SEG4-LVDC; and (5) Chair, India Smart Grid Forum WG 5-RE & Micro-grids. He an invited speaker internationally and has co-authored over 50 technical papers in the areas of Smart Grid. He Founder/ Executive Chair of Biosirus Inc. in Canada.
Retired in 2014 after 31 year career in Hydro One/Ontario Hydro (a leading utility in Canada), where he managed leading portfolios in R&D, Innovation, Smart Grid Projects, Energy Storage, Renewable Energy Integration, Asset Management, Corporate Operations/Technical Audit, M&A (500M$), Field Operations, and Relaying and Control. His past corporate directorships include Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Ryerson University, TV Ontario, Scarborough Hospital, Nevaro Capital Corp, Engineers Without Borders (Chair), Canadian Club of Toronto (President), Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (President).
Ravi has received numerous honours and citations including Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), Fellow Canadian Academy of Engineering (2012), Hydro One President’s Award (2008), Honour Roll of the Shastri Institute (2008), Honorary Fellow, Centennial College (2005), and Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (1996) to name a few. Ravi’s education includes a B. Tech (Hons) in Electrical Power from IIT, Kharagpur, India; an M. Eng. in Electrical Power from the University of Toronto; and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University. His family/he have endowed an IEEE Award in “Rural Electrification Excellence”.
Founder, Nigeria Agribusiness Register-Nigeria
Roland is a Business Development Practitioner with specialization in agribusiness, trade and investment facilitation. He has 25 years’ combined experience in bilateral development assistance in trade capacity building, agribusiness development, and project management. Since year 2000, he has been involved in value chain assessment, design and development and has developed knowledge and established contacts in value chains such as rice, cashew, garments, cocoa, maize, sesame, sheanut, soybeans and processed agricultural foods for export from Nigeria to the U.S and Europe. He has also worked in government engagement, public- private partnerships, investment facilitation and promotion, trade corridor development in Nigeria including the Lagos-Kano-Jibiya (LAKAJI) trade and investment corridor. He has worked and continues to work for international development assistance projects and agencies including the U.K. Department for International Development and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). At USAID, Roland designed, launched and managed till close-out, the $16.8 million, 5-year USAID/Nigeria’s flagship trade capacity and investment facilitation Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport (NEXTT) Project. NEXTT facilitated over $50 million in exports of cashews and other products from Nigeria and facilitated over $30 million in new investments along the LAKAJI Corridor from 2012 to 2017. Prior to NEXTT, he successfully managed the Nigeria Expanded Export Project, a $2 million pilot export promotion facility funded by USAID/Nigeria from 2010 to 2012.
Roland is the founder of Rossland Group www.rosslandgroup.com, a diversified business development service provider for the agriculture and food sectors in Nigeria and Africa, offering services in recruitment, research, franchise development and business brokerage. He is also the founder and publisher of the “Nigeria Agribusiness Register” www.nigeriaagribusinessregister.com, a public-private partnership facility (modelled after the concept of Business Registers), for aggregating and profiling investment data in the agribusiness sector and used for measuring economic growth, jobs, inclusiveness, and to address barriers to investment growth in the agriculture sector. He is a firm believer in African entrepreneurship as a solution to the development challenges in the continent. Recently, he launched a unique program that helps employees transit to become employers through a mentorship and BDS support program called EnRise (rise with entrepreneurship!). Both EnRise and the Agribusiness Register are powered by Commodity Development Initiative, a non-governmental organization vehicle founded by Roland.
Roland has a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Business Administration. He was born in October 1967, and is married with a son.
Founding Director, Aphropean Partners- Austria
Executive Chairman, Merchants Company of West Africa Ltd (MECOWA Group)-Ghana
Dr. Ruben Atekpe is an accomplished investment banker with experience in structured finance transactions and projects. Dr. Atekpe completed an MSc in Management and PhD in finance at Imperial College-University of London, UK; his Doctorate thesis was on Forecasting Foreign Exchange and the Efficiency of Pricing Foreign Currency Options. Formerly a lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, he was part of the team that established the Executive MBA Program at the School. Dr. Atekpe served for several years as a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Africa, as the private sector representative for West Africa. He is a founding member of the Ghana Malaysia Business Council and the Ghana YPO Chapter. He serves on various boards including being Chairman of Butawu Rural Bank, Volta Region, Ghana.
CoFounder and CEO, HartNamtemah- Canada
Rodrigue Fouafou is “THE middle man between Africa and the world.” He is an entrepreneur, startup investor, and business mentor. Currently, he is co-founder, CEO, and President of HartNamtemah, Inc., a startup advising and investment firm based in Toronto for African Startups.
CEO & Co-Founder, A Gift To Africa- United States
Global Business Ambassador, SheWorks- Nigeria
Sable shares from her over 20 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience that spans across the USA and several countries in Africa. She launched her first international organization providing HR services to clients in aviation, manufacturing, financial institutions, and telecommunications in private and government sector in Nigeria and Ethiopia. She co-hosted the first and only national agriculture conference for State Heads to bring agriculture back to the nation’s priority.She brings to her audiences global business experience with in-depth understanding of business start-up, building scalable and global businesses, with sensitivity to the impact of women businesses on family life. She incorporates her life experience, entrepreneurial training, and business building experience into her presentations. She is passionate about supporting female entrepreneurs build international partnerships that can open global doors to create profitable businesses. She holds an M.Sc. in Human Resources, recipient of the 10,000 women Goldman Sachs award for women entrepreneurs, nominee for the Yale Visiting Executive Exchange Program and IFC SME trainer.
Founder, Group Chairman & CEO, Capital Consulting
Founder & CEO, Women Empowered Global- Sri Lanka
CEO, CAMSCORP- London
CEO of CAMSCORP the African commodity development company, headquartered in United Kingdom. CAMSCORP is an international commodity trading, advisory and investment business focused on Africa and raw and processed commodities. The aim of CAMSCORP is to build long-term sustainable raw commodity export business by owning the supply chain and we are operational in 13 African countries. CAMSCORP also invests in commodity processing in country to enhance the supply chain and create additional value. Simon has over 15 years investment banking experience in New York, London and Tokyo. Since 2010 he has built commodity business in Europe, Africa and Asia, successfully building many supply chains from inception, as well as providing start-up capital, financing and producing significant global International export volumes. Simon has been involved in many successful start-up businesses notably Credit Market Analysis Limited. Simon has numerous non-executive roles and is currently Chairman of Octopus Investments EOC committee, Octopus runs over £5.5 billion in funds in the UK.
Co-Founder, Africa Business Venture- London, United Kingdom
Co-founder, US-Africa Diaspora Business Council- United States
World-Renown Speaker and Marketing Strategist - USA/Canada
Executive Vice President and CEO, US-Nigeria Trade Council- Georgia, USA
Titus Olowokere is the Executive Vice President / CEO of the US--Nigeria Trade Council, President Emeritus of the Alliance of Nigerian Organizations in Georgia (ANOG) and Director of Administration of NICORE (www.nicore--inc.com) an organization that facilitates the economic development of Nigerians and their communities in the United States of America.
On the professional landscape, Titus has held a succession of increasingly responsible roles in Engineering, Information Technology and Sales/Marketing. He has served as the Regional Capability Area Lead – database technologies, at Accenture, a leading systems integration and technology consulting company. While at Accenture, he served as Information
Technology Security subject matter expert and led Gap Analysis and Security compliance solution for a major European bank and State Government projects. In addition, he has worked in various management capacities for the State of Georgia, Business Process Automation (BPA), Austin, TX, John Holt Nigeria, PLC, General Motors and UAC of Nigeria PLC. He is currently the Managing Partner of Integral Systems & Technologies, an Information Technology Consulting company based out of Atlanta. Notably, while working at State of Georgia, he managed public health information technology projects and served as technical resource for an Enterprise Data Warehouse solution project.
