Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has now been President of Uganda for 26 years. He has stood for democratic elections four times and won and he is still going strong.

Museveni was born in Ntungamo in south-western Uganda in 1944 to Amos Kaguta, a cattle keeper. His mother was According to his own testimony in his book “sowing the Mustard Seed”; he was given the name Museveni in honor of the ‘Seventh Regiment of the King's African Rifles, the British colonial army in which many Ugandans served during World War II. At the time of his birth, many of them were returning home.

He attended Kyamate Primary School in Ntungamo, Mbarara High School, and Ntare School. It was while at high school that he became a born-again Christian and a student leader.

Hide Bio

Patrick Amama Mbabazi is a senior Ugandan lawyer and politician. He is the current Prime Minister of Uganda, a position he has held since 24 May 2011. He was born on 16 January 1949 in Mparo village, Rukiga County, in present-day Kabale District.

Mbabazi holds a law degree, Bachelors Law (LLB), from Makerere University, obtained in 1975. He also holds the postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice obtained from the Law Development Center in Kampala. He is an Advocate of the Courts of Judicature of Uganda and a member of the Uganda Law Society since 1977.

Prior to joining politics, he worked as State Attorney in the Attorney General's Chambers, rising to the position of Secretary of the Uganda Law Council. Between 1986 and 1991 he served as Director General of the External Security Organization (ESO), being the first person to serve in that position.

In 1994, he served as a delegate to the Constituent Assembly that drew up the 1995 Ugandan Constitution. He became the Chairman of the National Resistance Movement Delegates Caucus.

He has also served as Minister of State in the President's office, in-charge of Political Affairs. Between 1986 and 1992 he was Minister of State for Defence. Subsequently, he served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation.

In 2004, he was appointed as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. He held that portfolio until he was appointed Minister of Defence in 2006, a position he held until he was appointed Security Minister. He served as Security Minister from February 2009 until May 2011, when he was appointed Prime Minister.

He is the tenth Prime Minister in Uganda's history.

Hide Bio

Maria Kiwanuka attended Gayaza High School, a prestigious all-girls boarding high school, located about 26 kilometres (16 mi), by road, northeast of Kampala, graduating in 1973. In 1974 she entered Makerere University, Uganda's oldest institution of higher education. She graduated in 1977 with the degree of Bachelor of Commerce (BCom). She later pursued further education at the London Business School in the United Kingdom, graduating with the degree of Master of Business Administration.

Before becoming Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Maria had more than ten years with the World Bank, as an Economist and Financial Analyst for the East Asian and Southern African regions. Specifically she covered projects in Burma, Malawi, Swaziland and Uganda.

After she left the World Bank, she returned to her native Uganda and went into private business. Together with members of her family, she founded businesses in the areas of broadcasting, publishing, real estate and economic consulting. She has served as a financial adviser to the Nabagereka of Buganda since the early 2000s.

Hide Bio

Hon. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda is the current Minister of Information & Communications Technology (ICT). His immediate previous position was that of Uganda's Permanent Representative at the United Nations (January 2009 - May 2011) and is a member of the National Resistance Movement Party. He takes over from Former Minister, Hon. Aggrey Awori as the third Minister of ICT.

Hon. Dr. Rugunda led the Government of Uganda (GoU) delegation to the Juba-based Peace Talks between GoU and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from July 2006 to January 2009.

He attended Kigezi High School and Busoga College
Mwiri, before joining Makerere University and later the University of Zambia where he graduated as a Medical Doctor (1975). He holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, USA (1978) also
studied Paediatrics at the University of Nairobi (1984).

He was keenly involved in student activities and held responsibilities as President of African Students Union, University of California, Berkeley (1977-78), President of National Union of Students of Uganda (1970-1971) while at Makerere University and President, Kigezi United Youth Association (KUYA). Hon. Dr. Rugunda is married to Jocelyn Rugunda with four children.

