Amath Pathé Sene

Managing Director Africa’s Food Systems Forum (AGRF) & Regional Director for West Africa ( a.i) at AGRA

Mr. Amath Pathé SENE is a seasoned senior executive and manager with a track record of more than 19 years in
the field of international development with a specialization on climate policies, investment and delivery. He has
previously held high leadership positions at United Nations (UNDP, UNEP, IFAD), Multilateral Organization (EU),
International Financial Institutions, the Private Sector, Governments and Non-governmental Organizations. He
currently serves as Managing Director at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) and is Regional Director for
West Africa at AGRA.

Aristide De Balla Moro Sidibé

CEO at Mali Airlines SA and Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Mali

Economist and executive leader dedicated to advancing Mali’s economic transformation and global connectivity. After serving as Special Advisor to the President of the Transition, Head of State of the Republic of Mali, he currently serves as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Mali Airlines SA, the newly established national airline. With professional experience in both Africa and the United States, he also manages programs in educational data, technology, and compliance at Aldine ISD (Houston, TX), and co-founded Innovative CEREBRUM LLC (Dover, DE), where he serves as Vice President for Business Development. Mr. Sidibé has served as a Renewable Energy Consultant for Project Gaia Inc. (Gettysburg, PA), and is a certified Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Trainer. He is also a Board Member of Nyetaaso N’Tjiba Kati Faladie, a microfinance institution promoting financial inclusion in Mali.

Carlos Lopes

Honorary Professor at Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, Faculty of Commerce, University of Cape Town

Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris, and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, he was twice Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Martin School. He has held leadership positions in the United Nations system, including Policy Director to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and 8th Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa. He served on the African Union Reform Team and as High Representative for Partnerships with Europe. He has participated in global commissions on the economy, climate and energy transformation. An award-winning author, he has published more than 20 books and several articles in major media outlets.

Carlos Sérgio Sobral Duarte

Secretary for Africa and the Middle East of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil

Carlos Sérgio Sobral Duarte is a Brazilian diplomat who is currently the Secretary for Africa and the Middle East at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil. He has a long career in the diplomatic service and has served as the Ambassador of Brazil in India, Chile, and headed the Permanent Mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. He also was Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations in New York. He has also been actively involved in various issues related to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Celso Amorim

Chief Advisor of the Presidency of Brazil

Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim is a Brazilian diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 20 July 1993 to 31 December 1994 under President Itamar Franco and again from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Before his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs by Lula, Amorim served as Brazil’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. On 5 January 2023, Amorim was appointed as Chief Advisor of the Presidency of Brazil by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Daniel Balaban

Director of the World Food Programme Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil (WFP)

Mr. Daniel Balaban is Economist, MBA in Finance, Specialist in Public Budget and Master in
International Relations. Since August 2011 he is the Director of the World Food Program
Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil. Balaban acted for over ten years in the areas
of finance and planning in business consulting firms and foundations of welfare facilities. In
1994, he became Finance Analyst of the Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, having served as
Economic Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury and National Coordinator for Economic
Studies of the Secretariat of National Treasury. In 2003, he served as Special Adviser to the
Secretary of the Economic and Social Development of the Brazil’s Presidency of the
Republic. From March 2006 to August 2011 he was the President of the Brazilian National
Education Development Fund (FNDE), responsible, among other actions, for the National
School Feeding Program, that feeds more than 47 million students around the Country, and
acted in the creation of the Brazilian School Feeding Law. He chairs the school feeding
network for Latin America. He is a Board Member of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation.
He is also member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils.

Enio Verri

Brazilian General Director of Itaipu Binacional

Enio Verri is a Brazilian politician, economist, and professor. He is the current director-general of Itaipu, the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. He was also a federal deputy for three terms and a state deputy for one term. He was elected state deputy in 2010 and federal deputy in 2014, 2018, and 2022. He was the leader of the PT in the Chamber of Deputies from 2020 to 2021. He resigned from the Chamber of Deputies in March 2023 to become the Director-General of Itaipu, appointed by President Lula.

Evandro Leitão

Mayor of Fortaleza

Evandro Sá Barreto Leitão is the Mayor of Fortaleza (2025–2028). With degrees in Economics and Law, he served as Deputy State Auditor, State Secretary of Labor and Social Development, State Deputy for three terms, and President of Ceará’s Legislative Assembly (2021–2024). As mayor, he prioritizes social inclusion, sustainability, health, mobility, and climate leadership, placing Fortaleza on the national and international stage.

Jacqueline Wendpap

Executive-Director at the Instituto Praticagem do Brasil

With a distinguished career spanning more than four decades in the maritime transport and
port infrastructure sectors, with a background in Law, Jacqueline Wendpap has served in
leadership roles with port authorities and at the National Waterway Transportation Agency of
Brazil (ANTAQ). She took part of Ceportos, a commission of legal experts established by the
Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, which drafted the proposal that gave rise to Bill No.
733/2025, aimed at modernizing Brazil’s port regulatory framework. She currently serves as
the Executive Director of the of the Instituto Praticagem do Brasil and is Chair of the Board of
Directors of Portos RS – the Port Authority of State of Rio Grande do Sul.

