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Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba
Dean at School of Law – Kabarak University (Kenya)Prof. PLO Lumumba is an Associate Professor of Public Law, a holder of an LL.D (Doctor of Laws) on the Law of the Sea from the University of Ghent, Belgium, Master of Laws degree and Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi. Prof PLO Lumumba holds an honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) (Honoris Causa) from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. He is also a holder of the Degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) (Honoris Causa) from Bells University of Technology in Nigeria. He has been trained on Humans Rights at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies University of London in England, Humanitarian Law at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of the University of Lund in Sweden and on International Humanitarian Law in Geneva, Switzerland. He is an Advocate of the High Courts of Kenya and Tanganyika and a Certified Mediator. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya FCPS (K), a Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Management (FKIM) and Honorary Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS). He is the Chairman of Farafina Investment Group in Monrovia, Liberia and Economic Strategic Growth and Development Initiative for Africa based in Nigeria.
Solly Moeng
Founder and Convenor of Africa Brand Summit
Professor Thuli Madonsela
South African advocate and Professor of Law, holding a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University (RSA)
Bennie Van Rooy
CEO of GrobankTaking over the reins from Spiro Georgopoulos, who oversaw the transition and repositioning of the South African Bank of Athens into Grobank, Bennie brings extensive experience as a previous Head of Capital and Balance Sheet Management in Group Treasury at Absa Bank, Group Financial Director and CEO of Consumer Finance of the JD Group and more recently, Chief Financial Officer (and Acting CEO) at the State-owned Land Bank, to one of South Africa’s most innovative banks.
“My mandate is to support the implementation and expansion of Grobank’s strategy as the premier banking partner across the food and agriculture value chain in South Africa,” says van Rooy. “At the same time, I am committed to the ongoing growth of our business and alliance banking offerings, which remain core to the future strategy of Grobank”.
Dr Dalien Benecke
President at PRISA
Professor Catherine Schenk
Chair: Department of Waste and Society at University of Western CapeI have published over 70 article in peer reviewed journals in South Africa and internationally.
Several (11) Books and Book chapters have been edited and written.
I have supervised and co- supervised over 50 Master and PhD students as well acted as examiner for PhD and Masters students
Research in Waste .
Since 2009 my colleagues and I started with research on the waste pickers in South Africa which led to researching broader aspects in the Waste sector until I was awarded the DST/NRF/CSIR Research Chair in Waste and Society.
Busi Adebule
CEO of TransAfrica Radio Johannesburg RSA
Mr Akinwumi Adesina
CEO of African Development Bank
Tola Babalola
CEO of Wild Dreams Co, Lagos Nigeria
Yomi Badejo-Okusanya
Group MD at CMC ConnectYomi Badejo-Okusanya is a consummate public relations practitioner and the Group Managing Director of one of Nigeria’s foremost communication consulting groups, CMC Connect (Perception Managers). The Group consists of CMC Connect Burson Cohn & Wolfe (flagship business), Tangelo Africa (Agric Media Communication), I –Octane (Digital Interactive Media) & Reignite Public Affairs (Abuja).
YBO as he is fondly called has three decades of work experience in Integrated Marketing Communications coupled with the edge of pioneering perception management business in the Nigerian communication market. Such experiences cuts across Corporate Communications, Government Relations, Marketing PR, Financial Public Relations and Crisis Management which has seen him consult for many multi nationals and governments such as the 1st female elected President in Africa, H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, the British American Tobacco Nigeria, Renaissance Group, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Peugeot Nigeria Limited, Shell, Virgin Nigeria, Lekki Concession Company, Lagos and Delta State Governments to mention a few. Others are Airtel, Lafarge Africa, Accenture, Lagos Water Regatta, ASO Savings & Loans, Academy Press, FBN Quest, Oracle, LAMATA, Tolaram Group, Kimberley Clarke, CNN and the First City Monument Bank.
Yomi is the current President of the African Public Relations Association (APRA), the umbrella body for the practice of Public Relations in Africa, of which he is also a past Secretary General. He is a Fellow and former member of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), a past Chairman of NIPR, Lagos State Chapter and Board Member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA). He is a Past Social & Publicity Secretary of ICOBA and immediate past Secretary General of the Igbobi College Old Boys Association (ICOBA). YBO is also an Associate Pastor with the Grace Assembly Ministries.