Hon. Dr. Rugunda has served the Government of Uganda in various capacities as indicated below;
•    Minister of Internal Affairs
•    Minister of Health
•    Minister of Foreign Affairs
•    Minister of Information
•    Minister of Works, Transport & Communication
•    Minister of Water, Lands & the Environment
•    Commissioner for Animal Industry, Game
      and Fisheries
•    Chairman of NRM Electoral Commission
•    Member of Parliament for Kabale Municipality and
•    President of the Governing Council of the United
     Nations Environment Program
•    Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Hide Bio

Mr Sindiso Ndema Ngwenya is the third Secretary-General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) since it was transformed from the PTA in 1994. He brings with him over 27 years of service in industry, regional and multilateral levels covering the public sector, private sector and quasi-government institutions.

Before his appointment, Mr. Ngwenya was the Assistant Secretary General of COMESA in charge of Programmes a position he held for ten years. In this position, he was responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of COMESA programmes. In addition, he oversaw and supervised the operations of COMESA established institutions such as the Leather and Leather Product Institute (LLPI), the Clearing House and the Regional Investment Agency.

In industry, Mr Ngwenya was involved in the design and implementation of programmes and projects in the road, airline and railway sectors. At the regional level, he was instrumental in the formulation of the PTA (now COMESA) regional integration programmes culminating in the launch of the COMESA Free Trade Area on 31st October 2000. He also worked on the establishment of COMESA specialised institutions, such as, the Eastern and Southern Africa Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank), the COMESA Clearing House and the PTA Re-Insurance Company (ZEP-RE). More recently, he played a key role in the design of the COMESA Customs Union and Common Investment Area. He was also part of the team that crafted the COMESA Treaty and oversaw the transformation of the PTA into COMESA in 1994.

His personal mission is to contribute to sustainable social and economic development and uplifting the living standards of Africa’s populace through regional co-operation and integration to transform and modernise economies of COMESA member states individually and collectively with the ultimate objective of realising the African Economic Community under the auspices of the African Union.

Mr. Ngwenya was born on 16 April 1951. He is married with three children. He has a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Geography and a Master of Science in Transportation and Traffic Planning.

Hide Bio

John Coulter is a Managing Director and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa for J.P. Morgan, overseeing the firm’s range of businesses in the region.

Apart from a brief period with Morgan Stanley, John has spent more than 20 years with J.P. Morgan, based in New York, London and Johannesburg.  He has served as chairman of the International Bankers Association of South Africa, a member of the Board of the Banking Association of South Africa and represented the international banks in the Financial Sector Charter negotiations which occurred in 2002 through 2004.

He has been involved in a number of significant transactions for the firm, including South Africa’s $1.5 billion 10-year bond offering in 2009; Standard Bank’s defense against a hostile bid by Nedbank; J.P. Morgan’s acquisition of a stake in SA HomeLoans and the firm’s acquisition of TASC, at the time South Africa’s largest third-party institutional investment administrator.

John earned his B.A. in Legal Science from Trinity College, Dublin, and a Masters in Business Studies from University College, Dublin.

Hide Bio

Raised in Tanzania, Michael left Africa to pursue his education and early career. He gained a first class degree in Civil Engineering from Southampton University and began his working life at PricewaterhouseCoopers followed by three years of investment banking in London with Lehman Brothers and Kleinwort Benson.
But he always wanted to make the return journey to Africa and use his professional skills to contribute to the country’s economic and social development. So in 1988 he joined CDC as an investor focused on Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.

Based in Nairobi he now represents Actis in East Africa and has been instrumental in some of Actis's key successes on the continent including the launch of the Acacia Fund, the first private equity fund in Kenya, and investments in Flamingo, Banque Commerciale du Rwanda, Grain Bulk Handlers Limited and DFCU. He is also responsible for Actis’s agribusiness investments. And more than two decades on, his philosophy remains the same; to build the businesses that deliver positive change to the markets they’re part of and the people they serve.