In community development pitch, Titus has dedicated his time to nurture the Alliance of Nigerian Organizations in Georgia, ANOG (http://www.anogusa.org/Best_of_ANOG.htm) , a non--profit organization, as the umbrella organization of Nigerian Community that caters for the collective interests, and represents the single, unified voice of all non--profit Nigerian associations in Georgia, USA, across community, tribal, ethnic, educational, social, political and economic lines. He has grown the organization from a 21--member organization when he took over as President, to 43--member organization in a 3--year period of leadership. While serving as ANOG president, he organized the first Nigeria Unity parade in Atlanta (http://www.anogusa.org/Parade.htm) , the first Nigerian Community Leadership Development Forum (http://www.anogusa.org/Leadership_Forum.htm) as well as the Conference of Presidents (http://www.anogusa.org/Presidents_Conference.htm) to benefit, challenge and enhance the effectiveness of the Nigerian Community leadership in Georgia. He has worked with key individuals in Government, diplomatic cycle and private sector to establish the US--Nigeria Trade Council (www.usnigeria.org) as a veritable vehicle to promote bilateral trade relations between the US and Nigeria. The Trade Council also has a “Diaspora Initiative” which is designed to sprout the Nigerian Community in United States of America, beyond the overbeaten social scene, to a mutually beneficial patio of economic empowerment and opportunities awareness for Nigerians in USA. In his little spare time, Titus volunteers for the Hands--On Atlanta where he serves as Programs Manager. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Dallas, and has a passionate love for traveling.
Co-founder and President, Ovamba Solutions - Cameroon
Director of Strategic Partnerships, DAI- France
Vanessa Adams joined DAI in 2016 with more than 20 years of professional experience, including with Fortune 500 companies in the United States. Vanessa has worked in 29 African countries with businesses and farmer cooperatives to increase productivity, meet buyer specifications, access finance, and compete in international markets. She partners with governments, donors, and businesses to develop and implement strategies that increase productivity, competitiveness, and trade, expand investments, improve business environments, access financial services, and reduce constraints to economic growth.
Vanessa managed $70+ million projects with multicultural teams, facilitated more than $300 million in exports from Africa, and catalyzed over $60 million in investments as well as more than $140 million in credit. She contributed to the founding of three pan-African nongovernmental organizations, including the African Cashew Alliance, Borderless Alliance, and Global Shea Alliance, as well as initiating the Women in Agribusiness Leadership Network in Ethiopia.
CEO, American Business Television Network- United States
Yusef Muhammad is the CEO of American Business Television. Mr. Muhammad has been in charge of business operations, distribution, programming, syndication, advertising, media and business consulting for more than 22 years. He often advises companies on how to effectively market on digital, mobile, social media, television, and radio. Mr.
Muhammad travels around the world participating and presenting at various international themed seminars and events while introducing and bringing awareness to U.S. companies on international trade as a member of The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Export Outreach Team.
Investment Officer, Women’s World Banking Asset Management - New York
Founder, MD, IBEX Frontier, IBEX Financial Consultancy Ltd- Ethiopia
Zekarias is the Founder & MD of IBEX Frontier with presence in Washington DC USA, London UK and Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Zekarias has been at the forefront of providing deal sourcing, research, buy-side and sale-side Investment advisory and negotiation, and guiding international investors on bankable opportunities in Ethiopia. Starting from coining the term ‘Sheba Valley’ for Ethiopia’s tech space and representing and speaking on behalf of the flourishing Tech-start-ups’ in Ethiopia to providing investors’ guidance in route-to-Ethiopian-market, Zekarias is a ‘walking textbook’ of success in investing in Ethiopia.
Zekarias started his career in the private Banking sector in Ethiopia followed by a regional Finance & Treasury role at Shell Oil East Africa Hub leading Treasury & Credit operations, Change Management implementations in East African cluster that led him win a number of continental awards in his exceptional leadership and innovative achievements including ‘Crystal Award’ by Shell Oil for his breakthrough performance. He had run a consultancy office in Ethiopia in 2002-2004 advising Ethiopian businesses before expanding his international exposure since his relocation to the London in 2004 and has since worked across industries in Europe/USA. He has re-tuned his focus on Ethiopia and Africa and as a result has founded the London based IBEX Financial Consultancy Ltd in early 2016 and has been providing route-to-market and deal sourcing services for Ethiopian focused international investors and investment advisory to Ethiopian businesses.
Zekarias is a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) and an MBA Graduate of Oxford Brookes University in the UK.
Cofounder, COO, Annona- Washington, DC, USA
Zéluis Teixeira worked with UNICEF of Belize for 6 years and held executive leadership roles in multiple Fortune 500 companies before evolving his career to full-time entrepreneur. He is a member of the Open Society Institute’s Leadership Council, and has more than quadrupled the value of others’ investments while successfully founding a consulting company, two established tech companies, and a non profit prior to Annona. Annona is a social enterprise with a mission to improve global supply chains for the benefit of smallholder farmers and producers.
Exhibiting Opportunities at ATIGS
CEO, Africa Investment Group LLC- Florida, USA
Founder, Global Integrated Development Group (GIDG) - California, United States
CEO, Zambian International Trade and Investment Centre (ZITIC)- Zambia
Dr. Sebastian Kopulande is the Chief Executive Officer of the Zambian International Trade & Investment Centre (ZITIC) which works to promote and facilitate trade and investment in Zambia in key economic sectors. He is a Rhodes Scholar and holds a PhD in Management with specialization in Leadership from the University of America in the USA, a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Management Studies from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom and a B.A degree (with Distinction) from the University of Zambia. In 1993 he was elected as a PEW Economic Freedom Fellow at Georgetown University, USA where he studied Transitional Economics.
Sebastian has worked as a Management Consultant for Deloitte and Touche and held senior management positions in various companies in Zambia. He served as Board Chairman on several Government-owned companies and as a keen protagonist of good Corporate Governance, he served on the inaugural Board of the Institute of Directors of Zambia when it was just founded. He has very rich experience in Government, having served as Director of Industry in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Comptroller/Permanent Secretary at State House under late President Frederick Chiluba and later as Special Assistant to the President (Special Duties), the late Dr. Levy P. Mwanawasa, with the responsibility of advising the Zambian Head of State on a variety of national and international issues as well as writing the President’s major speeches. He has a trail of major achievements in public office and is credited with numerous milestone innovations in policy development and infrastructure projects that he helped initiate. He has extensive experience in economic development matters, particularly in the field of industrial and trade policy, economic policy formulation, small enterprise development, investment promotion and creation of business-friendly environment. Sebastian has been actively involved with promoting Zambian entrepreneurship, private sector growth and attracting foreign investment as well as helping foreign companies to establish operations in Zambia.
On 11th August 2016, he was elected as the first Member of Parliament for Chembe Constituency in Luapula Province, northern Zambia. Upon entering Parliament, he was appointed as Zambia’s Representative to the African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly (ACP-EU JPA) where he was also elected as Rapporteur on Aid and Development Effectiveness.
Reporter on Africa, Devex- United States
Managing Director, Feleman Limited- United States
“Akin Sawyerr is the Managing Director of Feleman Limited, an investment and consulting firm focused on catalyzing investments into endeavors in emerging and frontier markets. Mr. Sawyerr particularly focuses on financial technology solutions including: payments systems, remittances, and the deployment of blockchain solutions in businesses with high network effect potential.
He serves as Director of Splash Mobile Money, a mobile payments company in Sierra Leone where he provides strategic guidance on all matters concerning the company. He is also an advisor to several Fintech companies that have aspirations to be Global platforms.
Prior to Feleman, Mr. Sawyerr spent fifteen years in management consulting and Fortune 500 corporations. He led strategic and organization transformation projects at Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture in Washington, D.C., and held leadership positions with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae over the years.
Mr. Sawyerr started his career at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington, D.C., in the Technology and General Services Group where he conducted economic research and data analysis in support of IMF country strategies in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Akin holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics with a minor in Political Science from Union College, New York, and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from The Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
He is a board member of the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network of Washington D.C., an alumni of the World Bank Institute, and the ASPEN Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE). “
Journalist, BBC News- Nigeria
Didi works as a Journalist, reporting for the BBC in Lagos and London. She has presented, produced and edited television, radio and digital content for the BBC News at 10, BBC World News, BBC Focus on Africa, BBC’s Business Daily, BBC’s Newsday, and BBC Radio 4. In 2016, she won the BBC World News Komla Dumor Award. She has been featured in Forbes Africa magazine and included in the Ynaija/Leading Women 2017 list of the 100 most inspiring women in Nigeria.