He became a recipient of the prestigious PR Golden Eagle Award as the Most Outstanding Public Relations Person of the Year 2010 and the first recipient of the Bob Ogbuagu Leadership Award in 2017 for positively impacting the Nigerian PR profession and inspiring younger practitioners amongst others.
Yomi who is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School and a renowned facilitator holds a single honours degree in History from the University of Benin. He is a renowned facilitator, which has had him deliver several papers at both local and international training programs, seminars, workshops and conferences.
YBO is married to a legal practitioner Oyinkansola (nee Olumide), and they are blessed with a son, Olaoluwakiitan.
Maxim Behar
President at President: World Communication Forum Association DavosMaxim Behar is a leading Public Relations expert, Founder, Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of Directors of M3 Communications Group, Inc. – a leading company in the field of Public and Media relations in Bulgaria, part of Hill+Knowlton Strategies.
He was also President of ICCO (International Communications Consultancy Organization) – the largest and most influential global organization of Public Relations professionals and practitioners until the end of 2017. In 2016 he was appointed to the Advisory Board of the first Museum of Public Relations – in New York and became the first Bulgarian ever included in the prominent annual Global Power Book of the renowned British weekly PR Week. Same year African Public Relations Association appointed Mr. Behar as Ambassador for Europe and Honorary Fellow of the Association.
Maxim Behar is also Honorary Consul General of Republic of Seychelles to Bulgaria.
Maxim Behar uses his wide experience and strong presence in many countries all over the world in his daily PR and international business activities.
He is currently Chairman of the Board of World Communications Forum in Switzerland, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of For Our Children Foundation, Vice-President of The Atlantic Club in Bulgaria, Member of the executive Committee of James Michel Foundation in Seychelles and many more.
Maxim Behar is a dreamer and a hard worker with a dynamic personality. He was part of many Distinguished Lectures like World Communications Forum, Davos, Switzerland; Northwestern University, Chicago, USA; John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, University of Milan, Yerevan State University, Moscow Economic University, MIRBIS Business School in Moscow; American University in Bulgaria; South-West University “Neofit Rilski”, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria and others.
Mr. Behar is engaged in the social and cultural life of the country. Maxim is also a practitioner and a believer in the idea of a more ethical world. He serves on the Board of several organisations including Junior Achievement Bulgaria (2001 – 2012). Before that he served as Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Association of PR agencies (2009-2011), and is now a Member of the Board.
Maxim’s latest book “Generation F” reached #4 of sales on Amazon and his previous books “111 Rules on Facebook” and “Secondary Instinct” were also considered best sellers in the country.
Maxim graduated in Engineering Economics and earned an Advanced degree in International Economic Relations from the Prague Economics University. After that he has completed other prestigious courses as “Thought Patterns for High Performance”, trained personally by legendary Lou Tice at Pacific Institute in Seattle. He graduated also full practitioners program in Public Relations in many PR companies all over US, organized by US Agency for International Development and “Full Corporate Program of Japanese Style of Management” in Yokohama Kenshu Center. While he was studying he began his career as a journalist in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Poland and this shaped his future career. He remained active in journalism until 1995 ending as Managing Editor of Standard Daily in Sofia.
Dr Nardos Bekele-Thomas
Resident Coordinator at United Nations (RSA)Areas of Expertise:-
Promotion of human development; anchored on the principles of economic, social and political rights for all.
Private Sector Policy Adviser responsible for the promotion of trade and investment in African countries through private/public sector partnerships in the United States.
She served in the technical and advisory capacity in which she helped initiate and conceptualize a pro-poor programme on the Social Dimensions of Development.
Dr Dalien Rene Benecke
President at PRISA
Jon-Hans Coetzer
Chief Academic Officer: EU Business School Group
Silvana Dantu
Co-Chair at Africa Brand Summit Judges Panel
Lorenzo Davids
Chief Executive & Solutions Designer at Community ChestLorenzo Davids is Chief Executive and Solutions Designer at Community Chest South Africa. He has been in Development over 35 years and is a leading voice on development issues for 15 years.