Hide Bio

Mr. Gabriel Negatu is the African Development Bank (AfDB) Regional Director for East Africa Resource Center (EARC) based in Nairobi. In this capacity, he oversees the Bank’s newly established East Africa regional hub; with direct oversight responsibility for six very active countries and five Country Offices. He also has implementation support responsibility for the Bank’s portfolio in thirteen countries in the region. His portfolio includes a large lending/non-lending portfolio plus policy dialogue and advisory services to the governments of Seychelles, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Negatu was Director of the Bank’s Governance, Economic & Financial Management Department with direct operations responsibility for promoting Good Governance and lending/non-lending operations focused on economic and financial reforms in over 30 countries across the continent. His duties included responsibility for Budget Support Operations, Balance of Payment Operations and Institutional Support Programs; including in fragile states. In this capacity, he has also led the Bank’s work on Extractive Sector Transparency in resource rich countries and leading the work on Economic and Corporate Governance under the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Prior to his current assignment,

Mr. Negatu worked for over 5 years in the Bank’s Policy & Review Department, where he managed the Bank’s work on harmonization & Alignment around the Paris Declarations, among other things. Mr. Negatu has been published in several publications.

Hide Bio

A marine engineer by training, Ravi Mehrotra quickly rose through the ranks at the Shipping Corporation of India, holding various senior positions including secondment at Managing Director level on international Joint Ventures. In 1984 he decided to start up on his own and came to London where he established Foresight Limited. His business grew on the back of a shuttle service management for export of crude oil and the purchase of multipurpose ships which traded internationally. By 1990 he had ushered the Company into offshore drilling and reefer shipping which formed the backbone of Foresight during the next two decades. Tankers and multipurpose ships were added to the fleet, and managed from Cyprus. Since 1994 he has been a member of Lloyds Register of Shipping Committee. He is on the committees of DNV UK and American Bureau of Shipping. In recognition of his services to the shipping industry, he was awarded, in 2006, an Honorary CBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Hide Bio

Eric is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Homestrings. Eric was born in Brooklyn, NY of a Guinean father
(West Africa) and an American mother. He spent 20 yearsgrowing up in poor rural Guinea, going to primary and secondary school in Fria and then Conakry, the capital.

Eric deeply understands that burning desire to make a difference, when you are so far away from loved-ones, and the limitations of currently available investment options that really make an impact and are profitable. That understanding has led to Homestrings – a contraction of Homesick and Heartstrings.

Eric is also currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GRAVITAS Capital Advisors, Inc. an asset management firm he founded in 1996 (www.gravitascapital.com) GRAVITAS Capital advises global and sovereign institutional assets. He runs the Sovereign Solutions Practice which includes innovative macro solutions such as the Sovereign Debt Redemption Fund Ltd and the Pension Support Fund Ltd.

Eric also manages GRAVITAS's Tactical Allocation Fund, LLC. He received a 2009 Risk Innovator Award for Finance from Risk & Insurance Magazine.

Prior to GRAVITAS Capital, Eric was portfolio manager at the World Bank (1990-1996) where he also served as technical adviser to sovereign and multilateral institutions worldwide.

Eric is a graduate of the University of Dakar (Cheikh Anta Diop), in Senegal; of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh; and of the Harvard Business School, where he earned his MBA (World Bank Scholar and Harvard Fellowship award)

Eric lectures internationally and has published articles on global finance and risk management. He lives in Washington, DC with his family.

Hide Bio

Tom has lived and worked in East & Southern Africa for the past 19 years. Former roles include setting up and serving as managing director of African Agricultural Capital (PCP's former incarnation) from 2005, leading the development of the business through two investment funds. Before that, Tom held the role of chief financial officer of CDC Group plc's African agro-industries investment portfolio, based in Harare, Zimbabwe. Tom has also held a range of senior financial positions with aid organisations, including Oxfam and the International Red Cross, a senior consulting role with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Kenya. Tom is a chartered accountant and a fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He holds a MA from Oxford University and an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Hide Bio