Founder, Debbie Peters Consulting-Zimbabwe
Board chair of African Union Pan African Diaspora Women Association-USA
Dr. Remi Duyile has Over 35 years of combined experience, and accomplishment as an International executive leader and project manager with a proven record of
innovation, effective communication, and ability to enhance team performance and deliver results.
She managed over 600 financial portfolios for high net worth companies in the financial Institution in tune of millions of dollars. Her 17 years Career span in
Corporate America Banking range from retail, commercial, private and mortgage banking, where she rose from teller to Vice President in the 90s. She is a serial
entrepreneur doing it big globally with her sound experience and exposure. Certified John Maxwell coach , speaker and trainer. A Les Brown Platinum Speaker. Remi is
the President Of Image Consulting Group, Board chair of African Union Pan African Diaspora Women Association USA, Member of the National coalition of the 100 Black
women (NCBW) and Chair NABF Economic & Finance Group to mention a few.
She bagged her undergraduate and MBA from the University of the District of Columbia in 1987 in Washington DC.
Dr. Duyile an eloquent International Keynote speaker is intentionally active in the Diaspora and abroad impacting the next generation and being a business bridge to
Global Investors. She is an astute legislative advocate and trusted community leader. An example of how faith, hard work and perseverance can lead to numerous
exposure and growth. Fondly supported by her loving husband for over 28years and her adorable grown responsible young adults.
Managing Director, First African Investment Holding-Angola
President, Focal Point Global- USA
“Ms. Hassanatu Blake is Co-Founding Director and President of Focal Point Global, a 501(c)3 Edtech youth nonprofit organization empowering disadvantaged youth to tackle community issues through global education and innovative technology. Since the organization’s launch in 2010, Blake has developed and organized two HIV/AIDS Education Initiatives, a Child Trafficking Awareness project, and their flagship project Youth Employment & Entrepreneurship Initiative (YEEI) connecting nearly 300 students from the US, Cameroon, The Gambia, Namibia, and South Africa.
In addition, Hassanatu also is passionate about improving health globally. She has worked with BroadReach Healthcare, US National Institutes of Health (NIH), University of Alabama, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and USAID on a variety of health projects in the US, Africa, and Caribbean. She has also written on a variety of health topics for the African-American online health resource BlackDoctor.org, based in Chicago.
Ms. Blake has been recognized by the US White House Champions of Change Initiative; featured on Black Enterprise; and presented at TEDxEmory, US Capitol, and several top universities such as Harvard University, Tufts University, University of Chicago, and Georgetown University. Blake is also an Advisor for the Global Education Conference and member of the Global Campaign for Education – US coalition.
Hassanatu holds an undergraduate degree from Tufts University, a Master of Public Health degree from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and a Master of Business Administration from Plymouth State University.
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Country Manager, U.S, Djembe Communications-USA
Former journalist having worked on foreign affairs stories with ABC, CBS and PBS FRONTLINE. A Franklin Fellow with the U.S. State Department (2012-2013) advising on communications outreach issues. Since 2015, U.S. Country Manager with Djembe Communications, an African-focused communications consultancy that puts a lens on game-changing innovation, entrepreneurship and social impact issues on the continent and diaspora. Our engagements and collaborations include: Gallery of Code (Abuja-based innovation hub led by Time Magazine’s Next Generation Leader Oscar Ekponimo); UC Berkeley Blum Center for Developing Economies; African Women in Tech (AWIT); Black British Female Artists (BBFA) and publishing house Cassava Republic.
Founder & Principal of America to Africa Consulting, LLC,(A2A)- USA
Ms. Jeannine B. Scott is Founder & Principal of America to Africa Consulting (A2A), LLC. Ms. Scott has enjoyed a long-standing career, bringing over 30 years of experience in the field of international development, spanning the private, non-profit, multi-lateral agency and US government sectors, both domestically and globally. With a particular focus on the African continent, she has traveled to and/or worked in over 40 countries in Africa, and has worked collaboratively with numerous private and public organizations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.
As Principal of A2A Ms. Scott focuses on brokering sound trade and investment linkages between?American and African companies. She provides strategic guidance, policy advice and partnership facilitation. Her work requires consistent levels of engagement, at high executive levels of multi-national corporations, as well as with small & medium businesses from both the U.S. and Africa, across a variety of sectors including energy, agri-business and others. As part of her services, Ms. Scott regularly oversees trade missions, and business-related symposia, provides linkages for capacity building and management training, as needed, and holds policy dialog with high-ranking officials as well as with businessmen from both the US and African countries.
From 2011-2016, Ms. Scott served as President of the U.S.–Angola Chamber of Commerce (USACC), a 25-year old organization which promotes trade and investment between the US and Angola. USACC counts amongst its members Fortune 100 and 500 firms as well as SMEs, representing a complex array of policy, economic and operational challenges. At USACC Ms. Scott provided strategic guidance for companies and investors; carried out trade missions; facilitated a number of business-related symposia across the U.S. and in Angola; and held policy dialogs with high-ranking officials as well as with businessmen from both the U.S. and Angola. She also provided linkages for capacity building and management training programs targeted especially towards SMEs and Local Content companies seeking to reach the next stage in business.
Executive Vice President & CEO, African Trade Center-Nigeria
Prince Oddy Nwaubani is currently the Executive Vice President/CEO, African Trade Center. He serves as the Lead Consultant and Head of Programme of the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC Nigeria) and Technical Consultant to NEPAD Nigeria on Trade and Market Access Development. He has served on various advisory groups and Committees including; Member Think Tank Committee on the repositioning of NEPAD Nigeria Member, NEPAD Nigeria Committee on Trade and Investment Vice Chairman, Trade Fair Organizing Committee,Member, Planning Committee on the National Convention Against Corruption Cluster Member of the Social and Health Committee of the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council(AU-ECOSOCC) Member of the National Executive Committee of AU-ECOSOCC Nigeria.
Over the years, he has worked closely with national, regional, continental and international agencies in a bid to help promote social and economic development in Africa with a view to contributing to shape a better future for Africa and its teaming youth population.As a trade and social development expert, he is involved in many ongoing projects and programmes aimed at promoting intra-African trade cooperation, increasing fdi flow to Africa, advocating for trade balance between Africa and its trading partners, reducing the number of out-of-school population in Africa, improving technology utilization and internet penetration, promote community action towards sustainable development, improving the standard of education and developing strategies for mitigating corruption and financial crimes in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
Co-Founder & Director, Women in Infrastructure Development & Energy (WINDE)-South Africa
Founder, Whats in it for Africa- Belgium
Senior Newscaster, International Pundit & Talk Show Hostess- Nigeria
Founder & CEO of EMZ Advisory-South Africa
Consultant Green Economy, ZHE Africa- Nigeria
Born on the 10th April 1970. Holds BSc and MBA Degrees from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, certificate in French language as well as attain several training programmes in different countries. Abdulkadir speaks regularly on renewable energy and green economy, agribusiness, natural resources and MSME development within Africa and beyond.
Regional Director / Project Cordinator, Entreprisess DU Cameroun/Enterprise Europe Network- Cameroon
40 year old Cameroonian female. Mother of 3.Anglophone but perfectly bilingual. More than 18years of working experience. Worked with Standard Chartered Bank, The Bridge Africa (an American NGO) as Project coordinator for 3 years. Presently holds duals positions of Regional Director of ECAM (Entreprises du Cameroun) and Project Cordinator of Enterprise Europe Network(a European Union Project in Cameroon). Apart from being an Employee, I am equally the CEO of BETRAC Group, a construction company in Cameroon, which employs over 7 permanent staff and more than 50 auxillary staff. Member of over 20 commitees at the level of government, principally at the Prime Ministry, Ministry of SMEs, Ministry of Planning and the Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour amongst others. Expert in SME development.
