Albert M. Muchanga, born on May 21, 1959, a Zambian national was elected as the new commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission. Mr. Muchanga was the Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office in charge of Parliamentary Affairs in Zambia. H.E. Muchanga was also a former Ambassador to Ethiopia with extra accreditation to the African Union. He has both at home and abroad dealt with issues broadly related to international economic policy analysis and implementation as well as regional integration, foreign policy analysis and implementation.

Expert in international trade issues with 20 years of experience, Arancha González serves as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint development agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, since September 2013. Before joining ITC, Ms. González served as Chief of Staff to World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy from 2005 to 2013. During her tenure at the WTO, she played an active role in launching the Aid for Trade initiative and served as Mr. Lamy’s representative (Sherpa) at the G-20. Prior to working at the WTO, Ms. González held several positions at the European Commission. Between 2002 and 2004, she was the European Commission spokeswoman for trade and adviser to the European Union Trade Commissioner. Ms. González holds a degree in law from the University of Navarra and a postgraduate degree in European Law from the University of Carlos III, Madrid. She co-chairs the World Economic Forum (WEF) Agenda Council on the Future of Trade and Investment.

Prof. Oramah has been President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank since September 2015. Prior to this, he was Executive Vice President responsible for Business Development & Corporate Banking (October 2008 – September 2015). He also supervised the Research and Strategy functions of the Bank. He holds an Advanced Management Certificate from Columbia University, M.Sc. and Ph.D. Degrees in Agricultural Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, and a B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan. Prof. Oramah currently serves on the Practitioner Advisory Board of the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI) of Offenburg University, Gengenbach, Germany. He is also a Member of the Emerging Markets Advisory Council of the Institute of International Finance; an Executive Committee Member of the Factors Chain International (FCI); a member of the Consultative Board on the World Cocoa Economy of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO); and a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of African Trade (JAT). Professor Oramah has won several awards, including the Afreximbank Outstanding Staff Award (2010); the 2017 Banker of the Year Award of the African Banker and the Africa House Leadership Award of the New York University (2018).

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.

Dr. Frannie Léautier is an African finance and development expert, with long-standing global experience leading and transforming organizations in the private, public and non-for-profit spheres. Prior to joining TDB, she served as Senior Vice President at the African Development Bank, Vice President at the World Bank Group, and Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation. In additional to have founded two companies, Dr. Léautier is a Board Member, Trustee, Special Advisor, Founder and Member of a number of prestigious international organizations, including the World Economic Forum (WEF), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), OCP Group, African Risk Capacity (ARC), African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Institute for Security Studies (IIS), King Boudouin Foundation USA (KBFUS), Nelson Mandela Institute for Science and Technology (NM-AIST), and others. Likewise, she is a well-recognized author and academic, having published numerous books, articles, and papers in international development and having taught Master-level courses at Sciences Po, MIT, Harvard, Duke, and the University of Tokyo. In additional to her Civil Engineering Degree from Dar es Salaam University and a Transportation Masters from MIT, Dr. Léautier holds a Ph.D. in Infrastructure Systems from MIT and honorary degrees from North Central College and Lancaster University.

Born August 15, 1953, in Porto Alegre, son of General ANTÔNIO HAMILTON MOURÃO and Ms. WANDA CORONEL MARTINS MOURÃO. VP Mourão joined the Brazilian Army in February 26th, 1972, at the “Agulhas Negras” military Academy, in the city of Resende, and graduated on December 12th, 1975. He graduated in the following specialization courses: Advanced Military Studies at the Staff and Command Army School; Army Strategy, Politics and Advanced Administration; Master Parachuter; and Jungle Warfare. During his military career, General Mourão was Instructor at the “Agulhas Negras” military Academy, participated in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Angola (UNAVEM III), commanded the 27th Field Artillery Battalion in Ijuí and acted as Military Attaché at the Brazilian Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela (2002-4). As an Army General, he commanded the 2nd Jungle Infantry Brigade in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, and the 6th Army Division in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. General Mourão also headed the Southern Military Command and was the Army Secretary of Economic and Financial Affairs. Finally, he presided the Military Association in the city of Rio de Janeiro. General Hamilton Mourão was elected Vice-President of Brazil in October 2018 and took office on January 1st, 2019.

H.E. Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki of the Republic of Niger is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Agency. He was appointed to the position in January 2009. A former Prime Minister of Niger, from 1997 to 2000, Dr. Mayaki has a Master' degree from the National School of Public Administration (Enap), Quebec, Canada and a PhD in Administrative Sciences from the University of Paris I, France. He worked as a Professor of Public Administration in Niger and Venezuela. From 1996 to 1997 he was appointed Minister in charge of African Integration and Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Niger. In August 2000, he set up the Analysis Centre for Public Policy in Senegal. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Mayaki was a guest Professor at the University of Paris XI, where he lectured on international relations. He also led research at the Research Centre on Europe and the Contemporary World within that university. In 2004, he served as Executive Director of the Platform in support of Rural Development in West and Central Africa, the Rural Hub, based in Dakar, Senegal.