Mr Bukaka is a graduate Civil Engineer with nearly fifteen years experience accumulated in various civil engineering projects. He is an Associate Director of Roughton International and Regional Manager for East Africa.
As Regional Manager Mat is responsible for project management, consultancy bids, client contacts, staffing and project delivery in the East Africa. 
Projects recently or currently being managed include:
• Kenya: Technical Assistance Services for management & Supervision of EC Stabex Roads 2000 Project Phase II in Eastern Province
• Kenya: Consultancy Services for the Roads 2000 Rural Roads Rehabilitation Project; AFDB Programme Rift Valley Province, Region 2: Trans-Mara, Narok and Kajiado Districts
• Ethiopia: Harara – Jijiga Road Upgrading Project
• Ethiopia: Upgrading of Gelego – Guba Road Project and Guba – Wenbera Road Project
• Ethiopia: Nekempt – Bedele – Metu Road Upgrading Project
• Rwanda: Monitoring and Supervision of Road Rehabilitation of Kigali – Ruhengeri Road (83km)
• Tanzania: Design Review, Tender Assistance and Contract Supervision for Pavement Strengthening and Traffic Safety Improvement of Chalinze – Segera – Tanga (238km) Road Project
• Tanzania: Research Consultant to Support the Design, Construction & Monitoring of Demonstration Sites for District Road Improvements
• Uganda: Road Development Program Phase III Project; National Roads Data Collection Study
• Malawi: Technical Assistance for the Supervision of Backlog Maintenance Programme; Phase 1 for Urban Roads in Lilongwe and Blantyre (Lots 1 & 2)
He is computer literate and has excellent knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets and other engineering software.

Hide Bio

Einar H. Bandlien has worked in the private petroleum sector since 1974, first with Saga Petroleum Norway. Co-founder of NOPEC AS a seismic contracting and consultant company in 1981 and later, as Chairman of NOPEC, took part in the establishment of PGS, a petroleum service company. In 1994 he joined the original founders of NOPEC in establishing Fountain Oil Incorporated, a US based company focussing on oil and gas development opportunities in the Former Soviet Union. In 1998 Mr. Bandlien was co-founder and Chairman of The Bridge Group working to facilitate indigenous equity in oil and gas projects in developing countries. He was co-founder of Bridge Energy AS in 2005 and served as CEO of Bridge Energy ASA, a publicly listed company with oil and gas exploration and production operations in UK and Norway. In 2012 Mr Bandlien was co-founder of East African Petroleum Services and is presently serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of that company, which provides supply and waste management services to oil companies operating in East Africa.

Hide Bio

Dr Mohan Kaul is currently Chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council and Executive Chairman of the Commonwealth Inclusive Growth. Dr Kaul was appointed Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) on its establishment by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Edinburgh in October 1997, a position he held until 31st March 2012. He is also Chairman of Commonwealth Inclusive Growth Services (India) Limited and member of the Board of Glodyne Ltd. He is also a member of the Board of the Crown Agents Foundation, Advisory Board of British Expertise and Board of Governors Ahmedabad University, India.  Dr. Kaul is currently a member of the Presidential Advisory Councils of Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia.  In the past he has served on similar councils in other countries.

Prior to his appointment to the CBC, Dr Kaul served as a Director and senior member of the Commonwealth Secretariat; United Nations adviser; Professor and Dean at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.  While at IIM, he was Advisor to the various Departments of the Government of India, including the Planning Commission, Electronics Commission, Department of Foreign Trade.  He was also a member on a number of boards and consultant to many leading public and private sector firms including shipping Corporation of India, L&T, DCM & Electronic Corporation of India. 

He has led International advisory and consultancy assignments in over 40 countries which includes assisting the South African government of President Mandela on public service reforms, advising the Prime Minister’s department of the Malaysian government, advisor to various Governments a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Management Efficiency Group, leading a delegation to China for discussions with President Hu Jintao on governance and globalisation and conducted the first evaluation of the Grameen Bank Bangladesh. He also addressed a special session of the UN Assembly on public management.