Cameroon has enormous potential. Unfortunately, there is a huge communication problem which doesn’t permit the information about Cameroon, to be properly sold to the world. Coming from the biggest SME organisation in Cameroon- ECAM, I would like to showcase the business potential, opportunities which the Cameroonian SMEs have, and equally present the channels through which foreign companies could be assisted in their venture to do business in Cameroon
Publisher, ABBI Books and Africa Coordinator, TX Foundation - Nigeria
Adenike Adeyanju-Osadolor
Trained both at the University of Ife, Nigeria and Radcliffe College, Harvard, USA (Publishing Procedures), Adenike Adeyanju-Osadolor’s experience has straddled academia, book publishing and development work over the past four decades. She runs her own publishing outfit, ABBI Books which promotes women’s voice through publications by and on women and women’s issues. She is currently Africa Coordinator, TX Foundation, a philanthropic organization supporting children’s education around the world and before that also Africa regional coordinator, International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW International), an international NGO focussed on women empowerment between 2011 and 2017. She is a staunch supporter of education of the girl-child as a way of giving them agency.
CEO & Co-Founder, International Ventures and Trade- California, USA
Director, Institutional Business Development, Trimble- United States
Managing Director, LoopSight Company Inc- Canada
Aures Tchana is the Managing Director of LoopSight Company Inc, a global Operations Consulting Plateform, which mission is to help organizations succeed in the 21st century by enhancing their agility to rethink, reimagine, and redefine their customer experience.
As a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 16 years’ experience in his journey of Business Performance Improvement. Aures is leveraging agile methodologies like Lean Six Sigma, Lean StartUp, Business Design by Innovation, Systems Dynamics and anticipatory model to built dynamics business Operation infrastructure. As a Continuous Improvement practitioner and system thinker, his focus is to support businesses to reach a sustainable performance by resolving wicked problems consequent of our VUCA world, full of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.
Aures has accompanied many organizations in the design, the implementation and deployment of Continuous Improvement Strategy, Culture, Principles and Techniques, around business and customer requirements within an effective change management framework.
At Symcor Items processing Canada in the Mail and Distribution Services Business Unit, as Senior Value Stream Manager, Aures was able to improve the overall operations processes.
He lead the redesign of streamlined BU processes End to End, with the acceleration of the flow of material throughout the value chain, utilizing the “beat rate” to mitigate volatility in demand., Aures also managed to align the cost targets and cost reduction initiatives to meet stated financial targets. A Cost saving for over $ 300 000 per year was reached, with a significant 40% lead time reduction for the Mail and Distribution stream. Lean and Process control principles were embedded into employees on their day to day working environment through a smart Process Improvement deployment strategy. The customer experience in relation with Symcor-IPC processes needs and expectations was improved significantly. Aures coached 2 Black Belts and 3 Green Belts and business analysts to achieve the required business process sustainability.
At Labatt Breweries of Canada as Logistics Deployment Manager, with profound analytical skill, and relationship management, Aures was able to manage the Supply Chain Operations planning, the packaged goods production, the deployment process to exceed the Key Performance Indicator target, the Customer Fill Rate of 99%, equivalent to millions of dollars in profit.
At Boeing Company, at Altran Group (€2,12 Bn Consulting Firm), at Symcor Inc (Cost management Venture of Financial Institutions RBC, TD, Scotia bank, BMO), at the Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (Major Children hospital in North America), and Government Federal Agencies etc.., Aures’s business excellence contribution has improved operations processes to 70% from the initial state of performance while focussing on the Customer requirements fulfilment, employees experience, leaders’ empowerment and business performance improvement. The financial benefits started from around $300K CAD per year to several millions of CAD per year.
At the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Aures provide business improvement solutions to Small and Medium Businesses (up to 250 employees) by conducting business strategic analysis and End 2 End process performance review and optimization.
He has facilitated numerous Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Green belt and Yellow belt training. He has supported several business Innovation by design sessions to improve departments and Business Units. He has also played a role of strategist and an leadership coach for team leaders and Executives.
Aurès holds a Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management and Purchasing from the Skema Business School and a Master’s degree in Operations Management from the Bourg-en-Bresse School of Business and Industry, as well as a university degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Institute Of Technology (Paris XIII university). He is also a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Co-active Coach and Systems Thinker, with an high interest for the Strategy dynamics, and the Circular Economy.
Managing Director, Tendy Group- Indiana, USA
Berthran is the Managing Director of the Tendy group of companies invested in logistics, distribution and retail. He also serves as the CEO of Tendy LLC, a US based consulting firm offering hands-on market entry and business development services for US based companies in various sectors including Tech, Defense, Energy and Infrastructure.
Prior to joining Tendy, Berthran served in various general management and technical positions. He served in key roles as an Assistant Director at Columbia University in New York and as a Senior Project Manager at The Resource Group (TRG), a Washington DC based strategic equity firm investing and building innovative software and IT-enabled service companies. In his roles he managed several Fortune 500 clients like Honda Canada, Yamaha and BMW; providing market research insights and technology to drive revenue growth at dealerships.
He is a passionate advocate of building strong private and public African institutions to drive the growth story of the continent. He is a member of the African Leadership Network, Africa CEO forum and Continental Business Network of NEPAD. He is also the chair for the International Market Place, Global Village project’s sustainability committee in the state of Indiana, USA.
Berthran’s expertise spans across various sectors, giving him a diverse perspective on growing businesses in difficult markets.
He is focused on developing sustainable models and ushering Africa into economic fruition through business development and global partnerships.
Berthran holds a Masters degree in Applied Information Technology with honors, a post graduate degree in Management Information Systems from Towson University and an Executive Education certificate from the Harvard Business School. He also holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Mathematics.
www.tendyllc.co https://www.linkedin.com/in/berthran-ugeh-8239484/
President, Zambia Renewable Energy Association- Zambia
Events Coordinator, GAA Exhibitions & Conferences- United States
Esq, Avocat à la Cour -Attorney at Law- Congo DRC
CEO, Travel Abroad Solution and Services Ltd-Rwanda
“My names are Mr. Mugme Elia, an economics student at University of Rwanda, Bachelors degree in Business development, Advanced certificates in Entrepreneurship and SMEs development.
I am the CEO of TASS Ltd, a tour and travel company with head office in Kigali -Rwanda, also am Insurance consultant at UAP insurance Rwanda.
I am passionate about entrepreneurship and job creation.”
Founder and Managing Director, Star Construction and Consultancy Ltd- Rwanda
Kazawadi P.D. is a founder and Managing Director of a 22 years old Star Construction and Consultancy Ltd with over 20 years experience in the construction industry of Rwanda. His practices range from leadership, civil engineering, project management, adjudication, mediation and arbitration. He is currently the president and the chairman of the Governing Council of the Institution on Engineers Rwanda and the Chairman of the Manufacturing Sector Skills Council within Rwanda Private Sector Federation and a member of its board. Professionally he is a Fellow Member of the International Academy of Project Management based in Hong Kong and Associate Member of Kigali International Arbitration Center, a Competent Communicator Member of the Toastmasters International based in USA among others.
Partner, Baylis Emerging Markets- Nigeria
“Franklin Olakunle Amoo is a Partner at Baylis Emerging Market, an investment management firm focused on making growth equity investments in middle market
manufacturing and industrial assets on a pan-African basis. Franklin also serves as Chairman and Managing Director of the Whitman Group, a privately held Africa focused investment holding and advisory company with a portfolio of 13 operating companies – 8 of which are in Nigeria.
Prior to co-founding Baylis and Whitman, Franklin led the Strategic Credit Group at Mizuho Securities USA, the securities brokerage arm of the $1.8trillion Mizuho Financial Group, overseeing the firm’s activities with regards to originating,
structuring and trading illiquid and real assets. At Mizuho, Franklin reported to the CEO and helped establish the CLO, High Yield sales and trading, secondary loan
trading, structured finance and asset finance businesses; his mandate included originating, structuring and syndicating private capital raising and overseeing the
secondary loan and trade claims trading businesses. Having spent over 18 years working for a number of Wall Street firms across roles in proprietary credit trading,
principal investments, investment banking, research and institutional sales & trading, Franklin’s expertise has been in structuring and arranging project & asset finance,
infrastructure, energy, export credit backed, asset finance, leasing, securitizations, contract monetization and specialty finance transactions in developed, emerging and
frontier markets. He has developed recognized expertise in macroeconomic and fundamental credit analysis. Franklin began his career as an analyst in the Media &
Telecom Investment Banking Group at Bank of America.