João Bosco Monte

President of the Brazil Africa Institute

João Bosco Monte is founder and president of the Brazil Africa Institute and Secretary for International and Institutional Relations of Fortaleza. PhD in Education (UFC) with postdoctoral studies at UnB, he researches African integration and South-South Cooperation. International consultant, author and professor, he created the Brazil Africa Forum. Twice awarded the Order of Rio Branco, he contributes to global debates on development and food security.

José Graziano da Silva

Former-Director General of FAO

José Graziano da Silva has over 30 years of academic, professional, and political experience in food security and rural development. He served as Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from 2012 to 2019, after having conceived and led Brazil’s Zero Hunger program, initially as coordinator in 2001 and later as Extraordinary Minister of Food Security and Fight against Hunger in President Lula’s government starting in 2003. This effort culminated in 2014, when Brazil was removed from FAO’s Hunger Map, being recognized as the first developing country to achieve this milestone.

Leila Zorzetto

Executive-Director of DISAM Group

Leila Zorzetto is Managing Partner of Grupo Disam, with 28 years of dedication to the agribusiness sector. With a degree in Foreign Trade, she leads the management of CHD’S do Brasil, CHD’S do Brasil/China, Macrobio, and Disam, overseeing operations and developing growth strategies.

Luiz Fará Monteiro

Journalist for the Record TV Network; presenter and author of the "Blog Aviação" on the R7 news portal.

Luiz Fara Monteiro is a journalist at Rede Record nerwork. Previously worked as a political correspondent in Brasília, covering the three branches of the Republic. He also served as a correspondent in South Africa. He writes the Aviation column for the R7 Portal and is the anchor of the newscast Fala Brasil.

Luiz Lessa

President of Banco da Amazônia

Graduated in Accounting, with a specialization in Finance for Business Development and an MBA in Finance. In his 39-year career, he has held strategic positions in large companies in Brazil and abroad. An employee of Banco do Brasil, in Brasilia he was an Executive in the Distribution Area; in the Knowledge and Client Management Area; in the Bank Mergers and Acquisitions Area; Manager of the Corporate Strategic Board; Director of Business Development; and Vice-President of Retail and Channels in Miami (USA). He was Investment Manager at PREVI, in Rio de Janeiro, and most recently at BRASILSEG (BB SEGURO) in São Paulo. He has also served as a board member of the companies Rio Grande Energia, CELPE, COELBA and NEOENERGIA. He was a director of the Brazil-United States Chamber of Commerce (Florida) and the Brazil-Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mara Luquet

Journalist, Founder and CEO of MyNews channel

A journalist specializing in finance and economics, Mara Luquet is the founder and CEO of the first YouTube journalism channel, the MyNews channel, considered by Google to be a global reference for journalism on YouTube.

She is the editor-in-chief of Legado magazine. With 4,000 subscribers, the magazine’s mission is to offer quality and relevant content on the perpetuation of family, environmental, cultural, and financial heritage.

Mara Luquet was a reporter for Gazeta Mercantil and Exame magazine, an editor at Veja magazine and the Folha de São Paulo newspaper, where she created the “FolhaInveste” section and the “FolhaInveste em Ação” simulation, in partnership with Bovespa. She also created the “Eu & Investimentos” section for the Valor Econômico newspaper and ValorInveste Magazine, which she edited until 2005.

She worked as a personal finance columnist for TV Globo, GloboNews, and CBN radio before deciding to found the MyNews channel on YouTube. She is the author of several books on personal finance, such as “O meu guia de finanças pessoais” (My Guide to Personal Finance) and “Infidelidades financeiras” (Financial Infidelities).

Marcos Brandalise

Group CEO at BrazAfric Group of Companies

MARCOS R.G. BRANDALISE is a Brazilian entrepreneur residing in Africa for the past 37 years and is the founder of the BrazAfric Group of Companies (BGC) and LEAF Africa. The group has close to three decades of uninterrupted performance in the provision of Pre- & Post-Harvest Equipment solutions including value addition, in East and Central Africa, with offices in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, partnerships in Tanzania, DR Congo, and Burundi. Over the years, MRGB has developed several projects to improve food production in Africa. As a result, LEAF Africa was established to carry out such projects as the “Integrated African Model Farm (IAMF)”. The IAMF project aims at the production of food on a large scale, largely based on the success of Brazilian agribusiness and utilizing the most recent developments in tropical agriculture, particularly with an emphasis on the environment, progressive replacement of chemicals, and full mechanization. His career demonstrates a commitment to innovation, technology transfer, and fostering agribusiness success in Africa.

Maria Elisa Curcio

Director of Corporate, Regulatory and Sustainability Affairs at LATAM Airways Brazil

Maria Elisa Curcio is the Director of Corporate, Regulatory and Sustainability Affairs at LATAM Airways Brazil. She worked in companies such as Whirlpool, Avon, International Paper, and Ypê, where she was the Executive Director of institutional relations, legal, and DPO. She joined LATAM in February 2021 as the Director of corporate, regulatory and sustainability affairs, where she leads the strategy and agenda of the company on these issues. She is also the President of the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) and the Vice-President of the Brazil-China Business Council.

Miguel Azevedo

Head of Investment Banking, Middle East and Africa at Citigroup

Miguel Azevedo is currently the Head of Investment Banking at Citi for the Middle East and Africa (excluding South Africa), where he is responsible for leading and executing transactions in various sectors, such as energy, infrastructure, telecom, consumer, and financial services.

Nana Baffour

CEO and Chairman of Qintess

Nana Baffour is Chairman, CEO, and Chief Cultural Officer of Qintess – one of Brazil’s top 10 technology companies. He is Co-founder and Chairman of NVH Studios, which owns the shoe brands Zeferino, Twins for Peace, and Enda; and founder of Roost, focused on Edge Computing and Smart Cities. He also launched Sazience Technology Holdings, a Pan-African and Middle Eastern tech platform. Born in Ghana, he moved to the United States at age 20, earning a degree in Economics from Lawrence University, a Master’s in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) and a Founding Board Member of the School of Data Science at UNC-Charlotte.

Paulo Gomes

Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Africa-South East Asia Chamber of Commerce

Paulo Gomes is CEO and founder of Orango Group Investment Corporation, a strategic investment company that focuses on sustainable development projects in Africa. He is also a global business leader, an active environmentalist, and a key political actor in Guinea Bissau. He has over 30 years of experience in sovereign and corporate advisory, working on issues related to international trade, natural resources, and development.

Philippe Rubini

Chief Investment Officer of Fictor Group

Philippe Rubini is a French entrepreneur and engineer who founded Grupo Fictor, a company that develops and implements innovative solutions for urban mobility, energy, and environment. He created Grupo Fictor in 2010, with the vision of transforming cities into more efficient, inclusive, and resilient places. He has established partnerships with public and private entities, such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the City of Fortaleza.

Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy

UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation

Her Excellency Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy has served as the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation since 2016 and has overseen the Political Affairs Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum since 2008. She led the UAE’s successful bid to host Expo 2020 Dubai, later serving as its Director General, and is now CEO of the Expo City Dubai Authority. H.E. Al Hashimy chairs the UAE National Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Dubai Cares, and the Board of Trustees of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. She previously chaired the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority and earlier served at the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C. as Commercial Attaché and Deputy Chief of Mission. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, a Master’s from Harvard University, and a Doctorate from Tsinghua University.

Roberto Rodrigues

Former Minister of Agriculture of Brazil and Coordinator of the Center for Agribusiness Studies at FGV EESP

Roberto Rodrigues is a Brazilian agronomist, economist, professor, and politician. He is a founding member and former president of the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (ABAG). He has also served as Secretary of Agriculture of the State of São Paulo (1993/1994) and was Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply of Brazil (2003-2006).

Rodrigo Regis Galvão

Business Director at CEPEL Eletrobras

Rodrigo Regis Galvão is a specialist in energy transition, innovation, and strategic planning with over 15 years of experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors. An electrical engineer with a Master’s in Systems Engineering, a Ph.D. in Economics, and a specialization in Business Innovation. He has held leadership roles at Alvarez & Marsal as Director of Energy and Innovation, at the Itaipu Technology Park, as Business Director at CIBiogás, and previously as Vice President of Engineering in an energy storage solution at Eletrobras. Currently serves as Business Director and Head of Laboratories at CEPEL Eletrobras. His career includes leading projects in national and state levels for energy, biogas, and hydrogen plans, developing hydrogen investment strategies for major companies, and advising renewable energy funds with ESG-focused solutions. He has represented Brazil in international organizations such as the International Energy Agency and Mercosur, securing international cooperation and funding. Recognized for integrating technology, markets, and public policy, he has driven projects that combine economic value, sustainability, and innovation.

Téte António

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Angola

H.E. Ambassador Teté António is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola and holds a Master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of Kiev. He has held various diplomatic positions, including Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, member of Angola’s delegation to the UN Security Council, Advisor to the President of the 59th UN General Assembly, and African Union Representative to the United Nations. He also served as Political Observer for the African Union in the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and as a diplomat at Angola’s Embassy in Addis Ababa, liaising with the African Union. António has participated in election observation and post-conflict assessment missions, and represented the African Union in initiatives with the African diaspora in the Caribbean and Latin America.