He has held other positions including member of the Board of the World bank’s Africa Virtual University;  Board of Directors of the UK-India Business Council,  Central Council of the Royal Over-Seas League, and is a Liveryman of the City of London. He is also a member of the Board of the Commonwealth Network for Information Technology for Development, Malta.

He has a PhD in Management Science from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. He is author of a number of publications.  He was also conferred the honorary Doctorate of Letters by Cape Breton University Canada in November 2007. He is a fellow of UK charted Institute of Personnel Development, Fellow of International Institute of Training & Development, USA and Fellow of Computer Society of India.  He was also President of the International Association of Schools and Institutions of Administration.

Hide Bio

Dr Roberto Ridolfi, MSc, MBA, PhD, 53, married with children

1979-1985 Master in Civil Engineering at University of Roma (laurea 110/110 cum laudae and thesis publication).
1988-1991 PhD (three years access via competition= dottorato di ricerca) in Architecture Technology (universities of Rome, Florence, Bologna and Venice).

1996-1998 Master of Business Administration MBA Open University Business School, Milton Keynes, UK (AMBA).

EUROPEAN UNION (EEAS from 2011, Commission from Oct. 1994)

Sept 2010 Nominated Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union in the Republic of Uganda.

MEMBERSHIPS
Member of Ordine degli Ingegneri in Italy (1986-96)
Member of Association Masters Business Administration AMBA-UK (since 1998).

Hide Bio

Dr. Sejjaaka is a financial consultant with over twenty years of post-qualification experience in public finance management and systems design. He has extensive experience in areas of financial management, taxation and fiscal planning, strategic planning, restructuring, quality assurance, investment advisory services and auditing of public sector and private sector organizations. He is also a systems and business process-reengineering specialist with emphasis on ICT systems costing and auditing. Dr. Sejjaaka is a Partner in Sejjaaka, Kaawaase & Co. Certified Public Accountants; Deputy Principal, Makerere University Business School and a director of Stanbic Bank, Royal Homes Limited and many other companies.

Hide Bio

Dr. Winifred Tarinyeba- Kiryabwire is the Chairperson of the dfcu Women Business Advisory Council.  She is a Consultant on Capital Markets Regulation and Development, Private Sector & Enterprise Development, and Corporate Governance; and   currently a Lecturer & Ag. Head of Department, Public & Comparative Law, Faculty of Law, Makerere University. She holds a Doctor of Science of Law (JSD).  She has been involved in several consultancies for the World Bank, African Development Bank, Capital Markets Advisory Council of Rwanda, Uganda Human Rights Commission, International Law Institute and the European Union, among others.

Dr. Winifred is a member, Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda, Fellow, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Society, Member, East Africa Law Society and Member – Uganda Law Society. She is a Rotarian and has an
interest in community service.

Hide Bio

Elizabeth is a Director at Benconolly Ltd, specialized in sustainability and facilitating international and domestic business and investment interests in Sub-Saharan Africa. She heads Benconolly’s sustainable Industrial Business Park project. Elizabeth is a co-Founder of MPDx, a disruptive point-of-care diagnostics platform technology with 3 patents. Her social entrepreneurship initiatives have won international recognition e.g. Mckinsey Innovate 2012, Said Business School Global Entrepreneurship Challenge 2012 (Regional Winner Asia & Regional Winner Africa). Elizabeth trained in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. She is Co-Chair of the Sino-African Association and sits on the Advisory Board for Angels Finance Cooperation. Elizabeth holds a Masters from Oxford University and won the NIH & NIAID Future of Science Fund Scholarship.

Hide Bio

Eng Dr Frank B Sebbowa is an engineer at PhD level who has trained in Uganda, Sierra Leone and Great Britain.
He has had 10 years working in the private sector and 10 years as the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda electricity Regulatory Authority and 10 years as an Academic at Makerere and Nairobi Universities.

He is currently a Member of the Governing Council of Kyambogo University; he has also previously been the President of the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers. An ardent Rotarian for over 25 years, Engineer Sebbowa is a happily married Ugandan.