Franklin chairs the Loan Market Association’s Task Force on African Secondary Loan Trading, served on the China Market Committee of the Structured Finance Industry Group, and presently serves on the advisory board of Africa GreenCo. Mr. Amoo is in service to the boards of the Wharton African Students Association Alumni Advisory Board, Collegiate School Alumni Executive Council, the Columbia University Young Lions Alumni Council, Prep for Prep and the Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn, chairs the board of the Fort Greene Family Support Group and formerly served as a director on the Executive Board of the United Nation Foundation’s Young Professionals. Franklin is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, and holds a BA in Economics from Columbia University as well as an MBA from The Wharton School, a Howard E. Mitchell and a Venture Incubation Program Fellow.”
Executive Director, Project Gaia, Inc- Pennsylvania, USA
President and CEO, Onebloom Corporation (Japan), and Strategic International Partner, Central Park Bees Ltd-Tanzania
Hiroyuki Itoh is a Japanese entrepreneur, and Founder, CEO and President of Onebloom Corporation based in Japan (a venture company of international trading house, international business investment & management, and related various business solution and practical business operational services and practices etc…). He is also in position of a Strategic International Partner of Central Park Bees Ltd Tanzania (a company of Bees and Honey related total services provider, and their honey related products and brand producing & sales company), and a Founder and Managing Board in a another private venture company (Trading and Marketing & Sales company) in Uganda.He and Onebloom Corporation is also a Official Country Representative Japan and Organizing Committee Member of Africa Trade and Investment Global Summit (ATIGS) to more promote and facilitate win-win international trade and foreign direct investment in Africa together with genuine global leaders.
After studying Global Politics major at HOSEI University in Tokyo Japan (including programs in Oxford University in UK) and studying Sports Business Management major at University in USA(selected in College Best Student Graduation Award), he started businesses and working career in international trading, marketing and sales, supply chain management etc of Automotive Steel sheet industry and the group companies businesses and operations management(Steel Service Centers of our subsidiaries and affiliates) etc for many years in and to Japan, South East Asian nations(Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam etc…) , and East Asian nations(Taiwan etc…)through one of the leading Japanese and International Trading House Conglomerated Company, and also worked in one of the leading International Business and Management Consulting Firm in Japan.
With its global network(Japan, Africa, Asia, Middle East, USA, Europe, South Latin America, etc) and based on trust from companies in various industries and from consumers in each region and nation, his Onebloom Corporation engages in multifaceted business activities by making the most of its Integrated Corporate Strength.
These business activities include marketing&sales of a variety of products and services within Japan, import and export, trilateral trade, Intermediate trade, and domestic and international business investment and management, products value chain development and the management, related various international business solution and practical business operational services and practices, etc All of his implementing businesses mission would be tried to economically and socially contribute for people’s and nature’s potential further development and prosperity in African nations, Japan, and in other part of developing nations like in Asia, Middle East, South Latin America etc.
Investment Management Officer, Shuraako-Colorado
Hillary N. Kellogg is the Investment Management Officer for Shuraako, a program of the One Earth Future Foundation. She joined Shuraako in 2014, bringing extensive experience in and international political and economic development and finance. In addition to managing the Shuraako portfolio, she is responsible for the conception and drafting of Shuraako’s Environmental and Social Management System. Prior to her role with Shuraako, she served as Senior Project Manager with Environmental Resources Management’s (ERM) social impact and sustainability performance assurance practices, Program Coordinator for African Development Solutions (Adeso, formerly Horn Relief) in Kenya and Somalia, and Business Development Director for a boutique energy commodity broker and asset manager. She has also consulted for the World Bank/IFC and several other international organizations. Ms. Kellogg has a Master of International Affairs (MIA) concentrating on economic and political development and environmental policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).
Managing Partner, AMENA Trade & Investment Consulting GmbH- Germany
Director, Africa Fashion Guide Ltd- England UK
With 16 years experience in the global fashion industry living and working in 4 countries over 4 continents, Professional Fashion Designer Jacqueline Shaw birthed information based platform Africa Fashion Guide as a tool to educate, inform and retune the perceptions of Africa’s fashion and textile industry – a vehicle she sees for trade and development. Now an Author of the coffee table book Fashion Africa, an International Public Speaker, a University Fashion lecturer an African Fashion Business Consultant and researcher, Jacqueline who owns a Masters degree in Ethical Fashion and completing a Masters in Social Research is known for being an expert and most proudly an ambassador in the Ethical African fashion landscape championing for a more responsible way of doing fashion business and doing it well in Africa. She believes Africa is Fashion’s Future and has used her African fashion tee shirt campaign using fairtrade, organic African cotton tees made in Africa by Africans to spread this message on the catwalks of London Fashion Week to Ghana to Los Angeles. Jacqueline is unapologetically a champion for fashion in Africa and her work and reputation represents her enthusiasm and belief in this.
Founder and Executive Director, International Association of African NGOs- USA
Joyce Rogers Halliday is the founder and Executive Director of the International Association of African Non-Governmental. After her fifteen-years career in the Healthcare sector,as a Business Analyst and regulatory subject matter expert, Ms. Halliday decided it was time to follow her passion to serve the marginalized. While working as a Healthcare Business Analyst, she found time to volunteer in several charities and help to organize and structure new non-profit organizations. She serves as an advisor and strategist for several non- profit organizations in Africa, Caribbean and Latin America. She has spear-headed several projects to raise funds for non- profit organizations globally. She is a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the African Women Cancer Awareness Organization for outstanding work in the support of African Women battling breast cancer globally. Ms. Halliday also served as the membership chair for the National Association of Professional Women (Maryland Chapter) and currently serves as a subject matter expert on healthcare regulatory issues for the Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. New York. Ms. Halliday is also the founder of the International Business Strategies, a global business consulting firm that facilitates trade and investments in Africa and beyond.
President, Menes Konsult Limited-USA
“Attorney Menes splits his time between Dallas, Texas (USA) and Africa. With offices in the United States and major African countries, he and his team of well-trained
Legal and Business Specialists analysts provide US-quality representation to foreign companies, investors and project financiers/funders in Africa. Their focus is to
ensure success of foreign companies and investors in Africa by solving the local knowledge problems usually faced by foreigners in Africa. Each year, they work
directly alongside reputable foreign
investors/financiers/funders/construction companies to fund and execute viable private and government projects in Africa. Their
work ensures that foreign individuals and companies can successfully do business in Africa without being victims of fraud and corruption, while at the same time
providing much needed foreign investment and project funds to African countries. They provide project-funding facilitation, escrow and paymaster services, foreign
investor/partner matchmaking, pre-funding due diligence, post-funding project monitoring, and general corporate counsel services. “
I will like to provide real information to foreign companies and investors regarding how to succeed in Africa and also provide to Africans real information regarding
what it takes to attract foreign companies and investors for a successful business relationship for leading to mutual benefits and profits.
Founder and Managing Director, Azurest Partners-USA
Investment Banking background with 13 years at Lehman Brothers and 3 years at JP Morgan Chase. Founded Azurest Partners in 2012 with a focus on bringing US investors and companies to Africa. We have a particular focus on West Africa (including Cameroon).
Founder CEO, African Sports Media Network-Texas, USA
Leslie P Koroma Sr is the Founder/CEO of African Sports Media Network publisher of African Sports Monthly Magazine which is Africa’s first ever and only comprehensive sports magazine that covers all sports disciplines across the continent and beyond.
A naturalized American residing in Texas, USA, he is a father of 4 beautiful and handsome kids and an avid techie and sports guy who once competed for his country of birth, Sierra Leone at various international Track & Field events.Retired from active athletics in 1999 a year short of the Sydney Olympics he now focuses on building capacity for African Sports at the Global Stage in Media, Athlete and Event Management.Leslie has a Bachelor’s Degree and various technical certifications in the Information Technology Field where he has worked for the last 22 years.He is recognized as one of the foremost experts in the African Sports landscape and is highly regarded as insightful and very Thorough in his work.