He is a founding board member of The Big Issue and Christel House South Africa, a school offering world-class education to impoverished learners. He served on the Boards of Beth Uriel, Media Village, The City Mission World Association, The Viva Network, Beautiful Gate, Christel House, The Big Issue, The Carpenter’s Shop, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and Community Chest.
He worked with Local and Provincial Government on Development initiatives and his speciality is developing sustainable funding models for the NPO sector.
Davids delivered the keynote address at the 2016 Rutgers University Postgraduate Graduation Ceremony in New Jersey and was a speaker at the launch of the Association for Research on Civil Society in Africa in Nigera. He served on Development Agency Boards in the UK, USA and Australia.
In the past decade Lorenzo played leadership roles across local and global platforms on the challenges of Development and its community impact. In 2015 he was listed by Prof Jonathan Jansen, rector of Free State University, as one of 15 most influential voices in Development Discourse in South Africa.
Dr Rob Davidson
MD at MICE Knowledge (UK)Rob Davidson is the Managing Director of MICE Knowledge, a consultancy specialising in research, education and training services for the meetings and events industry.
His main areas of expertise are conferences and incentive travel, and he has written seven books on these themes, including his latest publication, Business Events (https://www.routledge.com/Business-Events/Davidson/p/book/9781138735767).
He has carried out research projects for a number of major organisations including the Poland Convention Bureau, the Ireland National Tourism Development Authority, and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence.
He is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on themes linked to business events, in particular to present the results of his ongoing research into conference industry trends. Rob also teaches as a Visiting Professor in four European universities, where he educates and inspires Events Management and Tourism Management students every year.
In 2015, he was awarded a Doctorate from the University of Greenwich for his thesis, entitled ‘Technological and Demographic Factors as Agents of Change in the Development of Business Events’.
In 2016, he won the Best Conference Speaker award at the Global Event Awards.
In 2017, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the IBTM WORLD exhibition in Barcelona.
Glenton De Kock
CEO of SAACI (RSA)“Promoting positive community and economic growth in our neighbourhood” is an objective that drives Glenton daily.
Glenton had refined his public and private sector strategic management skills during his tenure as Managing Director of Tourism Buffalo City (covering East London, King Williams Town and Bhisho), and the Chief Executive Officer of the Eastern Cape Tourism Board, which is now The Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA)
As an Associate Director at KPMG he led the Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Unit for Africa and South Africa before moving onto Grant Thornton in a similar position. During his tenure as Project Manager at the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, Glenton ensured that Business embraces its Civil Society role by driving a holistic approach which enables business within Nelson Mandela Bay to work towards long-term sustainability, through projects such as the Nooitgedaght Low Level Water Scheme and the re-activation for the much needed Addo Road refurbishment.
Glenton’s business management experience cuts across various sectors, such as Tourism Hospitality, Petro-chemical, Mining and all spheres of government to name a few.
As active citizen, Glenton acts as an independent advisor to the Nelson Mandela Bay Consultative Christian Churches, The Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition, and the Northern Areas Education Forum and Mentors a numbers of local businesses within the ICT and Services Sector
Glenton was recently appointed as Chief Executive Officer for Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism.
In his spare time he is the President of the Nelson Mandela University Football Club and is a budding golfer.
Clare Dewhirst
Founder & Director of City Nation PlaceClare Dewhirst is the founding director of City Nation Place, which is a global forum for cities, nations and places to collaborate and share best practice on place branding and marketing strategies in order to generate sustainable tourism and economic development, build cohesive communities, and encourage global cooperation. At citynationplace.com you will find articles, case studies and research focusing on the practical challenges and trends in place branding. This November, the City Nation Place Around the World Congress will bring together the leaders of place brand and marketing teams from around the world to focus on how place brand and marketing strategies can rebuild more resilient place economies. Clare’s background in international events included stints as the global conference producer for the International Herald Tribune [now the international New York Times], the Festival of Media, and Marketing Week.
Ebrahim Fakir
Director of Programs at the Auwal Socio Economic Research Institute (ASRI)
Tatyana Fleganova
Head at Ural Congress Bureau
Ashraf Garda
Founder of Champion South Africa
Professor Jonathan Jansen
Professor of Education at the University of Stellenbosch and President of the Academy of Science of South Africa (RSA)- How Education can enable the realisation of an Integrated African Economic Development, enabling more Africans to lead a sustainable livelihood?