Hide Bio

Mr. Essam Soliman joined Cisco 18 years ago and was appointed A Solutions Architect on January 2010 after several successful positions as Sales manager for HomeL and Security solutions for Africa and Levant, Network Consulting Engineer, Senior Systems Engineer in Cisco USA   Mr. Soliman has more than 25 years of working experience for various IT companies in USA and Defense Systems in Middle-East. Mr. Soliman has served 10 years in the Egyptian Defense Systems as a Systems Engineer for C2 systems/Air Defense Systems.

Mr. Soliman holds CCI 6330, CCDP from Cisco Systems, TOGAF 8 Certificate, a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVry University, USA and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology from the Egyptian Air Defense Force Academy.

Hide Bio

George Brenan is a senior Corporate Financier and currently Managing Director at Ardour Capital Limited. He was a Partner at Cazenove & Co and JP Morgan Cazenove in London and has advised on over $50bn of successfully completed transactions. He has experience in the Capital Markets and M&A advisory across a wide range of sectors with a significant specialisation in residential and commercial real estate and in the construction sector. Major transactions include the demerger of Tarmac plc, the disposal by Alfred McAlpine of its residential development business to George Wimpey and the takeover of commercial real estate developer Trafford Park Estates.  At Ardour Capital he is part of the Transaction Advisory team for the Naguru Nakawa Satellite Town project in Kampala.

He is a qualified Barrister and has a first in Physics from Balliol College, Oxford.

Hide Bio

Lynda Chalker founded Africa Matters Limited (AML), a pan African group of advisers, in 1997.  They seek to take investment into African businesses and keep them viable. With her considerable experience of African cultures and relationships, and of the numerous business and development issues crucial to Africa.  She supports the work of AML by providing leadership and political insights on how companies can implement strategies to ensure not just that they are having a positive impact in the communities in which they operate, but also that responsible practice has a beneficial impact on a company’s bottom line.

Lynda has been a member of the Lower and Upper Houses of the UK Parliament for over thirty five years. Between 1986 and 1997 she was Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, holding responsibility for Africa and the Commonwealth and for Overseas Development. Lynda was made a Life Peer in 1992.

Lynda was the first woman to be appointed an Advisory and then a Non-Executive Director of Unilever, a position she held from 1998 to 2007. She is a Trustee of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF), she is also an Executive Trustee of the Global Leadership Foundation, a member of the international advisory board of Lafarge et Cie and advised the World Bank for over 10 years. Lynda was Chairman of Board of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) from 2006 to 2011. She was a Non-Executive Director of Group Five (Pty) from 2001 to 2012.

She is Chairman of Pasco Risk Management, as well as being a patron of a number of charities. Lynda is also co-ordinator of the Honorary International Investment Council of President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and a member of similar bodies in Uganda and Tanzania.

Hide Bio

Arif Zaman is an advisor to the CBC on Corporate Governance, South Asia and the Commonwealth Businesswomen Network; international Chair of the Pakistan Action Group on Foreign Investment; on the faculty of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance; an associate at Mettle Consulting on governance and reputational risk; and visiting faculty at Henley Business School, University of Reading. He is author of the bestselling briefing on Reputational Risk (Financial Times, 2004 and published in Russian, 2008).

Arif chairs the Board of Commonwealth Businesswomen on behalf of CBC, an action and result of the Commonwealth Business Forum in 2011 in Perth, with the Presidents of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women and the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs, which aims to strengthen the overarching strategy for women in business around procurement, policy and a platform for addressing key issues. Julia Gillard as Commonwealth Chair and Australian PM has welcomed this as ‘a vital initiative to recognise, support and promote the significant contribution that women in business make.’

He was Global Market and Industry Analyst at British Airways (1996-2005) where he won several company awards including for his contribution to BA’s Business Principles and Sustainability Policy and industry awards for his work on logistics, trade and strategy. Prior to this he worked in the Corporate Finance division of HSBC and in financial PR for a leading London consultancy. Arif was a Visiting Researcher, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (2004).

