Rev Jesse Jackson

The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., Founder and President of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, is one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. Over the past forty years he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. Reverend Jackson has been called the “Conscience of the Nation” and “the Great Unifier,” challenging America to be inclusive and to establish just and human priorities for the benefit of all.

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Professor Wiseman l Nkuhlu, Chairperson of the NEPAD steering committee

Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu is the Economic Advisor to the President of the Republic of South Africa and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). NEPAD is the socio-economic renewal programme for Africa. WL Nkuhlu has been the Head of the Secretariat and Chairman of the Steering Committee since the inception of the programme in 2001. It has now become the most ambitious renewal programme for Africa and enjoys support from all over the world. He studied at the Universities of Fort Hare, Cape Town and New York University and completed a B Com, CTA and MBA.

In recognition of his contribution to education, business and development, Professor Nkuhlu has received a number of awards, including Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of the Free State, Stellenbosch, Cape Town and Pretoria; and merit awards from the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce, Association of Advancement of Black Accountants and the Black Management Forum. He was also awarded the President of Convocation Medal by the University of Cape Town in June 2004. The medal is awarded to graduates of UCT for outstanding community service. He was elected President of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and served two terms, from April 1998 to April 2000. He is married to Nondima and they have four children. June 2004

John Patterson, Human Resource Director , Diageo Africa

Mr. Patterson is Human Resources Director for Diageo Africa, and in that role provides HR leadership to 4,700 people in the Africa Business Unit that has sales of £700M. Diageo Africa produces, markets, and distributes alcohol beverages and soft drinks across Sub-Sahara Africa. John has been in his current role for just over 1 year and has found real purpose in ‘bringing African’s home’. Recently Diageo Africa was awarded Africa Investor’s ‘Employer of the Year’ for 2004 – an accomplishment that both John and Diageo are very proud of.

John has been an HR Director in Diageo since 2001 and most recently was the Sr. Vice President of ‘People and Culture’ in North America for the Operations Group based in Stamford Connecticut. Prior to joining the Group, he held a number of senior HR roles at PepsiCo, Lockheed Aerospace, and also had a brief stint in the dot.com world as Chief Talent Office for priceline.com – an on-line travel booking company.

In addition to his duties in London, John is a member of the Board of Directors of Guinness Ghana Brewing Limited and serves as the Chairman of the Audit Committee.

In his spare time, he enjoys riding his Soft-tail Harley Davidson across the USA and is currently mapping out plans to travel across Europe on his motorcycle. He lives in London with his wife Jami, and their three children.

Pulane Mogoere, AMSCO HR, South Africa

Have a Human Resources background. Have worked as a Generalist HR Professional, HR Consultant and Manager in the Mining, and Financial Services amongst other positions. Have a PMD from Gordon Institute of Business Science (RSA) and B Admin (Industrial Psychology) from University of Durban Westville (RSA). Proven leadership skills involving managing, HR Strategy, developing and motivating teams to achieve their objectives. Has also done extensive training on Job Analysis and Competency Designs, Advanced Leadership, Performance Management and Assessor training amongst others.

Currently working as the Head of HR and Recruitment for African Management Services Company ( AMSCO), which provided Management Services to African Companies in order to help build management Capacity and enhance international competitiveness of these companies. AMSCO was launched in the late 80’a by International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank Group and promotes development in Private sector, and is also supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Have a Human Resources background. Have worked as a Generalist HR Professional, HR Consultant and Manager in the Mining, and Financial Services amongst other positions. Have a PMD from Gordon Institute of Business Science (RSA) and B Admin (Industrial Psychology) from University of Durban Westville (RSA). Proven leadership skills involving managing, HR Strategy, developing and motivating teams to achieve their objectives. Has also done extensive training on Job Analysis and Competency Designs, Advanced Leadership, Performance Management and Assessor training amongst others.

Currently working as the Head of HR and Recruitment for African Management Services Company (AMSCO), which provided Management Services to African Companies in order to help build management Capacity and enhance international competitiveness of these companies. AMSCO was launched in the late 80’a by International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank Group and promotes development in Private sector, and is also supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Dereje Wordofa is currently working for Oxfam GB as Head of the Regional Policy Team, based in Oxford. He works on policy and advocacy on matters related to poverty reduction and humanitarian assistance. Prior to this role, he was Representative for Oxfam GB in Uganda (1999-2002), responsible for all Oxfam's humanitarian, development and advocacy programmes. He briefly worked in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda as well. Dereje worked for Save the Children in Ethiopia for ten years (1988 to 1998) in different capacities. He holds MSc Degree in Social Policy Panning in Developing Countries, London School of Economics.

With a major in economics and a registered fund advisor in Switzerland, Ngenda Kigaraba has been involved in lobbying and negotiations, networking and relationship management as well business modelling, planning, strategy and implementation. Working in fund management (Capital Group Companies) Ngenda Kigaraba, in partnership, launched http://www.covalence.ch: Covalence SA runs an ethical quotation system, Ethical Quote, a participatory database measuring the reputation of multinational enterprises on ethical issues. Subsequent to further employment with Reuters SA, Ngenda Kigaraba linked up with a network of investors and project managers, in the form of Pragma Consult GmbH and Cosit AG (http://www.cosit.ch) where she is engaged in business development. Ngenda Kigaraba is co-founder of the Tanzanian Diaspora Roundtable (TDR) operating from Geneva, Switzerland.

Indira Rombley was born (13 November 1973 in Leiden) from parents of the Dutch West Indies and raised in The Netherlands in a town called Zoetermeer. After grammar school she studied work & organisational psychologist and graduated in organisational psychology in Nijmegen (researching an integration process between two telecommunication firms in the Netherlands Antilles. She is currently studying a post doc course strategic HR Management at the university of Groningen. She has worked in The Netherlands and in the Netherlands Antilles (Dutch West Indies). Since 1998 has been working in the field of Assessment and Recruitment & Selection for various agencies in The Netherlands.

In 2002 she joined SNV at first as a recruiter later on as an HR advisor. In this latter she is responsible for recruitment of (Regional) directors and staff at Head Office. She also deals with competency / performance/ talent management, personnel planning and career counselling. She advises the Board of Director and of their management in the countries and at Head office in relation to the above mentioned subjects. At Head Office she also support management in these HR subjects.

Currently HR Adviser (recruitment and sourcing) with Oxfam GB. As part of y role I develop and maintain organization’s resourcing plans through people planning processes internally and working with external recruitment providers externally. In addition, I support the Recruitment Campaigns for key global posts in Oxfam and work closely with our Regional HR Managers to develop their capacity in recruitment and selection issues. I have more than 8 years experience in HR with a particular focus in recruitment and selection within the development sector.

Kamil Olufowobi is a 26 year old career Africanist attaining his Masters degree in International Affairs and has a BSc in Information Technology. Kamil is a true embodiment of 'Thinking Globally and Acting Locally' he was raised in the USA, studied in Singapore, worked in London and has travelled extensively in Australia, Europe & South East Asia, thus, he generally considers himself "a global citizen" with a passion for Africa. He has a working knowledge of Chinese Mandarin, English, French and Yoruba.

In his current tenure, as the Chief Operations Office for the Young African Professionals Network (AfriPRO), Kamil, works closely with African professionals worldwide interested in providing their expertise towards the advancement of Africans & Africa in the 21st Century. On September 22, 2004 during the UN General Assembly, Chairman, African Union & President, Federal Republic of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo gave the network two thumbs up for it efforts in mobilizing the next generation of African professionals.

Prior to AfriPRO, he worked as the Youth Coordinator, International Institute of Peace through Tourism 2002 – 2003 and was Founder & President, Organization of African Students (NJIT & Rutgers University, Newark, NJ) 1999 – 2001

Charles Buckman, Chairman/CEO of The Ghana-Network

Charles Buckman, Chairman/CEO of The Ghana-Network, an all encapassing network of agencies for the professional Ghanaians worldwide , a comprehensive collection of the Ghanaian minds globally.Facilitates cutting edge networks from the critical mass home to the intelectual capacity abroad and Entreprenueral and Career development. He is involved in various grassroots religious activities with Ghanians and the larger African community.

Ngu Muna

Ngu Muna has BSc in International Business and is presently studying for an MBA at London Business School. He has 5 years of experience in the technology consulting industry working on large-scale enterprise software deployment. He has been active in various roles ranging from entrepreneur, software developer, client manager to business development. He co-founded a
software technology solutions company in Chicago, USA and in Cameroon, Africa. His experience includes managing senior executive client relationships, business planning & development, developing & implementing strategy, project management, conducting market/category/industry analysis and developing go-to-market strategies.

Romuald Dzomo Nkongo is the founder and president of Avenir Nepad International based in France. AVENIR NEPAD engages in constructive criticism of the NEPAD platform. It was founded on the belief that NEPAD will not achieve its goals if it remains a technocratic project, removed from constructive criticism. Today, AVENIR NEPAD is an international association with branches in countries around the world and with members from diverse backgrounds (students, members of civil society, businessmen and women, lawyers, professors, etc). This network in Europe primarily works to mobilize the African diasporas. Avenir Nepad invited President Abdoulaye Wade to speak at a conference at the Sciences Po Paris, France and Romuald recently moderated a debate between the South African President Thabo Mbeki and the diaspora of the Great Lakes.

Pierre-Paul Tengwo

Executive member of CAMFORUM, www.cameroon-forum.org in charge of communication. Cameroon Forum seeks to be a non-partisan organisation, integrating the diverse portfolio of Cameroon professionals, associations, businesses and related institutions, to engage at all levels, for the economic and cultural advancement of our community in the UK and abroad, and to cultivate leadership capacity for participative development of Cameroon and Africa in general.

Senior Telecom Engineer professional working with an International Satellite Telecom organisation (INMARSAT LTD) based in London since 1998. Prior to joint this organisation I worked with the Cameroon International Telecom Company ( CAMTEL) in Cameroon from 1986 until I left to joint this international organisation, where I hold several technical management positions.

Through academic training and professional activities over the past 20 years or so, I have acquired a profound knowledge of the satellite and communications industry.

I hold a first degree in Electronic engineering awarded by The University of Yaounde Polytechnic in Cameroon in 1985 as well as a degree in Telecom engineering awarded By Regional institute of Telecommunication Villeneuve d’Asc in France in 1986.
My last academic achievement is a Master Certificate in project Management awarded by George Washington University in 2002.

I’m a member of the African Telecom Think Tank (ATTT), a high profile worldwide group of African professionals in the field of telecommunications and information technology.

Ralph Tanyi

Ralph is Doctoral Research Associate in the Enterprise Integration Department of Cranfield University, Bedford, UK. His research interest is in knowledge capitalisation strategies for cost engineering in Manufacturing.

His career trajectory includes over 10 years in international procurement, structured commodity trading, and investment banking. He has served as an international trade finance specialist and credit officer for major financial institutions in the City of London and Europe.

He was member of the Quality Circle and actively involved in process improvement and system implementation for ISO-9001 certification of the Trade Services of Standard Chartered Bank, London, in 1995. He received the American Express Bank Award for Customer Excellence (ACE) for his contribution to the bank’s global trade operations in 1998.

Ralph is also contributes his professional skills to support community and voluntary organisations. He served as deputy Finance Manager with the Council for Voluntary Services, London, where he was responsible for Small Grants administration under the UK Government’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. He also served in African under the Commonwealth Services Abroad Programme (CSAP), undertaking micro-finance and e-commerce systems development and implementation projects to enable some 3000 SMEs leverage ICTs for access to export markets. He is a Science and Engineering Ambassador (UK DfES/DTI), a role in which he supports and promotes the teaching of science and engineering in local schools.

Educated in Cameroon, UK, The Netherlands, and USA, Ralph holds academic and professional qualifications in engineering management, finance and manufacturing. He is an Incorporated Engineer (IEng) UK, member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) USA, and member of the Institute of Financial Services (IFS) UK.

Outside his professional and academic interests, Ralph is also interested in media & publishing. He is editor of various newsletters and magazines. He loves music, dancing, sports, and travelling.