General Manager, Invest in Africa Now- Belgium
Mr M’Hamed Cherif holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Free University of Brussels (U.L.B.) and Master’s Degree in Econometrics. He started his career working alongside internationally known academicians, using econometric modelling for policy analysis and forecasts. He then joined the World Bank for nine years, before establishing his consultancy company. He is now a highly qualified and internationally recognised expert in the field of economic development, regularly invited to prestigious conferences as
speaker or panellist. Over his 40-year economic development career, he has worked extensively with the European Commission and the ACP Secretariat, mostly as Team Leader, providing advice at all levels of government to develop, implement and monitor policy reforms in a wide range of sectors. From 2006 to 2015 he managed the Ai Award winning BizClim programme which worked to improve the business and investment climate of ACP countries.
Throughout his career, Mr Cherif has built a large network of relevant contacts for the TSF project, including at very high level. This includes privileged relationships in both in public and private sectors, such as within international financial institutions, Regional Economic Communities and private sector organisations. He was the main driver behind the organisation of the EU-Africa Business Forum and other inter-continental forums. He has been involved in a large number of projects and initiatives, often marking significant new beginnings and innovations.
Mr Cherif has accumulated extremely valuable experience in various areas of development assistance related to private sector development and business environment reforms, structural adjustment programmes, development finance, food security, budgetary support and sector reforms (health, education, transport, fisheries, financial sector and agriculture, to name but a few). He has helped prepare more than 50 economic development programmes for the EU, and supported the development of hundreds of financially smaller but important projects aimed at fostering growth and employment.
He has served as strategic director for hundreds of events and conducted training for EC officials on budgetary aid, as well as on economic and financial analysis.
President, Council of Africa- Uganda
“I’m the President of Council of Africa, a pan-African international nonprofit organization working to promote liberty-centered development integration of the African markets and enterprises into a broad, prosperous, and sustainable continental economy.
Prior to becoming President of Council of Africa, I served as Vice President (East Africa) of the Board of the Association of Political Consultants in Africa, a position I serve to-date. I also served as Chief Executive Officer of Summit Foundation, Vice Chairman of Uganda Youth Network, and Eastern Africa Regional Youth Representative of the International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Region, among others.
In a nutshell, I have over ten years of progressive experience in the civil society sector, specifically focusing on democratic governance, youth empowerment and trade development.”
Global Chairman, Tokunbo Orimobi-Nigeria
“Michael is an ingenious and astute commercial lawyer with years of experience in capital markets, M&A and finance. He holds a Bachelors degree in Law (LLB) from the University of Lagos. Furthermore, he has a Masters degree in Commercial Law (with emphasis on Corporate Finance law, International Commercial Tax, International Intellectual Property Law and Corporate Governance) from the University of Cambridge.
He started his career as an investment banker and was involved in structuring several Nigerian and Cross-border commercial transactions, such as Financial Analysis and Valuation of Companies, Mergers & Acquisitions, Listing of Companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Core Investor Sale, Privatization & Commercialization, Balance Sheet Restructuring, Corporate Restructuring, Issuance of Equity, Debt and Hybrid Instruments (Private Placements, Special Placings, Public Offers) and Foreign Direct Investments.
He is currently the Global Chairman of the Tokunbo Orimobi Legal Group – an international legal practice with offices in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, London and New York. Michael doubles as theManaging Partner ofthe Group’s Nigerian Practice – Tokunbo Orimobi LP. Michael, in the course of his legal career has been able to perfectly combine his legal background with his investment banking experience in proffering highest quality legal advisory services to clients.
Michael is ranked as a Leading Lawyer for Capital Markets Deals in Nigeria by the IFLR1000, emerged as Lawyer of The Year, Nigeria & Leading Adviser, Nigeria in the ACQ Global Awards and was awarded Marketing Law with Accolades Award in the 2016 DealMakers Country Awards.Under his tenure as Managing Partner of Tokunbo Orimobi LP, the law firm has won several awards such as Corporate Finance Law Firm of the Year, Nigeria – 2016 Corporate Int’l Magazine Global Awards;Most Innovative Law Firm, Nigeria – 2016 Acquisition International Magazine Awards; Recommended Firm for Financial and Corporate Deals (2016) & Energy and Infrastructure Deals (2015) – IFLR1000; Corporate Finance Law Firm of the Year, Nigeria – 2015 Deal Makers Country Awards; Regulatory Compliance Practice of the Year, Nigeria, Dispute Resolution Law Firm of the Year, Nigeria & Best Commercial Law Firm of the Year, Nigeria – 2015 Acquisition International M&A Awards; Full Service Law Firm of the Year, Nigeria, Project Finance Firm of the Year, Nigeria & Litigation Law Firm of the Year, Nigeria – 2014 ACQ Global Awards etc.
He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association. ” Panelist Track O, Track P, Track S, Investors & Executives Roundtable, Track V.
Co-Founder & Director, Seawater Eco Farms-United Arab Emirates
Programme Officer, Economic Commission for Africa- Ethiopia
Currently I am working as Associate Professional Officer for Climate Adaptation (Agriculture & Trade) for the Economic Commission for Africa. I have MSc in Sustainable Development from Uppsala University in Sweden, Agricultural Economics (MSc.) Haromaya University and BSc. in Natural Resource Economics and Management from Mekelle University in Ethiopia. I have 9 years of working experience in social and business environments both in Ethiopia and Sweden. I am also part of a Young Innovation Hub, an organization that works on youth empowerment and leadership skills that advocate for matters of sustainable development, youth, entrepreneurship, environment and education
Managing Director, Mercton Resources- Ghana
Founding Partner, Ceres Law PC-USA
Rudy’s work has transcended over 20 years of international legal and financial experience, including representing Fortune 500 companies (Boeing, Marriott, etc.), and he is particularly versed in conducting business in Africa and Europe. Currently, Rudy is the Founding Partner of Ceres Law, a minority international corporate law firm based in New York, serving domestic and international clients in a variety of disciplines and industries. Ceres Law develops outstanding and diverse legal teams to deliver effective legal advice and results for our clients in, among others, the U.S. and numerous countries in Africa. From corporate transactional and compliance counseling to fund formation, litigation to international arbitration, we draw on the multifaceted background and expertise of our colleagues to advise and advocate on the issues that matter most to our clients, from a “business first” perspective.”
Founder & CEO of AGRI-INVEST Sarl- Cameroon
Director, African Alliance of Digital Health Networks (AKA African Alliance)-Nigeria
“Olasupo Oyedepo is currently playing a leadership role in the African Alliance of Digital Health Networks, a peer learning network, established (with support from Digital Square at PATH) to provide coordinating support to existing digital health networks across the continent, to help to align and leverage the strengths of and lessons learned from those networks. The African Alliance will help to incubate and grow human capacity in Africa to leverage the power of the digital in health across the continent.
He is the Project Director of the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation’s ICT4HEALTH Project in Nigeria. He is particularly passionate about country leadership and governance of digital health investments and activities in LMICs. “
Group MD CEO, NAE LLC- Florida, USA
Executive Chairman, Mainstrategy- United Kingdom
Consultant /Adviser to Governments, companies & corporations on development of international trade.
Built, grew and sold several companies in UK, South East Asia, Africa largely based on export sales performance. Exporting success is vital.
Executive Chairman of Mainstrategy Ltd London & Europe. Specialist team of global export Directors
Richard Unwin is Special international adviser to United Kingdom, Government owned, The Royal Mint.
Member of Association of Economic Representatives, London (AERL)
Founder Member and Companion of Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management.
Former chargé d’affaires for Government of Solomon Islands in Brussels (Sat for 2 years on ACP committee of Ambassadors.
Passionate about the huge export growth potential across Africa.
Richard completely supports the WTO policy of reduced trade barriers, improved transportation links, information technology and the emergence of global value chains give small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the potential to become successful global traders, according to the WTO’s flagship report recently launched.
Exporting & trade development will increase profits for companies and generate revenues for governments. It is however a specialized skill. Nothing replaces experience.
Founder of the NGO, Hives Save Lives -Africa in 2003. Poverty alleviation solution by training thousands of beekeepers to construct beehives and produce tons of honey and beeswax as a self-help family income source. Benefits also some refugees.