Hide Bio

James Gatera has been the Managing Director of Bank of Kigali since 2007. Under his stewardship, Bank of Kigali has had sustained periods of profitability and market leadership with approximately 30% market share across all key balance sheet metrics.

As a firm believer in increasing access to the unbanked in Rwanda, James is at the helm of the Bank’s strategy to making banking services available and within the reach of the majority of Rwandans. He has spear-headed the Bank’s aggressive branch expansion strategy as well as the Bank’s continual roll out of innovative products to reach the unbanked population.  In 2011, James led the Bank through a successful Initial Public Offering to raise capital for the Bank’s expansion strategy and shareholding diversification, when Bank of Kigali became the second domestic company to list on the Rwanda Stock Exchange.

During his tenure, the Bank has been internationally recognized for its performance as the ‘Best Bank in Rwanda’ by emeafinance, ‘Bank of the Year’ for Rwanda by the Financial Times of London, and received a Golden Award for Quality and Business Prestige by Otherways Management and Consulting of France. Bank of Kigali has also been rated A+/A1 by the Global Credit Rating Agency of South Africa.

Over the years, James has accumulated vast experience in Corporate Governance. Currently, he serves as a Non-Executive Director on various boards, including the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC).

James is often a key speaker in many international and African business forums on various investment topics including increasing Access to Finance in Africa, and Public Private Partnerships for Infrastructural Development.
Prior to being the Managing Director, James was the Deputy Managing Director in Bank of Kigali from 2005-2007. He played a key role in leading the Bank when Belgolaise SA sold its 50% stake to the Government of Rwanda.

Hide Bio

John Magnay is the Senior Agricultural Advisor – Africa for Opportunity International, responsible the development of loan product for rural finance. With 35 years’ experience in the private sector, particularly Agriculture and Agro-process in Uganda and Africa, he is currently focused on bringing rural banking and AgFin to smallholder farmers.

In an advisory capacity he has worked in Uganda, Madagascar, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Malawi on agricultural market development, and takes a keen interest in resolving the issues of smallholder farmers and market mechanisms to solve food insecurity and farmer incomes. As a private short term consultant he worked for USAID, World Bank, FAO, EU and WFP with specific interest in the relationship between Governments, Donors and the Private Sector.

Opportunity International, is a regulated MFI operating in 22 countries worldwide and 9 in Africa is rolling out rural financial services in 5 of the 9 African Countries. The Financial Services include Savings, Insurance, Money Transfer and Loans for both production and post-harvest activities. The basic model uses trust group methodology for smallholder farmers. The 5 countries are Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique and operating programmes has highlighted the similarities and differences in the enabling environment.

Hide Bio

Julius is a Transaction Advisory Services Partner with Ernst & Young, based in East Africa and focusing on Infrastructure Advisory. Over the past few years, Julius has advised on infrastructure projects for both public and private sector clients covering tariff reviews, project feasibility studies, public private partnerships (PPPs), privatisations and project finance.  His experience covers electricity (generation, transmission and distribution), oil and gas, transportations (road, rail, ports and airports), water and sanitation and telecommunications sectors.  He has over 18 years professional experience.

He holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Warwick Business School, University of Warwick (UK) and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting from the University of Nairobi.  He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).

Hide Bio

Admassu Tadesse is the President and CEO of PTA Bank, the Eastern and Southern Africa Trade and Development Bank (appointed in December 2011). Prior to this, he served the Development Bank of Southern Africa for 10 years, heading the International Division (Finance/Investment), as well as the Corporate Division for Corporate Strategy, Planning, Marketing and Communication. Previously, he worked for several years as a special advisor, project executive, management consultant, management trainer and economist with several global funding and development agencies. He has served on several boards, trusts and industry bodies, in Africa and internationally and continues to serve as the Vice-Chairman of the African Association of Development Finance Institutions, among others. He holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MBA from Wits Business School, and has post-graduate training in strategic banking and executive management at INSEAD and Harvard Business School.