- The Role of Education in Africa's Development
Jonathan Jansen is Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Stellenbosch. He is President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and in 2020 will be a Knight-Hennessey Fellow at Stanford University. He started his career as a Biology teacher in the Cape and holds a PhD from Stanford as well as honorary doctorates from Edinburgh, Vermont, Cleveland State and the University of Cape Town. He is the author of the award-winning book, Knowledge in the Blood (Stanford University Press) and his 2019 books include Inequality in South African schools (with Nic Spaull, Springer Publishers) and Decolonization in universities (Wits U Press), His 2020 books include Race, Science and Society (SUN MEDIA) and Who gets in and why: the politics of admission in South Africa’s elite schools (with Samantha Kriger, UCT Press). He was recently elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Education.
Mandisa Kalako-Williams
Community Development ConsultantMandisa Kalako-Williams has experience in Corporate Social Investment oversight, disaster management, fundraising organisational governance, gender and diversity management in the corporate, government and non-governmental sector. She has a para-medical background, having trained as a nurse, qualified as a Diagnostic Radiographer (1975) and a Blood Transfusion Technician (1978). She also holds a National Diploma in Public Relations (Damelin, 1980) and is a certified Trainer in Advanced Customer Relationship Management (1998).
Internationally, she has served on numerous committees and working groups to develop the Strategy for Violence Prevention in the International Federation of the Red Cross and has participated in UN and WHO sessions and discussions on the subject.
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Arkadiy Kiselev
Head at Head; Ural Congress Bureau (Russia)
Dr Owens Laws Kaluwa
World Health Organisation Pretoria RSA
Regine Le Roux
Founder & Director of Reputation Matters
Songezo Mabece
Legal Council at Competition Commission
Popo Maja
Communications & Stakeholder Management at SA National Department of Health
Octavi de la Varga Mas
Secretary General at Metropolis
Maurice Mate
Station Manager at Channel AfricaMAURICE MATE, CHANNEL AFRICA ACTING STATION MANAGER
Holder of Media Technology Practitioner certificate from Elizabethtown College (USA) and Polytechnic of Namibia. Completed his Management Advanced Programme at WITS Business School in 1996.
Maurice has 32 years’ experience in Radio broadcasting. His journey in broadcasting saw his stint in the newsroom, radio magazine programming and media technology. Apart from heading the Channel Africa business as acting station manager, Maurice is responsible for all technical transmission production and website at Channel Africa.
One of his star projects is that of a programme titled ‘SADC Calling’. The programme informed the SADC citizens of the regional projects and programmes that affect their lives. It was funded through the SADC Secretariat’s Information 21 Project. Maurice was the contact person of the project at Channel Africa and expertly saw the inception and distribution of the programme in the SADC region.
Maurice has travelled extensively in the SADC region and visited East and West Africa with an interest in understanding how radio is valued as a household necessity.
Maurice’s dream is to see Channel Africa lead in the architect of the prosperous Africa through the easy access of information thereby create dialogue among citizens of Africa. He believes this can be done by offering them a radio platform for engagement. This is a dream he wishes cannot be deferred.
Tshepo Matseba
Chairman at Africa Brand Summit Judges Panel
Busisiwe Mavuso
CEO of Business Leadership South Africa (RSA)I am a Chartered Certified Accountant (CCA), qualified with Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA –UK) and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership, a Postgraduate Qualification in Management from GIBS and a B. Compt in Accounting from the University of South Africa (UNISA).
I’m currently an Executive Director and the Chief Executive Officer at Business Leadership South Africa; an independent association of the leaders of some of South Africa’s biggest and most well-known organisation’s, a forum for engaging key players, including civil society and labour, to exchange ideas in the national interest, and to create effective dialogue with government and other stakeholders.
I also serve as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of ESKOM; Business Unity South Africa (BUSA); Resultant Finance (a PIC investee company) and serves on the Advisory Committee on Finance & Procurement at the University of Fort Hare.
I previously served as a Managing Director of the Black Management Forum (BMF), during which I was responsible for driving the overall strategy of the organisation, including its representation at various public forums, at the request of the BMF President or Deputy President. Before assuming this role, I served as the Chief Financial Officer and Operations Director of the BMF, having joined in May 2009. In 1995, I started my career in Finance and over the last 24 years, has had experience in a range of industries, ranging from training, consulting, telecoms and the healthcare sectors.
