Keynote Speaker

Prof. PLO Lumumba
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.
He is the immediate former Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya School of Law, a former Secretary of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission and a former Director of the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), (Now Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)). He is the Founding Trustee of the African Institute for Leaders and Leadership (AILL) and founding Chairman of the Association of the Citizens Against Corruption (ACAC). He was the Founding Dean, Kabarak University School of Law, a former lecturer at the University of Nairobi (UON), the United States International University (USIU Africa) and Widener University USA (Nairobi Summer School).
He is a renowned legal practitioner. He has written several books including: Criminal Procedure in Kenya, An outline of Judicial Review in Kenya, Kenya’s long search for a Constitution: The Postponed Promise and Judicial Review and Administrative Law. He has published numerous articles in refereed journals and several book chapters. He has also edited several Books including Devolution in Kenya (with Prof. Mbondenyi and Dr. Kabau), The Constitution of Kenya (Contemporary Readings) (with Prof. M.K. Mbondenyi and S.O. Odero). He has co-authored ‘The Constitution of Kenya 2010 An introductory commentary’ with Dr. Luis Franceschi. He has also co-authored several books on Ethics. His non-legal books include; Swearing by Kenya, A Call for Political Hygiene in Kenya, The Searching Soul, Sanitizing Kenyan Politics, Mhh Africa! (Kiswahili), Ang’o Marach (Luo) and Watim Ang’o (Luo). He has also co-authored thirteen (13) other Books on Integrity as School Series. He has recently ventured into fiction with his book ‘STOLEN MOMENTS’.
In 2004, he received commendation from the Kenya Scouts Association for service to the society. In 2011, Bishop Okullu of College of Theology of Great Lakes University of Kisumu awarded him the order of St. Pauls the Apostle for restoration of Good governance and right values in society. In 2012 the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities recognized him for valuable and exemplary contribution in the fight against corruption.
He has been named and recognized by the International Commission of Jurists (Kenya Section) and the Law Society of Kenya for his exemplary contribution to the legal profession. He was recognized by the Kenya-USA Association for the Martin Luther King Jnr., Leadership Award in 1996 and was the recipient of the 2008 Martin Luther King Africa Salute to Greatness Award by the Martin Luther King Jr. Africa Foundation. He has also been included in the Marquis Who’s Who in the World and is the Distinguished Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam for 2014. He was the 11th Kwame Nkrumah Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana in 2016. On 27th of May, 2017, he was invested Chief Tamba Taylor of Liberia for his Pan Africanist Activities. He was the 5th Abram Tiro Onkgopotse Lecturer at the University of Limpopo in South Africa for the year 2017. He was the 5th Apollo Milton Obote Lecturer for the year 2017. He was the Nelson Mandela Centenary Memorial Lecturer at Walter Sisulu University in South Africa in 2018. He was the 2nd Ray Phiri Memorial Lecturer at the University of Mpumalanga in 2019.
He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement for Patriotism and Advocacy by the African Forum – 2017. He was recognized by New African Magazine as one of the 100 most influential Africans in 2017.
In January 2018, he received the following awards and recognition:
- African Luminary Award by African Cultural Association in the United States of America.
- Freedom of the City of Lowell in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States of America for his role in the fight against corruption and bad governance in Africa.
- Recognition by the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States of America for exemplary work in the fight against corruption and bad governance in Africa
He currently practices Law with Lumumba and Lumumba Advocates and coordinates activities under the aegis of the PLO Lumumba Foundation.