He is the recipient of several honors and awards, most recently the 2012 African Business Leader of the Year by the Corporate Council on Africa in Washington DC. He has lived and worked internationally for over 30 years, in nine countries across three continents, with the past 10 years in South Africa. He is conversant in French and Arabic, apart from English and Amharic, his mother tongue.

Hide Bio

Brent Boutwell is the Chief Operating Officer of Sseko Designs, a global fashion brand built on the power of story and empowerment.  Through the design, manufacturing and distribution of women’s fashion, Sseko Designs is building a successful business while offering gainful employment and educational opportunities to women in Uganda.  Sseko products are exported to the United States and Australia and connect consumers with a new story about Africa.

Prior to joining Sseko Designs, Brent began his career in the United States as a Certified Public Accountant working with international consulting firm KPMG.  In the audit practice, Brent served multiple industries ranging from publicly traded banks and pharmaceutical companies to privately held manufacturers and health care providers

Brent joined Sseko Designs to assist with the rapid expansion of the manufacturing operations based on his belief that businesses can and should create a more equitable world.

Hide Bio

Peter Kieran is the President of CPCS, a speciality firm providing strategic advisory services in transportation, energy and urban development. 

Since 1990, Peter has been working with international financial institutions, as well numerous governments, to develop new approaches to the reform and privatization of transportation systems and other critical infrastructure.  He has played a key role in developing the policies and practices used to concession railways and ports in Africa.  He has provided policy direction to national governments in over 25 countries on infrastructure.

Peter has been responsible for leading large multi-disciplinary teams responsible for the successful private investment in railways and ports in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Madagascar, Jordan and Armenia.

His current major initiative is the privatization of the entire publicly owned power sector in Nigeria.  CPCS is the lead transaction advisor responsible for the sale of two hydro-electric companies, four existing gas-fired generating companies, ten brand new gas-fired generating companies and eleven regional electricity generating companies.  The total value of the transactions is approximately $8 billion.

He holds a degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Harvard University.

Hide Bio

Professor Saket Kushwaha a Fellow of Farm Management Association of Nigeria (FAAMAN), Member of Board of Management of Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Viswavidiyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur, India. Agriculture graduate with a Ph.D. in the area of Sustainable Agriculture. His professional and academic career spans over 20 years, including stints in Banking, corporate, public sectors, NGO, Eco-farms. As institution builder he has helped set up 10 Eco-farms of higher learning and entrepreneurial activities. He is closely working with 8000 farmers in Vindhayan Region of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar under participatory mode.

Prof. Kushwaha has published internationally and sits on the editorial board of four research journals, as Editor in four International Journals, three online Journals and four national journals.  He has been consultant to the World Bank, the Government of Nigeria, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), NGO and various state government(s) in West Africa. Prior to his current attachment as Professor of Agricultural Economics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University; he was Dean of Management from 2001 to 2006 & Head of Agricultural Econs. and Extension from 1994 to 2001at Federal University of Technology, Bauchi, Nigeria. Supervised and concluded 22 Ph.D, over 170 M.Sc and MBA students for higher degrees.

His research interests include Eco-farming, livelihood security in rural youth and women, social capital development, Institutional Investment and market structure studies: special orientation to Indian retail market fundamentals.

Hide Bio

Graeme Reid is the Managing Director of Athena Properties Limited. He was previously Chief of Urban Planning and Management at Rendeavour. Prior to joining Rendeavour, Graeme Reid was the Executive Director of the consultancy Urban Places Africa providing consultancy services to the public and private sectors on a range of large scale, mixed use and mixed income developments; urban regeneration; institutional structuring for development projects and processes; and, social and affordable housing. He was the first Chief Executive Officer of the Johannesburg Development Agency from 2000 until end August 2005, and worked as the Inner City Manager for the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council. Trained as a lawyer, he practised and taught law before joining Planact, an urban NGO offering advice and assistance to civic associations and trade unions on issues related to local government, housing and urban development.

Hide Bio