David Maynier
Provincial Minister at Economic OpportunitiesDavid Maynier has served for the past ten years as a Member if the National Assembly in Parliament.
During that time he has was a member or an alternate member of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, Joint Standing Committee in Defence, Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Standing
Committee on Appropriations and Standing Committee on Finance.
David Maynier has a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Honours) from the University of Cape Town and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.
He will be working round the clock over the next five years to: grow the economy and create jobs; maintain stable public finances; promote clean government in the Western Cape.
Sithole Mbanga
CEO of SA Cities NetworkSithole has been with the South African Cities Network (SACN) since 2002. He is arguably one of the most knowledgeable people in the country about the journey that our current system of local government has travelled, and particularly the evolution of our municipalities. He has been a consistent advocate and informant of the urban development agenda for over a decade and has helped steadily grow the influence and contributions of the SACN to improving urban governance practice and analysis. Sithole was previously the Local Government Coordinator at the National Business Initiative (NBI), was involved with conducting capacity building training in Municipal Service
Partnership (MSP), and participated in the development of the then National Department of Local Government’s (DPLG) national policy on Integrated Development Planning (IDP). Sithole’s contributions are well recognized in political and technical circles in South Africa.
Reputed for a “no holds barred”, creative and dynamic approach to tackling issues, he has been continually sought after to advise municipal and party leadership, contribute to various Boards e.g. Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) and South African National Parks (SANPARKS), and speak at various engagements. He has contributed to strategic processes in various sectors (cooperative governance, human settlements, The Presidency), and is a clear thought leader in the urban sector. He was also part of the South African Local Government Transformation Programme (LGTP) that pioneered the new system of local government in democratic South Africa and is the nominated Deputy Secretary General of the Pan African body of local governments, the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Africa.
Wamkele Mene
Secretary-General at Africa Continental Free Trade Area
Mikhael Missakabo
Policy Researcher; George Brown College
Bongiwe Mlangeni
Executive Director of Social Justice Institute of SABongiwe Mlangeni is executive director of the Social Justice Initiative (SJI), a non-profit that mobilises resources for human rights and social justice programmes in South Africa. Previously, Bongiwe served as the communications director for the Graça Machel Trust and was the deputy director of Corruption Watch. She began her career in journalism in 1994.
She has worked for leading print and broadcast media houses, mainly covering socio-economic and women’s rights issues in Southern Africa. In 2004, she transitioned from journalism into the field of communications and has consulted for various international organisations.
She holds a Masters of Management degree from the Wits School of Governance and has completed postgraduate studies at the Wits Business School and the London School of Economics. She is a fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Hanan Morsy
Director: African Economic Outlook of African Development Bank
Mr Cuthbert Ncube
Executive Chairman at African Tourism Board
Sisa Ntshona
CEO of SA Tourism (RSA)Sisa Ntshona has been at the helm of South African Tourism from October 2016. Since joining the organisation, he has been instrumental in driving the organisation’s overarching 5-in-5 strategy which aims to have 14 million tourists visiting South Africa annually by 2021.
Sisa has also recently overseen South African Tourism’s organisational restructure in line with global best practice.
With over 20 years’ experience he has held several strategic leadership positions across different jurisdictions in Africa & Middle East in blue chip corporations and multinationals. Having initially joined Barclays Africa as an Investment Banker, he later moved to become the Head of its SME Banking Division, a role he held until joining SA Tourism.
Sisa also has worked in the aviation industry for South African Airways, Financial Services Money Transfer, Western Union and Manufacturing, Parmalat Food Industries.
An accountant by training, he holds a string of commerce qualifications including a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from GIBS and an International Executive Programme (IEP) from INSEAD Business School in France. He has also served on a number of boards including as non-Exec Board Member for the Enterprise Development Council of South Africa and Livity Africa, a youth development NPO.
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Gugu Ntuli
Group Executive at Corporate Affairs and Marketing
Mbali Nwoko
CEO of Green TerraceMbali Nwoko is an award winning commercial farmer, entrepreneur, speaker and columnist. She is the CEO of Green Terrace which is an
agribusiness based in Boksburg, Johannesburg that farms high value crops namely; baby marrows, green peppers and green beans and supplies to leading retailers, food processing companies and the fresh produce markets across South Africa.