Founder & Managing Director, Walker Consulting Services
Cheif Operations Officer, Mole Projects and Machinery Limited- Ghana
OLE PROJECTS AND MACHINERY LTD – COMPANY PROFILE
Mole Projects and Machinery Limited (MOLE) is a limited liability company registered under the Companies Code of Ghana, 1963. The company was founded in 2013 by Mr. Mesuna Osman and Mr. Sumaila Mesuna, co-owners of Naagamni Oil Limited. Mole engages in the following activities: rental, leasing and sale of vehicles. We work closely with our clients to provide tailor-made services to satisfy their needs. This includes plant and equipment hire as well as sales of excavation and earthmoving equipment.
Our client base includes reputable entities such as the Parliament of Ghana, Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited, NPA, Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) among others. For many businesses, timely, efficient and reliable logistical support is central to the success of their business. We ensure that this is taken care of to enable our clients focus on their core business for efficiency and higher productivity.
MISSION: To serve as a reliable hub for simple and secure logistics/ construction solutions in Ghana and beyond.
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VISION: To become one of the market leaders in the delivery of timely logistics and construction services in Ghana and beyond.
VALUES: Our values are built on excellent and timely service delivery by nurturing trust between us and our clients.
SERVICES
Mole Plants and Machinery provides a broad range of equipment and transportation services.
At Mole, we understand that each client’s need is unique. Our rich experience and expertise in logistics puts us in pole position to provide haulage and transportation services across the country. Aside theses services, we offer customized services to fit the needs of each client to ensure efficient and effective delivery of their core services.
1. Sale, Rental / Leasing of vehicles on short term and long term basis.
2. Plant and Equipment Hire
3. Excavation and Earth works
4. Transportation and Haulage Services
5. Construction
6. General Trading and supplies
7. To advice, train and equip clients with the technical knowhow on equipment.
Through our operating lease, we take off your burden of having to deal with the daily hassles of repair and maintenance costs. Under this system, the following benefits could be gained;
1. Instant reduction of maintenance and repair cost.
2. Efficiency and Effectiveness of transport services
3. Clients would have an Off balance sheet financing method
4. No Insurance and DVLA cost
5. No down payment for the vehicle which certainly enhances clients cash flows
6. All other related issues on the road including regulatory requirements are taken up by us.
7. Clients would drive any car of their choices without worrying about how it was acquired and how it is managed. Clients are only to call on Mole and we will be there to answer.
8. Stand-by Vehicles are available for client’s use during maintenance. This is to ensure no disruptions in service delivery.
9. Clients are not affected by currency fluctuations as our arrangements are done in the local currency and as a hedge against inflation.
10. At a small premium, executive and luxury vehicles can be changed annually to ensure that executives drive current models of vehicles and to reflect their status in the industry.
11. Vehicles could be branded for clients to promote their corporate image.
Through our advisory services, we assist clients to make better choices on the type, make or brand of equipment/vehicle to buy/lease/rent. This is done to ensure clients work within their budgets and to have best of services they require. Fleet management is part of our services and in some peculiar instances we buy off assets from clients. We listen to clients and present to them unique and effective solutions.
Below are the list of our clients;
1. Parliament of Ghana
2. ABI Consultancy
3. Shantui West and Central Africa Ltd
4. Smaes West Africa
5. Stanbic Bank Ltd
6. Skones Security
7. Nerjet Ghana Ltd
8. RIGWorld
9. Africa Centre for Energy Policy
10. Oleum Ghana Limited
11. Homeland Petroleum Limited
12. USAID, Systems for Health
13. Plan Ghana
14. Delmes Company Ltd.
15. Icon Investment Ltd.
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Partner, Strachan Partners- Nigeria
I am a legal practitioner in Nigeria and a partner in the law firm, Strachan Partners. I generally provide legal advisory services to foreign businesses and investors interested in doing business in Nigeria- the legal requirements of doing business and sustainability in diverse sectors of the economy.
CEO, Pfortner- South Africa
Founder and CEO of Pfortner. Aubrey founded Pfortner in 2008. From humble beginnings in his garage, the business has grown and now serves customers in 15 countries. Pfortner secures IoT and Messaging systems using the highest levels of encryption and its patented STEALTH technology. Pfortner’s customers include multinational tier 1 banks such as Barclays and FNB as well as some of the big 4 consulting companies like PwC.
Founder & CEO, Omanbapa Ghana Ltd- Ghana
Bernard Oduro Takyi is Young Commercial Farmer and the Founder/CEO of Omanbapa Ghana Ltd (www.omanbapaghanaltd.com), which is an award winning Agribusiness Company in Ghana with focus on organic & mechanized farming, unique branding, secure packaging and efficient door to door sale of Farm Products (Food Crops, Vegetables, Fruits and Bush Meat).I am also the Founder and CEO of CEEP Ghana Ltd (www.ceepghana.com) with core expertise in Entrepreneurial Education, Mentorship, Professional Learning and General Business Consultancy Services. CEEP Ghana Ltd currently is the representative of TPLC-Mauritius, Fitch Learning-UK, Harel Mallac Technologies-Mauritius and Harel Mallac Global Services Ltd. I am also a Managing Partner of PEB SERVICES LTD which is a leading Private Limited Liability Company in Ghana with expertise in General Merchants, Business Consultancy, Business Facilitations, Project Analysis etc established since 2006.
I am a self-motivated Young Entrepreneur with over 4years practical experience in Agribusiness Entrepreneurship and Grant Management. I am both a National and an International Award Winner in the field of Agribusiness Entrepreneurship. I am a USADF Agribusiness YALI Entrepreneur 2016 Grant Award Winner, Best Sunyani West District Vegetables Farmer from the Ministry of Food & Agriculture (2012 & 2015), Best Sunyani West District Farmer Based Group, Omanbapa Group (2014), Ghana’s Next Young Entrepreneur Award for the Most Innovative Agribusiness Company (2013) and Enablis Entrepreneurial Network Award for Business Launchpad Award for Agribusiness Company (2014). I am also a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow of Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
I am also a Graduate of University of Ghana, Qualified Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, UK and Associate Member of the Association of Certified Chartered Economists, USA and also double as an Entrepreneurship Empowerment Program Trainer for Agripreneurship currently a Facilitator for the National Youth Council of Namibia on Youth Entrepreneurship in Value Addition Agriculture. I am currently the elected Regional Coordinator of Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs-West Africa (CAYE-WA) with the oversight mandate of advancing the promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Cameroon. I also double as the Official Representative of The Mauritius Chemical and Fertilizer Industry (MCFI) Ltd as well as Chemco Limited.
Again as the Regional Coordinator of CAYE-West Africa, I led the CAYE African Delegation to the 3rd Commonwealth-China Global Business Summit that was held in China dated September 24-29, 2017. I am also the Official Representative for the 2018 Africa Trade and Investment Global Summit (ATIGS) to be held in USA in June 2018. My Entrepreneurial Interest lies in the area of Agribusiness, Manufacturing, Technology, Real Estate, Fund Management, Sales & Marketing, Fashion, Equity Financing, Business Fronting and Entrepreneurial Education/Mentorship.
Managing Director, Afrinet Capital- United States
Berthin represents Afrinet Capital, a venture fund focusing on strategic investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. His vision for the impact of technology on emerging markets has led him to focus on connecting entrepreneurs and investors across the globe. His background plays a role in his passion with the East African Region, this allows for an extraordinary understanding of the top startups in Africa and their potential. Through partnerships with local experts, Berthin has created a network of the next generation of entrepreneurs in Africa.
Bertin in NY and Declan in Nairobi, cpied here, who are Co-founders of Afrinet Capital – the NY/Nairobi based Venture Capital firm focused on East Africa opportunity and they are making strides in supporting local startups and connecting them with Investors as well as on the way building a Pan-African Venture Capital fund.
