Naa Densua Aryeetey is currently the Chair of the Trade and Gender Subcommittee, of Ghana’s National Trade Facilitation Committee. She is the Vice President (Maritime) of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the Global Advisor of the Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT).

She is a trained Professional in Trade Facilitation, Trade and Gender, and Trade, Investment, and Climate Change. She holds a Master of Science degree in Maritime Affairs from the World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden, and other professional qualifications.

Naa Densua, worked with the Ghana Shippers’ Authority for almost 30 years dealing with the large, medium, and small-scale importers and exporters to bring solutions to their shipment challenges. She is the founder of the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Ghana, and a former Director of WISTA International.

Masatsugu Asakawa is the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors. He was elected President by ADB’s Board of Governors and assumed office on 17 January 2020. In August 2021, he was reelected for a 5-year term starting on 24 November 2021.

Prior to joining ADB, he served as Special Advisor to Japan’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and has a close-to-four decades’ career at the Ministry of Finance with diverse professional experience that cuts across both domestic and international fronts.

Mr. Asakawa’s professional experience extends beyond the realms of the Japanese government. Most notably, he served as Chief Advisor to ADB President Kimimasa Tarumizu between 1989 and 1992, during which time he spearheaded the creation of a new office focused on strategic planning. Also, he had frequent engagement with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in such positions as Chair for Committee on Fiscal Affairs (2011–2016). Furthermore, he was a senior staff at the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF (1996–2000). In the meantime, he gave lectures as Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Economic Science, Saitama University (2006–2009), and at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo (2012–2015).

Mr. Asakawa obtained his BA from University of Tokyo (Economics Faculty) in 1981, and MPA from Princeton University, USA, in 1985.

Dr. Ben K. D. Asante is an Oil and Gas Engineer and the CEO of the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) since 2017. Dr. Asante has more than 30 years global experience in the Oil and Gas industry.  Dr. Asante is also a lecturer at the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and a former Operations and Technical Director of Ghana’s premier Gas Infrastructure Project which birthed Ghana Gas’ Atuabo Gas Processing Plant and allied gas infrastructure in the Western Region. Dr. Asante has provided Consulting, Engineering services, Project Management, and technical support for various projects throughout the world, as well as institutions including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB).  Dr. Asante holds a BSc. in Chemical Engineering from KNUST, Ghana and an MSc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada. He also obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Imperial College, London University of Calgary, where he later taught Gas Processing and Pipeline Engineering.
 

Regina Asariotis is Chief (a.i.) of the Trade Logistics Branch in the Division on Technology and Logistics of UNCTAD with responsibility for UNCTAD’s related work, including coordination of the UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2025. She is also Chief of the Policy and Legislation Section, with responsibility for UNCTAD's work on transport law and policy.

Before joining UNCTAD in 2001, Regina was a Senior Lecturer in Maritime Law at the University of Southampton and a member of the Governing Board of the Institute of Maritime Law, an internationally leading centre for research and teaching in the field.

She holds a German law degree (Bavaria), an English LL.M (Soton) and a German doctorate in Maritime Law (Dr. jur., Hamburg) and is a practising Barrister (England & Wales), an Attorney at Law (Greece), as well as Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb).

Michael Ashby is head of sustainability reporting frameworks at the Department for Business and Trade. Working closely with HM Treasury and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, his team is responsible for endorsing use of the International Sustainability Reporting Standards in the UK, their interaction with Transition Plan disclosures and the future of the UK’s assurance regime for sustainability information. Prior to his current role, Michael worked on a range of tax and financial services policies within HM Treasury.

Dr. Geraldine Asiwome Adiku is a departmental lecturer at the department of Sociology University of Ghana. Her research areas include: ‘Global South’ to ‘Global North’ migration, African migration, migration and development, migration industry, transnational families, remittances and other transnational transfers.

Her previous research has explored themes such as the role of ‘door-to-door’ shipping operators in Ghanaian international migration, the role of reverse remittances in the lives of African migrants in the West and how African states engage their Diaspora for development in the age of social media. Her current research explores the identity formation of second-generation immigrants on the African continent.

He is the Chief of the Human Resources Development Section - TrainForTrade at the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

With over 25 years of experience in international trade, he leads global programmes in port management, trade statistics, e-commerce and the digital economy. He is a strong advocate for digital innovation, capacity building, and SDG 17, and he champions sustainable, inclusive trade policies and international cooperation. He started his career in the United Nations as a Junior Professional Officer for Belgium in 1998 based in West Africa.

He holds a master’s in economics from the Free University of Brussels (Belgium).

H.E. Dr. Fitsum Assefa Adela is Minister of Planning and Development of Ethiopia.

She is at the centre of the country's key development planning and policymaking office and exerts leadership in economic policies, plans and programs, including the crafting and implementation of Ethiopia's home-grown economic reform and its ten-year development plan.

She is core member of the National Macroeconomic Committee, the government's representative in the Independent Council of Economic Advisors, and a board member of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

Dr. Fitsum was previously a professor for more than a decade at Hawassa University in Ethiopia, where she conducted several impactful interdisciplinary studies focusing on environment and development, technology adoption, and poverty analysis with a focus on institutional factors.

His Excellency Azali Assoumani is a Comorian politician and military officer who has served as President of Comoros since April 2019. He was also president from 2002 to 2006 and from 2016 to February 2019. Between the years 1977 and 1980, Mr. Assoumani trained at the Royal Military Academy in Morocco and became a parachutist. He pursued a military career for two decades, completing further training at a French military academy in 1996, where he was promoted to colonel and chief of staff of the new National Development Army (NAD of Comoros). He retained this position until he became president of the Comoros Council of State in 1999.

Dafina Atanasova is an international investment law and policy expert, part of the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) International Investment Agreements (IIA) team. In her role, Dafina provides policy advice to governments on the reform of their investment treaties and approaches to investment dispute settlement; she conducts research and analysis on international investment policies for UN Trade and Development’s flagship publications and databases; and she contributes to such forums for consensus-building on sustainable investment policies as the World Investment Forum or the UNCTAD Platform for IIA Reform. Prior to joining UNCTAD, Dafina held advisory, academic and legal practice positions in international commercial and investment law across Europe and in Asia. She is a Bulgarian national and holds a PhD from the University of Geneva.