Dr Taleb Rifai
Taleb Rifai was the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization heading the (UNWTO) since 2009 for two consecutive terms, ending in January 2018. Mr. Rifai has an extensive background in international and national public service, the private sector and academia.
Before his election as Secretary General of the UNWTO, he was Assistant Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), based in Beirut and Geneva .
Prior to assuming his responsibilities as an International public servant ( 2004 – 2018 ) in Beirut, Geneva, ( ILO ) and Madrid ( UNWTO ), Mr Rifai held several Ministerial portfolios in the Government of The HK of Jordan (1999 – 2004). First as Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, then in 2000 , Minister of Information and spokesman for the Government and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities. As Minister of information, he led the major restructuring of Jordan Television (JTV).
Prior to his ministerial responsibilities , Mr Rifai was CEO of Jordan’s Cement Company ( 1997 – 1999). As CEO of Jordan’s Cement Company, he successfully led the first large-scale privatization and restructuring scheme in Jordan during the 1990’s.
From 1995 to 1997 he was the first Director General of the newly established Investment Promotion Corporation of Jordan, after having served from 1993 to 1995 as the Director of the newly established Economic Mission of Jordan to the USA in Washington DC.
As an Architect and Urban planner, Mr. Rifai’s career for 20 years (1973 – 1993) was in Academia. As such he had the opportunity to teach at universities both in the USA and Jordan, where he helped establish the first Department of Architecture in Jordan at the newly established School of Engineering at the University of Jordan and consequently became the Director of “The Center of Consultations and Studies” at the University of Jordan.
Mr Rifai has a Ph.D. in Urban Design and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA, 1982, an M.A. in Engineering and Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology, IIT in Chicago, USA, 1979, and a BS.c. in Architectural Engineering from. the University of Cairo in Egypt 1973.
Taleb Rifai is a Jordanian, born on January 15 , 1949 in Cairo, Egypt. He is married to Nisrine Shawwa. They have 5 children: Nadine, Zeina, Zuhair, Hamzah and Sara.

Nardos Bekele-Thomas
NARDOS BEKELE-THOMAS is the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations (UN) in South Africa.
Last Three Positions Previously held:-
– Senior Director of the Office of the Secretary-General
– UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Kenya.
– UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Benin from November 2008 to September 2013; before then she served for over four years in Kenya as Deputy Resident Representative.
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.
Achievements
- Member of the Group of African Eminent Women.
- Recipient of the prestigious AU/DAF Award of “2015 Woman of Excellence” along with the President of Liberia and former President of Malawi.
- Recipient of the Living Legend Achiever’s Award in recognition of her service and leadership role in the promotion of sustainable human development globally, particularly in Africa.
Qualifications
- She holds a Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. Candidate Certificate in Economic Development, Monetary Economics and Econometrics from New York University (NYU). She is the author of several papers and monographs and she is fully bilingual in French and English.

Neeraj Vij
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.

Busisiwe Mavuso
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.

Bennie Van Rooy
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.

Mariam Kane-Garcia
Inspiring women to lead in the energy sector and industry at large to improve the imbalance of representation, is an ambition to be realised by all, according to Mariam Kane-Garcia, the newly appointed CEO and Managing Director of Total South Africa.
She grew up in West Africa – Mauritania and Côte d’Ivoire – and attended the ESCP Business School in Paris. She joined Total shortly after finishing at the ESCP in 2001, and has held a series of positions in finance, strategy, and business development at group offices in France, the UK, Singapore and Vietnam. In 2019, she moved to South Africa as Executive Vice President for marketing and services Southern Africa, and as CEO and Managing Director of Total South Africa.
In 2006, the company created its own Total Women Initiative for Communication and Exchange (TWICE) Network as a platform to help women find their way and fulfil their potential in the company, and Kane-Garcia herself set up the Twice Network for Total UK’s upstream operations.

Jon-Hans Coetzer
Jon-Hans Coetzer serves as the Chief Academic Office of the EU Business School Group.
He has over 18 years of experience as a senior academic leader in higher education specializing in Hospitality, Tourism and Business Management Studies. He served as Chief Academic Officer of Glion Institute of Higher Education, Academic Dean of IHTTI, Neuchâtel, as Academic Dean of the European University’s Swiss Campuses and he served as a member of the strategic management team. He has an established record of working with a variety of higher education partners including private and public universities in the United Kingdom and in the United States.
Jon-Hans has specific areas of expertise that include faculty development; effective learning design and high-impact educational practices; strategic planning; international education management; enrolment management; strategic partnership and research; accreditation; and strategic crisis management.
His research interests focus on the human-centred organizational development and instructional design for adult education.
Jon-Hans serves since 2016 as a member of the board of the World Communication Forum Association.

