Sara Olsvig is the International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Olsvig is a long-time Indigenous Peoples’ rights and human rights defender, and a politician who has served as member of the Parliament of Denmark (2011–2015) and the Parliament of Greenland (2013–2018). Sara Olsvig actively contributed to the work of the Constitutional Commission of Greenland as well as the Human Rights Council of Greenland. She recently served as a member of the UN Secretary General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, delegated by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Olsvig holds a Master of Science in Anthropology and is currently a PhD candidate, Institute of Social Science, Economics & Journalism at Ilisimatusarfik - University of Greenland. Olsvig is a recipient of the 2023 Womenomics Inclusion Award. Sara Olsvig is Inuk, and was born in Nuuk, Greenland, where she resides with her partner and their children.
Ms. Regina Akoth Ombam is the Principal Secretary, State Department for Trade. Ms. Ombam is a distinguished economist and public policy expert with extensive experience in economic modeling, trade policy, transport economics, health financing and strategic planning. Her career spans roles in both national, regional and global institutions. As a former Regional Health Financing Expert at the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, she played a pivotal role in advancing sustainable healthcare funding across member states in the African region. Her leadership as an EAC Health Financing Dialogue Facilitator saw her working alongside Ministers of Health and Finance to establish the region’s Health Financing Hub and advocate for increased domestic investments in health through high level health financing dialogues in the Regional Economic Communities ( EAC, SADC, IGAD, ECOWAS) in Africa. Previously, she served as Deputy Director for HIV Investments at Kenya’s National AIDS Control Council (NACC), where she was instrumental in mobilizing domestic and international resources for the HIV/AIDS program in the country as well as developing evidence based investment cases for health. Ms. Ombam also served as one of the Technical Experts at the Council of Governors Secretariat on matters Health Financing in the context of Devolution. Her advocacy efforts significantly influenced national, regional and global health financing frameworks and strengthened Kenya’s presence on global health platforms particularly when she served as the Vice Chair of the Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund and Advisor to the World Bank President and UNAIDS Executive Director on Sustainable Financing for Health. Ms. Ombam’s expertise extends across extensive macroeconomic and microeconomic analysis, implementation science, negotiations, results-based management and institutional governance. Her strategic insight has made her a key driver in enhancing trade policy, fostering public-private partnerships, and promoting economic integration across the continent, including engagements at the African Union, European Union and with other Bilateral partners. Ms. Ombam holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and a Master of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University. With a proven track record in economic policy and strategic planning her leadership at the State Department is instrumental in enhancing Kenya's trade environment, attract investment and strengthen economic ties both regionally and globally.
Kingsley Omeihe is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the School of Business and Creative Industries, where he serves as an Associate Lead for Research Impact. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Trust Studies. Kingsley holds an affiliated position as Chair of African Studies at the British Academy of Management. He is the author of Sage's Qualitative Research Methods for Business Students.
Emmanuel Omokhomion is a Senior Programme Analyst at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria, with over nine years of experience in data analysis, machine learning, and national statistics development. He has played a role in major national surveys such as the Nigerian Living Standard Survey and the General Household Survey, working closely with partners like the World Bank to improve data quality, accessibility, and use for evidence-based policymaking.
Emmanuel specializes in using data to solve real-world problems working with predictive models for economic indicators, visualizing insights through dashboards, and applying GIS tools for poverty and development mapping. His work has supported better decision-making across government and contributed to Nigeria’s efforts in strengthening data systems for sustainable development.
He is passionate about innovation, collaboration, and the use of technology to close data gaps in the Global South. Emmanuel holds a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Covenant University, Ogun Nigeria.
Dr Onabolu is the Convener and Pioneer President of the Network of Female Professionals in WASH in Nigeria (FEMinWASH), and the Strategy Advisor of WASHMATA Initiatives. Dr. Boluwaji Onabolu is a public health and Environmental Health Expert. Her career spans academia, the United Nations (UNICEF) and International and national NGOs in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa and South East Asia (Bangladesh). She has a Masters degree in Public Health, PGD in Epidemiology and PhD in Water Resources.
Dr Onabolu uses equitable access to Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) as her entry point to human, gender and youth rights She strongly believes that Global security cannot be attained without human security. As Project Manager of the 40-million-dollar DFID/UNICEF Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN) project; she contributed to the enhanced security and resilience of millions of vulnerable people and their communities by providing adequate and safe water for multiple uses and sanitation and hygiene at home, health centres and in schools. In addition to key initiatives at the strategic and policy level. Dr Onabolu was responsible for adapting and scaling up the Arsenic Village model for safe water delivery in Bangladesh, thereby reducing the exposure of many vulnerable populations to the debilitating and carcinogenic effects of arsenic in drinking water. She is currently working on the energy, food and water nexus and is a fellow/member of various professional bodies.
Chantal Ononaiwu is the Director, External Trade in the CARICOM Secretariat’s Directorate of the CARICOM Single Market and Trade, based in Barbados, where she leads the Directorate’s work pertaining to external trade negotiations and external trade policy.
She has served as a senior adviser to the Community on matters pertaining to international trade and investment, a negotiator for CARICOM in its external trade negotiations and has represented the Community in cases before the Caribbean Court of Justice. Ms. Ononaiwu has also served as a panelist in a WTO dispute. She lectures International Trade and Investment Law at the University of the West Indies.
Ms. Ononaiwu is admitted to practise law in Jamaica and Barbados. She holds a DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford, an L.L.M. from the University of Cambridge, and an L.L.B. from the University of the West Indies.
Ike Ononogbu is a Co-founder & CEO of SupplyNow; a sub-Saharan-focused startup that has built a platform to make procurement easier for corporations. The startup simplifies procurement by streamlining the end-to-end procurement cycle from Request for Quotes (RFQs) to delivery.
Ike, as a consultant, has worked on initiatives that have helped organizations in the EMEA region make informed decisions through the use of accurate, consistent, and complete data. Some of his notable projects include providing advisory services to the European Central Bank (ECB) BIRD project and putting together a Data Governance framework for The International Air Transport Association (IATA).
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Postgraduate Diploma in E-Technology from Greenwich University.
Catherine Onosealese is a policy professional working at the United Kingdom government department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Based in London, with an economic background she has experience working across four continents.
She is the United Kingdom Coordinator for the Youth Action Hub, an initiative launched at the 2018 Youth Forum by United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Co-Chair of the Young Woman Advisory Council and Former TuWezeshe Fellow at Forward UK, an African women-led organisation working to end violence against women and girls.
Dr. Elizabeth Ooi is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Finance at the University of Western Australia. Her areas of expertise are financial literacy and personal finance. Her research has been published in leading academic journals and cited by public inquiries and the financial press.
She previously worked in the financial services industry and has acted as a consultant to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), authoring several OECD reports on financial education for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia and financial inclusion and consumer empowerment in Southeast Asia.