Founder and current President of Brazil Africa Institute, he holds a PhD in Education from the Federal University of Ceará and Postdoctoral studies from the University of Brasilia (UNB), with the object of research on the integration of the African continent. He is a visiting professor of important Brazilian and African Universities and he is a Senior International Associate of African, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center - CALACs of Jindal Global University (India). Prof. João Bosco is author of books and publications related to the relations between the various international actors, focusing on the South South Cooperation. He act as an international consultant of Brazilian and foreign organizations and as a columnist and commentator of important media in Brazil.

Since October 2015, Mr. Jorge Chediek has been the Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, leading United Nations system-wide promotion and coordination of South-South cooperation for development. In March 2016, Mr. Chediek was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as his Envoy on South-South Cooperation. Prior to this, Mr. Chediek served as the UN Resident Coordinator/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Brazil (2010-2015). Preceding his United Nations career, which began in 1990, Mr. Chediek worked at the Department of Legislative Analysis of the Argentinean Congress and as an independent consultant assisting in the design of financial investment systems in Argentina. Born in 1960, he holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service (honors) from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Science (“Licenciado”) in Political Science from Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

José Graziano da Silva has worked on food security, rural development, and agriculture issues for over 30 years, most notably as the architect of Brazil’s Zero Hunger (Fome Zero) programme and now as the Director-General of FAO. Graziano da Silva led the team that designed the Zero Hunger programme, and, in 2003, was charged by then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to implement the programme as Special Minister of Food Security and the Fight against Hunger. He headed the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2006 to 2011. Elected Director-General of FAO, he took up office on 1 January 2012. After his first term from 1 January 2012 to 31 July 2015, Graziano da Silva was re-elected for a second 4 year-term (1 August 2015 to 31 July 2019) with the votes of 177 countries during FAO's 39th Conference. At the helm of FAO, Graziano da Silva has sharpened the Organization’s strategic focus; and is strengthening its field presence. He is also working to instill a best value-for-money culture. At the international level, he is working to build consensus on food security-related issues. He has also encouraged closer cooperation with development partners, supports South-South cooperation, and has increased collaboration with civil society and private sector entities, including farmer organizations and cooperatives for smallholder producers. Graziano da Silva holds a Bachelor's Degree in Agronomy and a Master's Degree in Rural Economics and Sociology from the University of São Paulo (USP), and a Ph.D. in Economic Sciences from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). He also has post-Doctorate Degrees in Latin American Studies (University College of London) and Environmental Studies (University of California, Santa Cruz). A Brazilian and Italian by nationality, he is married to Paola Ligasacchi and has two children and four grandchildren.

Livio was born in Rome, on Oct 13th 1960. He has a law degree from Universita’ di Roma La Sapienza, and worked as a journalist for almost ten years, covering in the Middle East and Iraq, then shifted to international and domestic political and economic affairs. Livio joined the private sector in 1998 in Philip Morris, then he moved to Lottomatica, the market leader in payment services, with the position of Vice President for Marketing and Communication. He returned to Philip Morris Italy as General Director in 2005, accountable for Sales Distribution. From 2007 until 2009, Livio was General Manager for Philip Morris in the Slovak Republic. From February 2009 up until March 2014, Livio has headed Corporate Affairs for Philip Morris for the European Union Region. And from 2014 to 2017 he lead the Corporate Affairs department as Vice President Corporate Affairs for Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Duty Free, where he was also accountable for the business in Israel. Since March this year, he has been appointed Vice President for Global Partnerships and Cooperation, fully focusing on the transformation of the business with the new purpose of designing a smoke free future, replacing cigarettes with reduced risk products.

“Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is Vice President of the Republic of Ghana and head of Ghana’s Economic Management Team. He is an economist and banker by training. He served as Deputy Governor of the central Bank of Ghana between 2006 and 2009. Between 2009 and 2010 he was a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of African Economies, Oxford University. He also served as Resident representative for the African Development Bank in Zimbabwe in 2011-2012. He was a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia (Canada), and a Senior Associate Member of St. Antonys College, University of Oxford. Between 2013 and 2015 Dr. Bawumia was visiting professor of Economic Governance at Central University, Ghana. Dr. Bawumia also served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA (1996- 2000). Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia holds a BSc. Economics (First Class Honours) degree from the University of Buckingham, UK, a Masters degree in Development Economics from Oxford University (Lincoln College) and a PhD in Economics from Simon Fraser University (Canada). He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (U.K) (ACIB) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (FCIB), Ghana. Dr, Bawumia has published several articles in refereed journals and has also published two books on Monetary Policy and Economic Development.”