Congolese Professional NBA Basketball Player
Founder, CEO and Chief Content Officer, Pearl Dream- New York
Mr. Brian Asingia is a NY based Ugandan using people, technology and process skills to create social-economic inclusion and build meaningful ecosystems such as DreamAfrica, a global subscription and revenue share based streaming platform for multicultural content backed by a cross-cultural storytellers network and #AskAingia, a global network for early adopters and customer driven innovators. His media, technology and impact story builds on his experience as a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur and an alumnus of ALTIS Milan e4Impact MBA (Tangaza), The New York Stock Exchange, Lafayette College, United World College USA and Ntare School. He is a writer, speaker, analyst, lifelong learner of DevSecOps with a passion for AI, AR and Cryptocurrency on blockchain, the platforms beyond mobile with potential for global identities and transparent value exchange. Asingia is the global citizen @brianasingia, of #AskAsingia by BrianAsingia.com and @wedreamafrica, the DreamAfrica platform wedreamafria.com as seen in The Next Africa by J. Bright and A. Hruby (MacMillan 2015), Harvard, Wharton, and Columbia.
CEO, Size Chunk- South Africa
I am a young entrepreneur from Zimbabwe. YPO member harare chapter, I have been doing business in Zimbabwe for over 15 years and survived the economic meltdown. I have been able to expand my business to South Africa, Dubai and and have a tourism startup in USA. I have been a speaker at an LPG conference in Tanzania and South Africa. Agriculture conference in Dubai and have featured on CNBC Africa Power Lunch, Closing bell and Political Capital.
CEO and COfounder, BMEET- France
“I left My family and my country (Cameroon) in 2012 to finish my Engineering Studies At the ESIGELEC of Rouen in France. During my scholarship at ESIGELEC, my cofounders (Jean Philippe Veigne, Maxime Kuitche) and I made the observation that lot of African Countries weren’t present on the internet because they did not master digital technologies and they lack resources to invest in digital. We decided to create BMEET, a digital platform that brings more visibility to African SMEs more quickly, and without the constraint of being able to master digital technologies. In addition, Bmeet brings them more business opportunities through the internet. Bmeet was officially born in September 2016 after our engineering studies. Our platform has been available since September 2017 on www.bmeet.co and we already have more than 450 companies that are registered.
The African continent is currently undergoing a deep and strong digital transformation that is boosting not only economic habits, but also human values. It will be a great pleasure to share my small experience of digitization in Africa as well as the challenges that we must brave every day.”
Co-Founder & Managing Director, International Funds Investment- Cote D’Ivoire
JUNIOR TOGBA, Titulaire d’un Master en FINANCE Option Marché Financier de l’Institut Universitaire d’Abidjan.il détient plus de 8 ans d’expériences dans les domaines de la Bourse, spécialiste des marchés financiers européens principalement le FOREX, il a exercé en tant que Gérant de portefeuille sur le FOREX, puis Chef Comptable pour sa première expérience en tant qu’entrepreneur, rejoint ensuite en tant que analyste financier pour le programme « Ivoire Business Partner » au sein de Eagles Investment Capital Corporation. En Octobre 2016, avec une nouvelle vision de l’entreprenariat met en place INTERNATIONAL FUNDS INVESTMENT ou il occupe le poste de Directeur Général.
Chief Executive Officer, MBL Enterprises & Trading LLC- Charlotte, NC USA
Born in Guinea and raised in Senegal, I moved to the U.S.A after a baccalaureate in Economics to pursue a degree in Finance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I’m the founder and Chief Executive Officer of MBL Enterprises & Trading LLC, an independent commodity trading company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. We help manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers get the raw materials or products they need for their business at the most competitive price. We are also into the automotive industry with the import/export of Cars, SUVS, Vans, and Trucks.
Co-Founder & CEO, LayerCake-United States
Mannie T’Chawi is the co-founder & CEO of LayerCake; a social enterprise that promotes financial inclusivity and security in Tanzania. Mannie believes Africa’s undertapped markets and industries lack sufficient and/or allocated resources. Working in startups, Fortune companies, and NGOs, has made Mannie a big proponent of Private Public Partnerships modeled around self sustainability. In 2016, he also co-founded The Africa of Things, a network aimed at connecting talented people from across the African entrepreneurial community to find new ways to collaborate and achieve our goals.
Founder/Director, Humanity Helping Sudan Project
Manyang’s earliest memories are of war, dead bodies, and of his own uncle trying to save his life. At age 3 Manyang became a refugee of the Sudanese civil war. He is one of The Lost Boys, a group of 20,000 boys who were displaced and orphaned. Manyang’s father was one of the two and a half million people killed and he was separated from his mother and sister. For 13 years he lived in refugee camps along the Sudanese and Ethiopian border, where homelessness, hunger, fear, and abuse were part of his everyday life. At age 17 Manyang was brought to America where he learned English and eventually enrolled in college. He 734coffee and started Humanity Helping Sudan to improve the lives of Sudanese refugees and attempt to battle the problems of an entire displaced population. Humanity Helping Sudan runs on the ground programs at refugee camps where they provide fishing nets, agricultural programs, and community gardens, reaching 40,000 displaced people.
CEO, Davmontes ltd-Italy
Nkembuh Natalie is publisher Evolve business magazine, Africa news correspondent Italy, and CEO of Davmontes ltd
Chief Executive, The Grind Africa- South Africa
“Entrepreneur and Millennial Reformist, Nolo Mokoena is the Co-Founder of The Grind Africa, an invitation only youth platform in partnership with Standard Bank, which aims to re-write the African youth narrative.
He previously co-founded several innovative start ups, such as Storage Wars Solutions and South Africa’s first online house music publication,
The Set Magazine.
Previously an Associate Manager at Procter & Gamble, Nolo now focuses on advocating for the youth voice, and creating youth led & focused enterprises that truly empower from the “bottom up”.
A former student leader at the University of Pretoria, he served as the
Chairperson of the Young Economists Society and Deputy Chairperson
of the Economic and Management Sciences faculty student council. Remaining true to his passion, he later served on the Student Sport Committee, pioneering a dialogue platform called the Heritage Talk Series in partnership with the Department of Student Affairs.
Nolo’s key interests lie in innovation & strategy, mediation and
dialogue, youth demography and development, and agricultural reform. An alumni of the South Africa-Washington International Program(SAWIP) in 2014, he spent his summer internship at the Michelle Obama endorsed Higher Achievement, an education focused NGO in the Washington D.C metropolitan area- focusing his efforts on the NBL’s Washington Nationals’ Youth Program. He is also a recent fellow of the ISFiT Dialogue Groups in Norway, which was hosted by the Nansen Centre for Peace & Dialogue and Trondheim University.
Aside from his entrepreneurial ventures, Nolo hopes to grow as a social innovator- making a considerable contribution providing alternative solutions in both private and public sectors of society. He is both an opinion writer on News24’s Voices platform and a TED speaker, and is considered a leading voice on African youth, shifting trends and organizational transformation.
Africa is rising; but whom is it rising for? Nolo hopes to answer this daunting yet relevant question through his life’s work- even though he’s still 26!”
Founder, YouNeek Studio- USA
Co-Founder, and Chief Technology Officer Labacorp Infinite Loop
CEO, The Khana Group- New York, USA
Director and Co-Founder, Renewables Africa- United Kingdom
Tony Tiyou is the Director and co-Founder of O’wango & TT Smart (O&TT), an engineering consulting firm that supports businesses in the UK and in African Countries and provides solutions in Renewable Energy and Energy Management. Prior to setting up his business, Tony worked as Development Engineer, Project Manager, Lead Consultant and Business Development Manager in several companies for about a decade in the Automotive and the Renewable Industries.Tony holds a triple Engineering Master’s Degree from Cranfield University (UK), Ecole Centrale de Lille (France) and Faculte Polytechnique de Mons (Belgium). A registered PRINCE2 Practitioner, Tony has also been recognised as an achiever of the Galileo Master Certificate from the European Energy Centre (UK) and holds qualifications as a Renewable Energy expert.
In September 2016, Tony launched Renewables in Africa (www.renewablesinafrica.com), the expert blog about Renewable Energy in Africa. The ambition is to Raise the Technical Awareness about Renewable Energy and Energy Management in the African Continent and disseminate the information. As much as helping businesses primarily, it is also about getting the civil society understanding what they need, what they buy and to some extent as well, how to better use this energy.Tony is also the co-Director of Reach Society, a social enterprise that is aiming to encourage, motivate and inspire young Black people. The society was recently honoured by the Queens’s Award for Volunteer Service (QAVS), which the MBE for volunteer groups.