Maxim Behar
Maxim 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.
Mr. Behar is a polyglot fluent in Bulgarian, English, Czech, Polish and Russian.
One of his favorite rules in life is: If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough! He play drums, golf, jumps with parachute and adores rock music.

Phumlani M. Majozi
Phumlani M. Majozi is a political analyst and global markets researcher. His writings on socioeconomic issues have been published on New24, City Press, Politicsweb and BizNews. From March 2018 to May 2019, he hosted a current affairs show on Salaamedia radio and One Nation FM 88.9. The show covered South Africa and the rest of the African continent.
Here’s the link to his website: www.phumlanimajozi.com

Mbali Nwoko
Mbali 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.



Alderman James Vos
James Vos is the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities in the City of Cape Town. His portfolio comprises a combination of the Tourism, Enterprise and Investment Department with those of the City’s extensive Asset Management Departments which allows for important synergies and levers in driving economic growth in Cape Town.
He previously served as Member of Parliament in the National Assembly as the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Prior to this, he was elected as Councillor for nearly three consecutive terms and served in various capacities such as Portfolio Chairman and Sub-Council Chairman.
During his time as public representative, James received numerous civic awards such as the Melvin Jones Fellowship and International Merit Award, and was bestowed with Aldermanship, making him amongst the youngest to receive this life title.
James continues to work towards achieving inclusive economic growth, by strengthening partnerships with all stakeholders through a collaborative approach which provides a platform for the best ideas and initiatives that will work to improve the lives of residents through employment. James is further leveraging the City’s business systems and utilising smart real estate services to extract and maximize the economic and social return from City assets.

Glenton De Kock
“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.

Claudia Shilumani
Ms 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.



Clare Dewhirst
Clare 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.


Yomi Badejo-Okusanya
Yomi 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.

Octavi de la Varga Mas
Octavi de la Varga Mas is the current Secretary General of Metropolis.
Previously, he was the Executive Director of Metropolis, Head of the Europe and International Strategy Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Head of the Development Cooperation Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council and Executive Director of the Orientation and Coordination Office of the URB-AL III Programme. And he has also been the Head of the European Cooperation Office of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Coordinator of the Permanent Secretariat of the network Arco Latino, the Head of the European Union Unit of Intermón-Oxfam, Programme Information and Communications Coordinator of Oxfam International and Deputy to the European Coordinator of Frères des Hommes Europe. He is as well certified by the Observatory of the Decentralised Cooperation between the EU and Latin America as a trainer of trainers.
He has a degree in law, as well as a Master’s Degree in European Studies (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), a Post-Degree in International Humanitarian Aid (Universidad de Deusto) and a Post-degree in International Relations (Universitat de Barcelona).
His native tongues are Spanish and Catalan and he has a proficiency level in English and French. And he has working abilities in Portuguese and Italian.
Areas of expertise: European policies and institutions; European Programmes; Development cooperation; Decentralised cooperation; Management of transnational networks and lobbying; Fundraising; Strategic planning; Transnational projects; International Relations; Human rights; Social cohesion policies; Local public policies.

Arkadii Kiselev
Career experience – over 19 years.

Busi Ntuli
Busi Ntuli, Managing Director of TransAfrica Radio, has over 20 years’ experience in the African media and content development & syndication space. She is an entrepreneur and Co-Founder of TransAfrica Radio which was established in 2000. Transafrica Radio is a pioneering satellite and online African media company trusted by fans and artists to celebrate and promote quality African music and entertainment content.
Busi’s first stint in the media space started in 1995 at Gauteng’s first community radio station Voice of Soweto where she was a newsreader and presenter of a weekend breakfast show. In 1997, she joined Gauteng’s first regional radio station, YFM, where she presented an afternoon weekend drive time show until the end of 1999.
Over the years, Busi has received many accolades which include the winner of Women in Business and Government’s “Entrepreneur of The Year Award” (2005/6); Top 6 Finalist of Cosmopolitan’s Woman of The Year Award (2005), and winner of the South African Supplier Diversity Council’s Black Women Owned Business Supplier Award (2015).
She is a closet writer, lover of all things African and mother of three.