In 2018,Mbali was included by Mail & Guardian as Top 100 Women Changing Africa.
Mbali has been featured on a number of radio interviews and publications such as: True Love Magazine, Drum Magazine, Farmers Weekly and NuFarmer Africa.
Mbali has been a two time finalist for the 702 Small Business Awards with Sage One in 2014 and 2017.
Mbali has been a self funded entrepreneur for the last 6 years.
Crispian Olver
Author / ResearcherCrispian is a public policy expert and social activist with a particular interest in local government and urban governance. He was a senior manager within the post-apartheid government, initially in charge of planning for the RDP programme (1994 – 1996), after which he was responsible for managing the local government system in South Africa. In this role he crafted the key local government legislation that regulates the system to this day. His stint in government culminated as Director General of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (1999 – 2005).
He has subsequently worked on local and international projects, including work on distressed municipalities in South Africa. This has taken him up close to the mechanics by which municipalities get governed and the way that good governance can be eroded, which has given him ample material for writing up his experiences.
His first book titled ‘How to Steal a City’ (2017) documented patronage based systems in Nelson Mandela Bay and how the metro was captured by factional interests. His next book, ‘A House Divided’, to be released in October 2019, documents the nature of the relationship between the City of Cape Town and landed property interests, and how this fuelled the factional split in the DA.
Crispian is a medical doctor by training and holds BSc (Med) (1983), Psychology Honours (1984) and MBChB (1988) degrees from UCT. He is currently registered for a PhD at WITS in the Politics Department, and is a research fellow at the Public Affairs Research Institute.
Rev. Mautji Pataki
Dr. Taleb Rifai
Patron at African Tourism Board
Claudia Shimulani
CEO of Centre for Communication ImpactMs Shilumani is a South African Public Health Expert with 22 years of working experience in South Africa, countries in Southern and Western African regions as well as internationally (based in Switzerland working in the East Asia & Pacific region). Her previous roles and functions ranged from being a Technical Expert on HIV prevention and Health Systems Strengthening to Manager of large and complex programmes and recently performing senior leadership roles. Ms Shilumani has worked for the Governments of South Africa and Sierra Leone; local, regional and international NGOs; the United Nations (ILO, UNODC and UNFPA); Catholic Relief Services; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. She spent over 5 years in Sierra Leone leading health communication programmes prior to the Ebola outbreak, stayed on as Advisor to the Minister of Health in Sierra Leone to help the Government fight (and defeat) Ebola and contributed to the health systems reconstruction agenda post-Ebola. In Sierra Leone, Ms Shilumani was appointed as the Chair of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism’s Oversight Committee tasked with a role of ensuring Global Fund investments in Sierra Leone achieve the desired impact. In December 2019, Ms Shilumani was appointed as a member of the Global Fund’s Technical Review Panel on Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health. In this capacity, she is part of technical experts that review proposals to the Global Fund on Health Systems Strengthening. Ms Shilumani took over as the CEO for CCI in January 2019 and is taking the organization through a growth trajectory that is centred around diversification of programmes and sustainability of CCI investments in South Africa. She has been supporting the National Department of Health with Risk Communication and Community Engagement since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed back in March 2020.
Mills Soko
International Business & Strategy at WITS Business School
Sampo Suihko
General Director of OmniaSampo is currently the General Director for Omnia, the Joint Authority of Education in the Espoo Region, Espoo (Finland)
Duties include Strategy development and overseeing the implementation of Action Plans. Management, leadership, planning, organization and supervision of activities of Omnia, a Mandated Body and public sector organization that operates within the greater Helsinki area with a target group of over 1,5 million people. The services offered range from regional development and projects to education and training and directly reach over 40 000 learners in the public and private sectors. Omnia implements the EFQM framework and has annual internal audits on all key processes. The number of staff is 1000 persons
Omnia is a UNEVOC nominated Center of Excellence (CoE) in VET.
He is also the Chairman of the Board of Omnia Education Partnerships Ltd (OEP) (international commercial arm of four Finnish organizations exceling in education, training, development cooperation and humanitarian assistance).
