SPEAKERS

Since 2014 he has been working in Nigeria as CEO of the construction and infrastructure company AG Dangote, a partnership between the largest private African group Dangote and the Brazilian company Andrade Gutierrez.
Previously he was CEO and President of some major companies in Portugal, Algeria and Libya. Born in Mozambique with Portuguese nationality, he graduated in Civil Engineering from Instituto Superior de Engenharia in Lisbon.

Benedict Okey Oramah assumed the position of Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on 21 September 2015. He joined Afreximbank as Chief Analyst in 1994 and was promoted to the position of Senior Director, Planning and Business Development in 2007. Prior to joining Afreximbank, he was an Assistant Research Manager at the Nigerian Export Import Bank from 1992. Dr. Oramah holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics, obtained in 1987 and 1991 respectively, from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He received a B.Sc. degree, also in agricultural economics, from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1983. He has published a book, "Foundations of Structured Trade Finance", and has written more than 35 articles on a wide range of African economic, trade and trade finance issues. He is a regular speaker in trade and trade finance around the world. Dr. Oramah serves as Chairperson of the Africa Chapter of the International Factors Group (IFG) and is on the Board of the IFG and the Boards of Trade and Forfaiting Review and the Journal of African Trade. He is also a member of the Consultative Board on World Cocoa Economy of the International Cocoa Organization.

Celso Amorim has served as Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Relations under President Itamar Franco (1993-1994), and again under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), and as Minister of Defence under President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2014). He was the longest serving Brazilian Foreign Minister. Currently, Amorim is the Chair of Unitaid and a member of the UNSG’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines. He was in charge of drafting the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (2000-2003) and was a member of the UNSG’s High-Level Panel on the Global Response to Health Crises (2015). His contributions to Brazil’s foreign policy and the international community, especially in the area of access to medicines and health, are embodied in the multiple international bodies he helped to create, including Unitaid.

Born on July 1, 1957 in Benin City, Nigeria. Mr. Obaseki attended the University of Ibadan where he obtained a BA in Classics. He also attended the Columbia University and Pace University in New York and has an MBA in Finance and International Business. He was nominated a Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) by the World Economic Forum in 2001. Godwin Obaseki began his career over 30 years ago and has established track records in Investment Banking, Asset Management, Securities Trading and the Public Sector both internationally and in Nigeria. Mr.Godwin Obaseki served as the Chairman of the Edo State Government’s Economic and Strategy Team (EST) from March 17, 2009 till September 2016 pro bono publico. He was the founding secretary of a New York based US Africa Chamber of Commerce in 1992, which promoted US organisations doing business in Africa. He was a Director in Junior Achievement of Nigeria – the local affiliate of the worldwide Not for Profit organisation which trains students to appreciate market economy values. He also participates actively and serves as Trustee, in the Dr. Jackson Owen Obaseki Foundation, a family owned NGO which is involved in providing free educational and health services to the less privileged.

João Almino is a Brazilian writer and diplomat, author of seven novels. It also has writings of history and political philosophy, are for scholars of authoritarianism and a democracy. He has a doctorate in Paris, guided by the philosopher Claude Lefort. Minister of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), UNB, Rio Branco Institute, University of Berkeley, Stanford University and University of Chicago. Part of his work is translated into English, French, Spanish and Italian, among other languages. On March 8, 2017 he was elected to a chair at the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

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 2008, Jonathan has been Managing Director, Headmaster, and Founder of Abaarso School. From 2004 – 2008, Jonathan founded and led Flagg Street Capital, a private investment firm that managed $170 million of assets. Prior to Flagg Street, he worked as an Analyst at SAB Capital and at Blavin and Company. Jonathan’s career started as a Research Associate within the Taxable Bond Division at Fidelity Investments. In addition to his full-time responsibilities, Jonathan sat on the Board of Directors of Pomeroy IT Solutions, a publicly traded IT company generating $500 million of annual sales. Jonathan’s board responsibilities included acting as a member of the Audit Committee, the Advisory Committee, and the Special Committee (strategic alternatives) of Pomeroy. Jonathan graduated from Emory University, with a B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Economics and was a member of Phi Beta Kap.

Currently Senior Minister of National Security Advisor in Timor-Leste since 2017, the Timorese José Ramos-Horta was spokesman for the Timorese resistance during the Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999. For his work in promoting human rights, Ramos-Horta received in 1993 his first international award, Professor Thorof RAFTO Human Rights Award. In December 1996 was laureated with the Nobel Peace Prize along with his compatriot Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Timor-Leste, since independence in 2002, and became president of Timor-Leste during 2007 to 2012. Throughout his life, he has launched programs of defense in human rights in several countries, such as Australia, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Nepal and Qatar.

Joe Osae-Addo was born in Ghana, West Africa, and trained at the Architectural Association in London. He worked in Finland, the UK and the USA, setting up his practice in Los Angeles in 1991. He is a founding partner in the A + D Museum, Los Angeles, whose mission is to advance knowledge and to enable people to appreciate and understand architecture and design. Joe ran his studio in Los Angeles until he moved back to his native country Ghana. He is currently the CEO of Constructs R&D, an design firm based in Accra and Chairman of ArchiAfrika Foundation.

Born in February 1961 in São Tomé and Príncipe, she is married with three children and has solid experience in defining and managing macroeconomic and financial policies. She has twice been appointed Governor of the Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe and has extensive professional experience dealing with bilateral and multilateral partners, acquired as director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. She was Prime Minister and Head of Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, also accumulating the functions of Minister of Planning and Finance. Defender of the rights of women and children, women's empowerment and gender equity, was elected President of Fórum Mulher São-Tomense, an NGO federation for these issues.

Dr. Waleed Abdulmohsen Al-Wohaib is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. Previously he occupied a number of positions in the Kuwaiti public sector, including Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Affairs from 1993 to 1994. Before that he was Vice Assistant for Administrational Development Affairs in the Civil Service Department and also worked as Assistant Director for Research and Developmental Affairs in Kuwait Municipality. In 1994 Dr. Al-Wohaib represented his country, Kuwait, at the World Trade Organization membership signing ceremony in Marrakesh. While in the Kuwaiti Civil Service Department, Al-Wohaib made an outstanding contribution to the establishment of the Human Resources Development Center. Other achievements in the social, academic and political areas include preparation of the Independent Municipalities Law and the organizational structure development project. He has taught the subject of Public Policies at the University of Kuwait and has conducted many training courses and workshops in both Kuwait and the USA about educational issues such as success skills, self development, performance measurement, strategic planning and other related subjects. Al-Wohaib obtained his Doctorate and Master’s degrees, specializing in Public Administration, from the University of California in 1985 and 1989, and his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kuwait.

Yemi Akinbamijo is executive director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and an agricultural research for development expert. A Nigerian national, he has spent the past three decades of his career in Africa and Europe working in the domains of international agriculture, food and nutrition security, natural resource management, including crop-livestock integrated systems, market-oriented production systems, regional value chains, urban agriculture, land use management, sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. Akinbamijo is a strong analytical and strategic thinker. He is an active contributor to the global discourse on strategies for attaining a sustainable and inclusive agricultural transformation. He is also a consummate networker who is solidly plugged into an extensive community of stakeholders in the African agricultural and rural development landscape, including donors. Akinbamijo is widely published and is a former editor of the Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa (peer-review journal) and lead author of the book "Advances in Crop-livestock integration in West African Cities".