With 25 years of international investment banking, having focused on African markets for the past 8 years, Natália Dias is CEO of Standard Bank Brazil since 2018 and Head of Power & Infra-structure for LATAM since 2012. Prior to Standard Bank, she has occupied different senior positions in leading global financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America Merril Lynch and ING Bank. Has an extensive track record in local and international Debt Capital Markets & Syndications, having coordinated for 5 years the Real Estate Mortgages Securities Committee at the Brazilian National Association of Investment Banks. Natalia holds an Honors Degree in Public Administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas and specialization in Finance by the Amsterdam Institute of Finance.

Omar is the Group Publisher and Managing Director of one of Africa’s leading media and communications groups, IC Publications. IC Publications is committed to serving the interests of Africa, and that is the ethos that drives all of the group's activities. The group publishes amongst other New African and African Business magazines. It also organizes a number of Africa focused events. Omar's work and personal interests include media, development economics, leadership, and education. He sits on the board of the Africa Media Initiative and Brand Africa. Omar studied Economics and Modern Languages at Durham University and has qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant.

Paulo Gomes is a global business leader, active environmentalist and a key political actor in Guinea Bissau. He has founded Paulo Gomes and Partners, a strategic advisory and investment firm focused on a high level limited set and sectors of clients with advice and tailored made solutions, a natural outcome of years advising governments and businesses on strategic investments as well as years on serving on boards ofvfirms such as AFIG, Asky Airlines and Ecobank. Founder of the South East Asia-Africa Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Advisory Board his business reach touched all continents and interests, Paulo is also a senior advisor to PIL Group.

Graduated in Law from the University of São Paulo; President of the Brazilian Association of Producers Exporting Fruit and Vegetables (Abrafrutas); Founding partner and Director of Agrícola Famosa; President of the Sectoral Chamber of the Productive Chain of Fruit Growing of the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Supply of Brazil and President of COEX - Executive Committee for Monitoring Fruit Fly.

Simeon Ehui was appointed Director of the World Bank’s Food and Agriculture Global Practice in September 2017. He oversees the strategic direction and high-quality delivery of the Agriculture Global Practice work program with a focus on Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Since joining the World Bank in 2003, Dr. Ehui has held several assignments. He was manager of the Food and Agriculture Global Practice for Africa (2015-2017) and South Asia (2009-2015) while based in Pakistan. He also served as Lead Economist and Sector Leader for the Sustainable Development Network in Nigeria covering a variety of issues such as agriculture, social, environment, transport and energy. Before joining the World Bank, Dr. Ehui worked for 15 years in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). He managed multi-country agricultural research development programs in Africa and Asia for both the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Dr. Ehui holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and has published extensively in his field. He is an honorary fellow of the African Agricultural Economist Association, and a Distinguished Agricultural Alumnus of Purdue University.

Stephen Yeboah is the co-founder of Commodity Monitor, a tech-based business that uses data analytics to generate an exchange of information on sustainable production, supply and consumption of commodities in Africa, including mining, oil, and gas. Stephen has twice in a row been selected as LinkedIn Top Voice on ‘Economy and Finance’ and Philanthropy and Global Development for 2017 and 2018 respectively. He has more than eight years of experience in research and policy analysis in Africa’s extractive sector, agriculture, energy, climate and was a Research Fellow at the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a non-profit chaired by the late former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, from September 2013 to July 2016. He has published more than 100 articles and holds a Master in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Geneva, Switzerland. He is currently undertaking a doctoral study at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP), University of Lausanne, Switzerland, researching on the politics, institutions of mining and the outcomes on Ghana’s development.

Born in Cairo on 01.12.1972, he is graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the Federal University of Cairo and then specialized in Foreign Trade at the University of Marseille in France. He has lived in Brazil for 15 years. He was an executive at Lorea'l in France, Al Islami in the United Arab Emirates, and in Brazil, he held executive positions at Fambras Halal and JBS. He currently holds the position of Secretary General at the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce where he has been working since 2011.

Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo is the Executive Director of FARA. A Nigerian national, has spent the past 35 years of his career in Africa and Europe working in International Agriculture, food security and Rural Development domains. Prior to his appointment as Executive Director of FARA, he was the Head of Division of the Agriculture and Food Security at the African Union Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Before then, he served as the Director of the AU Inter-African Phytosanitary Council based in Yaoundé, Cameroon, as well as the Chief Animal Resource Officer at the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Akinbamijo is a member of the ICRISAT Smart Food Governing Council, the BecA-ILRI Advisory Board, co-leader of the Platform for African-European partnership for Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD) and Chairperson of the African Agri-Ndaba Council. He sits on many other governing bodies of research institutions and programmes. He has published several scientific papers and articles in various disciplines and subject matter. He holds a PhD in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences with specialization on Tropical Animal production from Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands.