Please click here to download biographies for all speakers, panellists and moderators.

Plenary Speakers

Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella (Director General, UNIDO)
Mr. Gareth Thomas MP (UK Minister of State for International Development)
Mr. David O. Carew (Hon. Minister of Trade & Industry, Government of Sierra Leone)
 
Plenary Presenters
 
Dr. Samura Kamara (Hon. Minister of Finance & Economic Development, Government of Sierra Leone)
Mr. David O. Carew
Mr. Patrick Caulker (Chief Executive Officer, SLIEPA)
Mr. Oluniyi Robbin-Coker (Private Sector Advisor to the President, Government of Sierra Leone)
 
Plenary Panellists 
 
Mr. Graham Wrigley (Chairman, Aureos)
H.E. Sheikh Ibrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (Minister of Housing, Kingdom of Bahrain)
Mr. Jean-Claude Gandur (Founder & Chairman, Addax & Oryx Group)
Mr. Omari Issa (C.E.O., Investment Climate Facility for Africa)
Mr. Thierry Tanoh (Vice President, International Finance Corporation)
The Rt. Hon. The Earl Cairns CVO CBE (Chairman, Celtel International)
Mr. Ian J. Cooling (EVP Global Business Development, Anadarko Petroleum)
 
Announcers 
 
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham CBE  (Non-Executive Director, Loudwater Investment Partners)
Mr. Stewart J. Paperin (President, Soros Economic Development Fund & Executive Vice President, Open Society Institute)
 
Breakout Session Moderators
 
Mr. Nabil Fawaz (Global Head, Agribusiness, Manufacturing & Services, MIGA, World Bank Group)
Mr. Cecil Williams (General Manager, National Tourist Board of Sierra Leone)
Mr. Keith Palmer (C.E.O., InfraCo)
Mr. Hindolo Sumangure Trye  (Minister of Tourism & Cultural Affairs)
 
Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella
Director-General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Dr. Yumkella is the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). With over 20 years experience in international development cooperation, Mr. Yumkella has provided leadership for various initiatives and promoted increased international cooperation in the field of sustainable industrial development, trade capacity building, UN-business partnerships, renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation.
In December 2005 Dr. Yumkella was appointed Director-General of UNIDO, having previously worked in several high-level policy positions in UNIDO, including Special Adviser to two previous Directors-General, Director of the Africa and LDCs Regional Bureau, and as Representative and Director of the first UNIDO Regional Office in Nigeria.
Prior to working for UNIDO, from 1994-1995, he was the Minister for Trade, Industry and State Enterprises, Republic of Sierra Leone. Between 1987 and 1996, whilst furthering his studies, he held various academic positions at Michigan State University and the University of Illinois.
Dr. Yumkella holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois, an M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University, a B.Sc. in General Agriculture, from Njala
University College, Sierra Leone.

Mr. Gareth Thomas MP
UK Minister of State for International Development
In June 2009 Mr. Thomas was re-appointed Minister of State for the Department for International Development. Mr. Thomas’ main responsibilities include Africa, Trade, Climate Change and International Institutional reform.
Mr. Thomas has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (PUSS) with the same dual brief since June 2007, and previous to that, from 2003 to June 2007, he was PUSS in DFID with responsibility for Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Overseas Dependent Territories.
Prior to his promotion to the Ministerial ranks, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the former Secretary of State for Education, Charles Clarke MP. Mr. Thomas chaired the All-Party Renewable Energy Group, campaigning for the introduction of emissions trading, a sustainable energy agency and greater help to boost the take up of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
In 1988, Mr. Thomas graduated in Economics from Aberystwyth then later achieved an MA in Imperial and Commonwealth studies at King's College, London, qualifying as a teacher at Greenwich University in 1992. Mr. Thomas was a councillor in Harrow for seven years and was first elected Member of Parliament for Harrow West in May 1997.

Mr. David O. Carew
Hon. Minister for Trade and Industry, Government of Sierra Leone
Prior to his ministerial appointment, Mr. Carew was the Managing Partner for KPMG-Sierra Leone, responsible for providing client services across multiple countries in West Africa including The Gambia and Liberia. Since joining KPMG in 1979, he has worked in Nigeria, The Gambia and Sierra Leone, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1982 and being elected to Partner in 1989.
Mr. Carew is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria, former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sierra Leone, and holds Bachelors Degree in Economics from the University of Sierra Leone.
In his current role as the Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr. Carew is spearheading the Governments focus on private sector growth. In particular, developing and implementing policies to stimulate trade, facilitate private sector development, enhance levels of investment and foster sustained and balanced economic growth for Sierra Leone.

Dr. Samura Kamara
Hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Government of Sierra Leone

Dr. Kamara was appointed Minister of Finance and Economic Development in President Koroma’s re-shuffle of March 2009. Dr. Kamara was also recently appointed Co-Chairman at the IMF’s African Consultative Group meeting in Washington in April 2009.

Dr. Kamara is an Economist with many years of experience in technical cooperation, operations, and partnership agreements with bilateral and multilateral development agencies. He has held a number of senior government positions, most recently as Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone from 2008 to 2009. Outside of Government, he has worked in the Economic Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the United Kingdom, where he served as Chief Programme Officer.

Dr. Kamara has a PhD. and a MA in Economics from the University College of North Wales in Bangor. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics degree from the University of Sierra Leone.

Mr. Patrick Caulker
Chief Executive Officer, SLIEPA

Patrick Tom Caulker, ACMA is the Chief Executive of the Sierra Leone Investment & Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA). Before joining SLIEPA, Mr. Caulker was a senior executive at Zain, a multinational telecommunications company. He has a strong background in finance, strategic planning and business development having held key leadership positions in the telecommunications, Chartered Accountancy and Business Advisory sectors over a number of years. He is also an expert in business modelling and decision support systems design.

Mr.Caulker returned to Sierra Leone in December 2002, with a wealth of international experience in various positions within the United Kingdom. He worked with Mazars, a multi-national firm of Chartered Accountants and Business Consultants, Odyssey Corporation plc, and the British Treasury Department. Before joining Zain in 2005, Mr.Caulker was in charge of Finance at Millicom (SL) Ltd, a subsidiary of Millicom International SA.

Patrick Caulker studied in the UK and is a Chartered Management Accountant and member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK. He also holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in Economics from Fourah Bay College.

In his mid thirties, Patrick T. Caulker is one of the new breed of young Chief Executives H.E President Ernest Bai Koroma is placing trust on to revitalize the private sector and turn-around the country’s economy.

Mr. Oluniyi Robbin-Coker
Private Sector Advisor to the President, Government of Sierra Leone
This is a newly created post in the President’s office as of October 2008, which underlines the President’s commitment to private sector development. In this role Mr. Robbin-Coker acts as the coordination mechanism within government to manage the many private sector initiatives that span across various ministries. Mr. Robbin-Coker reports directly to the President.
Mr. Robbin-Coker began his career as a trainee accountant in the UK before returning to Sierra Leone in the mid-90s to work for a pharmaceutical company. Mr. Robbin-Coker spent some time in consulting in the UK and US before moving to consumer banking, most recently with Citigroup. Mr. Robbin-Coker joined IFC in June 2007 and returned to Sierra Leone as Executive Director for the Sierra Leone Business Forum. Following the election of President Koroma in September 2007, the SLBF allowed Mr. Robbin-Coker to spend 6 weeks supporting the President’s transition team on the economy.
Mr. Robbin-Coker is a Sierra Leonean and British national who graduated with a BSc. in Economics and Sociology from the University of Surrey, and an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management.

Mr. Graham Wrigley
Chairman, Aureos
Mr. Wrigley worked for 17 years at Permira where he sat on the firm’s executive board and investment committee as it grew from under $500 million to over $30 billion, and established itself as one of the world’s leading private equity firms. Mr. Wrigley retired from Permira in 2006 to embark upon a long planned second career around international development, and this began with studying for a Masters degree in development economics at The School of Oriental and African Studies in London (SOAS).
His current focus is on sustainable private sector growth in poor countries. In the SME world he is Chairman of Aureos (the largest SME investor in low income countries with $1.1bn under management and 29 offices in Africa, Asia, and Latin America) and he sits on the Board of Manocap (a private equity fund based in Sierra Leone). In addition he is working in the Microfinance field in India and Nepal.
Before Permira he worked at Bain and Company, and he has a Masters degree from St John’s College, Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD, where he is also a Visiting Professor.

H.E. Sheikh Ibrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa
Minister of Housing, Kingdom of Bahrain

 H.E. Sheik Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa is a member of the Ruling Family of the Kingdom of Bahrain (an IFC member) and is currently the Minister of Housing.

He is Chairman of both Housing Bank (ESKAN Bank), Kingdom of Bahrain and Meezan Bank (Bahrain's premier Islamic Bank), he is also Cgairman of the Board of Trustees, Accounting and Auditing  Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions "AAOIFI" and is currently the Chairman of Bahrain World Economic Summit.

His previous responsibilities include: Deputy Governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (1983-1993); Undersecretary, Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Kingdom of Bahrain (1993-2000); Chairman of Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill Company, Kingdom of Bahrain; Chairman of Bahrain Development Bank, Kingdom of Bahrain; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gulf International Bank in 2001;

Mr. Jean-Paul Gandur
Founder and Chairman, Addax & Oryx Group
Mr. Gandur is one of the founders of The Addax & Oryx Group Ltd. (AOG), of which he is Chairman of the Advisory Board. Mr. Gandur is also the non-executive
Chairman of AXMIN Inc. Since August 2009, he has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Addax Petroleum Corporation (APC) when the Company was acquired by SIPC. He currently holds the position of Vice Chairman of APC and has been appointed Special Advisor to Mr. Su Shulin, Chairman of Sinopec Corporation.
Mr Gandur has worked with major commodity traders including Philipp Brothers from 1976 to 1983, where he was Manager of the African / Latin American division; Sigmoil Resources N.V. from 1984 to 1986, where he was the Managing Director; and Kaines S.A. from 1986 to 1988, where he was the Managing Director.
For ten years Mr. Gandur was Honorary Consul for the Republic of Congo in Geneva and has received the decorations of Grand Officer of the Lion Order of Senegal and Commander of the National Order of Benin. Mr. Gandur is a Swiss citizen and studied Law at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mr. Omari Issa
Chief Executive Officer, Investment Climate Facility for Africa
Omari Issa is the Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF). ICF is a unique partnership between private companies, development partners and governments. It works to improve the investment climates in African countries by removing barriers and lowering costs and time to doing business. Mr. Issa is responsible for managing ICF's programme to improve Africa's investment climate, overseeing a fast growing portfolio of projects in several countries, including four in Sierra Leone.
Mr. Issa has extensive business experience in the public and private sectors in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Mr. Issa has first-hand experience of the realities of doing business in Africa, having previously worked as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Celtel International, where he played an instrumental role in managing the company's growth and expansion across the continent. Prior to working at Celtel, Mr. Issa spent fourteen years with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and six years with the World Bank.

Mr. Thierry Tanoh
Vice President, International Finance Corporation
Mr. Tanoh joined the IFC in 1994, initially joining the Asia Department. He the went on to specialize in the chemicals and petrochemicals sector, working on transactions in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe before moving to Rio de Janeiro in 2001, to focus on Latin America. Since moving to Johannesburg as Associate Regional Director in 2003, Mr. Tanoh has been a key player in the expansion of IFC’s activities in Africa, helping to drive the tenfold expansion of investment activity between FY2004 and FY2008 from $140 million to $1.4 billion.
As a Member of the IFC Global Management Group, he currently oversees Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe, IDA countries and conflict-affected states, focusing on an industry cluster consisting of agribusiness, general manufacturing and services, and health and education.
Prior to joining the IFC, Mr. Tanoh worked for a consulting firm in Paris and with the banking commission of the West African Central Bank in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. He is a certified public accountant in France and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

The Rt. Hon. The Earl Cairns CVO CBE
Chairman, Celtel International
Lord Cairns has had a distinguished business career leading some of the UK's most successful investment banks. A development economist by training, Lord Cairns was Chairman of Allied Zurich and BAT Industries plc and also Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SG Warburg. He has also chaired Actis Capital LLP (formerly CDC Group plc), one of the largest emerging market venture capital operations, with investments in agriculture, financial services, industry and infrastructure in eighteen African countries. He is currently Chairman of Celtel International BV (part of the Zain Group).
Alongside Cyril Ramaphosa, Lord Cairns founded and chaired the Commonwealth Business Council at the request of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. The organisation continues to provide a platform for governments and the private sector to work together to increase trade and investment across the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on Africa.
Between 1981 and 1992, Lord Cairns chaired Voluntary Service Overseas, the organisation responsible for placing over a thousand volunteers each year on a range of education, health and infrastructure projects. Lord Cairns has also served as Chair of the Overseas Development Institute, which under his guidance more than doubled in size and significantly increased its range of work.

Mr. Ian J. Cooling
EVP Global Business Development, Anadarko Petroleum
Mr. Cooling joined Anadarko in 2004 as Vice President International Business Development. His primary responsibilities are business development and business growth for the International division. He is also a Director of Anadarko’s Global Advisory Board.
Mr. Cooling entered the oil industry in the early sixties with GSI working mostly in the North Sea, West Africa and East Africa in various managerial positions until 1976. He then joined a UK based oil and gas consultant group ECL, where he eventually became Chairman and CEO, prior to selling the business in 1987. Subsequently, Mr. Cooling emigrated to the USA and worked as an independent operator, as President of a small E & P company, successfully drilling and producing in Texas, California and Oklahoma.
In 1993 Mr. Cooling joined United Meridian (UMC) which brought him back to Africa when UMC entered Equatorial Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. UMC merged with Ocean Energy and a few years later was acquired by Devon Energy. Mr. Cooling has held the same position throughout all of these mergers as he holds today in Anadarko, focusing primarily on International Business Development.

 
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham CBE
Non-Executive Director, Loudwater Investment Partners
Lord Stevenson spent the first 20 years post university as a serial entrepreneur, then for 15 years chaired large companies (Pearson plc., GPA plc. and HBOS plc.). Lord Stevenson has now reverted to his entrepreneurial roots mainly through a Venture Capital company, Loudwater Investment Partners. Lord Stevenson is also a Non Executive Director of The Western Union Company and The Economist.
Outside business, Lord Stevenson is Chairman of Aldeburgh Music, a Director of Glyndebourne Productions and Chancellor of the University of the Arts in London. Lord Stevenson was Chairman of the Trustees of the Tate Gallery in the 1990s and has recently stood down after eight years as Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. Until September 2000, Lord Stevenson was the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on the application of ICT in education.
Lord Stevenson sits on the cross-benches in the House of Lords.

Mr. Stewart J. Paperin
President, Soros Economic Development Fund & Executive Vice President, Open Society Institute
As president of SEDF, Mr. Paperin oversees investments aimed to alleviate poverty and community deterioration worldwide. As executive vice president of the Open Society Institute and Soros foundations network, Mr. Paperin manages the administration and operations of the network, providing leadership to the foundations' economic reform and economic development activities. He also assists Soros Fund Management in managing its extensive equity investments in Russia.
Earlier, Mr. Paperin was president of LionRock Partners, Ltd., a diversified consulting and investment firm in New York City. Previously he served as president of Brooke Group International, a U.S.–based leveraged buy-out firm operating in the former Soviet Union. He also served as chief financial officer of the Western Union Corporation during a major restructuring.
Mr. Paperin has served as a member of the boards of directors of Western Union Corporation, PennOctane Corp., Global TeleSystems Group, Inc., Golden Telecom Inc., and OAO Svyazinvest (Russia’s national telephone company) as well as a variety of emerging Internet and telecommunication companies.
Mr. Paperin earned B.A. and M.S. degrees from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the State University of New York.

Mr. Nabil Fawaz,
Global Head, Agribusiness, Manufacturing and Services, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group
Mr. Nabil Fawaz is the Head of underwriting for the agribusiness, manufacturing and services sector at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group. Mr. Fawaz has extensive experience in underwriting investment projects in emerging markets and advising clients on structuring transactions to mitigate political risks efficiently.
Before joining MIGA, Mr. Fawaz worked at the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington, DC, where he focused on the development of financial markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr. Fawaz holds a MA in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management and a BA degree from Arizona State University, with a concentration in finance.
 

Mr. Cecil Williams
General Manager, National Tourist Board of Sierra Leone
Mr. Williams is renowned across Sierra Leone for his experience in Tourism Management ever since his appointment as a Tourism Officer at the Ministry of Tourism and Culture in 1980. In 1983 he was seconded to Sierra Leone Airlines as Tourism and Market Research Manager, during which time he was appointed Coordinator of the Mano River Union-Air Mano Project, encompassing Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. He was later promoted to the role of Interim Commercial and Marketing Director. The National Tourist Board was set up in 1991, and Mr. Williams joined the Board in 1995 as their Marketing Manager before going on to become their General Manger.
Mr. Williams is a member of the Institute of Travel and Tourism (UK), an Associate Member of the British Society of Tourism Experts, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and a member of the British Institute of Management (UK). Mr. Williams holds a postgraduate degree in Tourism Marketing and Management and a Bachelors degree in Business Administration.
 

Mr. Keith Palmer
Chief Executive Officer, InfraCo
Mr. Palmer has held senior positions in the private sector, the public sector, academia and the voluntary sector. Mr. Palmer is the Chairman of InfraCo, a project development company which creates viable infrastructure investment opportunities in developing countries. Mr. Palmer is also the principal sponsor of AgDevCo, a new initiative which develops greenfield agriculture businesses in Africa. Other current positions include: Chairman of CEPA, an emerging markets consulting company; Chairman of Barts and the London NHS Hospital Trust; and Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee. Previous positions include: Executive Vice Chairman at Rothschild, the international investment bank; founder Chairman of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, a public-private infrastructure debt fund; and a board member of Guarantco, a public-private local currency guarantee fund focused on Africa.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Palmer worked at the World Bank, the IMF, as a contract public servant in the Ministry of Finance in Papua New Guinea, and as an advisor to the Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals in Tanzania. Mr. Palmer has particular expertise in restructuring and privatisation, public-private partnerships and public sector reform.
 

Mr. Hindolo Sumangure Trye
Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs
Mr. Trye is a long standing political activist who was educated at the University of Sierra Leone and graduated with a BSc in Sociology. He worked as a Journalist for several years before he moved to the United States of America where he was engaged in a number of economic and commercial activities.
He returned home in 1992 to serve as the Secretary of State for Information and Broadcasting and later as Secretary of state for Transport and Communication up to 1996.
He later engaged in the mining sector serving as a consultant to several monetary companies. He was appointed to Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs by HE President Ernest Bai Koroma’s in 2007. He is married with children.