H.E. Sultan Ahmad Al-Aseeri is the Director of International Cooperation Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State. He is a prominent Qatari development leader with extensive experience in international development, humanitarian efforts, and foreign policy.
He has previously served as the Director of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), and he is key figure in Qatar's global outreach and commitment to sustainable development.
Vèna Arielle Ahouansou is a Beninese medical doctor and the CEO of Kea Medicals. In January 2017, she created the Kea Medicals Pharmaceuticals & Technologies software to digitise patient information.
An innovative woman, she says she was inspired by a loss of data that cost a patient her life while she was interning at the hospital. Her software, also available as a mobile app, has been welcomed by consumers in Benin and several other African countries.
Dr Arielle Ahouansou has won several awards, including the ‘Projet Afrique Future In Afrique’ prize in 2018 and the ‘Grand Prix 2019 de l'innovation’ organised in Paris.
She attended medical school in Parakou. During her studies, she taught herself about female leadership, management and community transformation, leading her to create the NGO Refled to help girls and women. At the end of her training, she prepared her thesis on the Beninese healthcare system.
Zahra Airall is a Master Teacher, Founder and Director of Theatre Programme at the Antigua Girls’ High School.
Zahra is a passionate theatre practitioner and writer in Antigua & Barbuda. She holds a Masters in Theatre from the University of Houston, and is the founder of Zee’s Youth Theatre, AGHS Honey Bee Theatre, and the adult group Sugar Apple Theatre Ensemble. As a social activist, Airall has used theatre as an advocacy vehicle and has been commissioned by both local and international bodies to shed light on social ills through theatre.
Mr. Aitaro holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and has served in many different capacities within the Ministry of State for nearly two decades. Positions included Administrative Officer of the Ministry of State Office, Foreign Service Officer Division of International Trade and Technical Assistance, Director of Bureau of Foreign Affairs, and his current position as Special Assistant to the Office of the President on Foreign Matters. Mr. Aitaro had also served include being a Koror State Legislator from 2006 to 2010 and serving as Political Affairs advisor at Japan Embassy in Palau from 2018 to 2019.
Dr. Giulia Ajmone Marsan is the Head of Startups and Digital Inclusion at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). In 2023, she was appointed Co-Chair of the G20/Startup20 Inclusion Task Force under India’s G20 Presidency. In 2024, she joined the G20/Startup20 ESG Task Force under Brazil’s G20 Presidency and currently serves as a Member of the G20/Startup20 International Secretariat under South Africa’s Presidency.
Prior to joining ERIA, Dr. Ajmone Marsan worked as an Innovation Economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
She holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Applied Mathematics from the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, and a PhD in Applied Mathematics and Economics of Complex Systems, jointly awarded by the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, France, and the IMT School for Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy.
After seven years of experiences in corporate and project financing at MUFG, he joined NEXI in 2003. Since then, he has led underwriting teams in the infrastructure, transportation, manufacturing, power, and mining sectors. His experience spans sovereign, corporate, and project finance loan insurance, as well as political risk insurance for equity and subordinated debt.
He led the corporate planning division, overseeing strategic policy and the agency’s mid-term and annual plans. He also developed a risk premium system for new products.
While seconded to the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of Japan, he coordinated overseas infrastructure business promotion. He helped develop untied loan policy guidelines under the LEAD initiative and enhanced loan insurance incentives for green innovation.
He was NEXI’s chief negotiator of the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, and organised multilateral meetings hosted by NEXI, including the BU RCG CEO Meeting (2020) and G7 ECAs CEO Meeting (2024). As a senior advisor, he oversees international and strategic policy issues. He served as Vice Chair of the ECA Committee (2022–2023) and is a member of the Management Committee.
He holds an MBA from the University of Manchester, an MSc in Development Finance from SOAS, University of London, and is currently a PhD candidate in Public Policy at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo.
Paul Akiwumi is the director of UNCTAD’s division for Africa, least developed countries and special programmes at UNCTAD.
He has a wealth of knowledge and extensive experience in the areas of political, diplomatic and development policy at the national, regional and global levels with governments, the private sector and civil society.
Previously, Mr. Akiwumi served as director of the economic, social and development affairs unit in the executive office of the secretary-general of the UN in New York. Prior to this role, he was the chief of staff in the office of the deputy secretary-general of the UN.
Before joining the UN, he was a senior advisor to the chief executive officer of the Global Environment Facility in Washington D.C. Earlier in his career, he served with the UN Environment Programme as chief of staff. He also worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Economic Commission for Africa.
He holds a master's degree from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.
Wisdom Akpalu is the Chairperson of the Governing Council of Ghana's Fisheries Commission. He is a professor at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the director of the Environment for Development initiative in Ghana (ENRRI-EfD Ghana), which Sida funds.
In addition, he is the President of the EfD Africa Hub Board of Directors, the Vice-President of the African Society of Ecological Economists, and an executive member of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET), representing the African Region. Before joining GIMPA, he was an Associate Professor of Economics and the Chair of the Economics Department at the State University of New York, Farmingdale, NY, and a Research Fellow at the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER).
He is an avid researcher interested in marine ecosystems' biophysical and economic dynamics. He has consulted extensively with several international organizations.