General Manager of Omnia Education Co.
Project Leader in EU Twinning Project Enhancing quality and effectiveness of VET system in the Republic of Moldova (March 2019-February 2021).
Rashid Toefy
Deputy Director General of Western Cape Government
Terry Tselane
Executive Chairperson at Institute of Election Management Services in Africa
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa
CEO of Tourism Business Council of South AfricaTshifhiwa Tshivhengwa is a tourism executive with over 17 years’ experience in International Marketing, Business Development, International Trade Relations, among others in Tourism. Tshifhiwa brings the strategic focus and versatile business judgment gained during his work in Los Angeles, New York, and South Africa. Tshifhiwa is also best described as a social entrepreneur who founded ZOTE Investments and Projects where he partnered with various organisations in USA, New Zealand, UK, to bring over 400 international volunteers to contribute in youth development in Limpopo Province.
He has worked for companies like South African Tourism, Myriad Marketing, Protours, SARS, and HRG Rennies Travel.
He is the current CEO of Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa and he also sit on the Tourism Business Council of South Africa Board, Tourism BBBEE Charter Council, former Member of Awards Committe of South African Tourism.
Tshifhiwa holds a BBA Marketing Communications, Diploma in Marketing from (Institute of Marketing Management) and National Diploma in Tourism Management (University of Johannesburg). He is currently studying towards MSc Strategic Planning at Edinburgh Business School.
Shado Twala
Program Director of Africa Brand Summit
Saurabh Uboweja
Managing Partner at BOD Consulting
Bennie Van Rooy
CEO of Grobank (RSA)Taking over the reins from Spiro Georgopoulos, who oversaw the transition and repositioning of the South African Bank of Athens into Grobank, Bennie brings extensive experience as a previous Head of Capital and Balance Sheet Management in Group Treasury at Absa Bank, Group Financial Director and CEO of Consumer Finance of the JD Group and more recently, Chief Financial Officer (and Acting CEO) at the State-owned Land Bank, to one of South Africa’s most innovative banks.
“My mandate is to support the implementation and expansion of Grobank’s strategy as the premier banking partner across the food and agriculture value chain in South Africa,” says van Rooy. “At the same time, I am committed to the ongoing growth of our business and alliance banking offerings, which remain core to the future strategy of Grobank”.
“It is an exciting time in financial services as well as in the agricultural sectors in our country, and Grobank is set to take advantage of available technology, such as fintech, digital, and agtech among others to support and provide solutions to our current and future clients, while maintaining our close personal relationships with farmers and agri-businesses.”
Chris Venter, CEO of AFGRI Group Holdings (AGH), a shareholder of Grobank, indicated that, “As shareholders of Grobank that is part of the greater AGH group, we are pleased that Bennie has chosen to be part of the Grobank journey and our mandate to support food and agri-businesses. Bennie is fully committed to our passion of enabling food and job security across the continent. We are privileged to have Bennie on board as his financial acumen, business sense, values and dedication towards each position he has held previously have been of the highest order.”
Grobank is uniquely positioned to provide solutions, expertise and banking services as a result of the insights gained through our existing clients, alliance and industry relationships. “Combining the existing banking expertise in our business, with the thorough agricultural and food value chain knowledge of our strategic shareholders, creates a unique opportunity to deliver new and innovative solutions to agriculture and other sectors. I am delighted to join the Grobank family and look forward to exploring new opportunities that will make a meaningful difference to our existing and new clients,” van Rooy adds.
Neeraj Vij
Regional Sector Manager Industry, Agriculture, and Human Development at African Development Bank (RSA)Neeraj Vij joined AfDB in late 2009 and is currently engaged as Regional Sector Manager – Industry, Agriculture & Human Development managing the Southern Africa operations. In this capacity, he coordinates Bank’s investments for both public and private sectors. Earlier, Neeraj worked as Chief Investment Officer in the Industry & Trade Department and was the coordinator for business development for private sector operations for Southern African countries.
Neeraj is a mechanical engineer by background in addition to qualifications in business management. He is also a certified Financial Risk Manager. He has been a career banker with 20 years of experience across different streams of wholesale finance markets. He has worked across emerging markets in Asia and Africa.