Emilia Saiz Carrancedo
Emilia Saiz Carrancedo is the current Secretary General of UCLG since her appointment in Hangzhou in December 2017. S
he has worked with the international movement of local and regional governments in different capacities since 1998, leading programmes and initiatives on institutional capacity building, the participation of women in local decision-making and decentralized cooperation.

Sithole Mbanga
Sithole 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.

Gugu Ntuli
Gugu holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Coventry Business School (UK), a BSc App. Sci & a B. Bus (International Business) degree from QUT (Australia), a Diploma in French from Sorbonne University (Paris) and a Certificate in Digital Marketing (UCT).
After several years in Media and Communication with the SABC, ABSA and Private Wealth Management, Gugu joined the NHS Institute at Warwick University (UK) as a researcher. She later moved to Leicestershire and Rutland Sport where she headed up their Performance division.
In 2008, she moved back to South Africa to take up a role as Deputy Director of Sport at Stellenbosch University. Nine months later she was appointed the CEO of SUSPI, where she helped transform the organisation during her 4 year tenure. She subsequently moved to Adidas Emerging Markets South where she oversaw Marketing, Communications incl Newsroom for Key African markets.
In 2017 she was appointed Executive Director Corporate Affairs for a mining firm, Kara Gold in Western Uganda before she joined SABC as the GE: Corporate Affairs and Marketing, in December 2019. She currently serves on several boards locally and internationally, including CASIDRA, and Tennis SA. Gugu has extensive Communications and Media experience across Africa including forging strategic international partnership and networks in key sectors on the continent.
Gugu is a Nelson Mandela Scholar, and has used her global communication skills to enhance reputations and brands of major international companies in West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. Gugu’s life philosophy centres around using her voice to bring about change on the content through communications. She believes that a sole focus on self demonstrates a certain poverty of ambition. One should ask more of oneself by connecting one’s efforts to something larger than yourself, in an effort to realize your full potential.

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa
Tshifhiwa 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.

Sampo Suihko
Sampo 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).
Previous Careers:
Prior to this he held positions as Deputy Mayor (Education and Cultural Services), Director of Development (Education and Culture)
Education:
He holds a Masters in Philosophy and Masters in Political Science

Cuthbert Ncube
Positions held to date:
• Executive Chairman – African Tourism Board
• CEO – Kwela Fleet Management, South Africa
• Owner & Managing Director – Golden Feathers Hotel, Cape Town
• Former Regional Vice President & Board Member of UNWTO
• Non-Executive Director – African Tourism Partners
• Non-Executive Director – Sustainable Tourism Partnership Programme
Cuthbert is a seasoned Tourism Executive and has held leadership positions within International and Regional Organizations. His mandate at the African Tourism Board is to leverage strategic relationships in the industry and beyond to unify Africa’s efforts in positioning herself as a Tourism destination powerhouse.
Cuthbert has had the honor to share his knowledge in the tourism industry as a Guest Speaker at various Local, Regional & International Conferences.
A passionate humanitarian, Cuthbert is involved in several community development initiatives in his personal capacity, and enjoys music and a spot of gardening during his free time.

Rob Davidson
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.

Regine Le Roux
Founder & Managing Director
Academic Qualifications: M.Com (Communication Management), University of Pretoria 2003.
Regine is a corporate reputation specialist. She completed her Communication Management Honours degree Cum Laude at the University of Pretoria in 2001, and completed her MCom within a year. Regine founded Reputation Matters in 2005.
Regine developed the Repudometer®, which is one of the first tools that has been developed to quantify an organisation’s reputation. Regine is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA) and sits on the advisory committee for the Western Cape.
Regine is the author of: Reputation Matters, Building blocks to becoming the business people want to do business with and writes a monthly column for Leadership Magazine.
