Services trade for development partnerships: Italy and Africa – session at the WTO Public Forum 2026

Born in Rome in September 1962, H.E. Mr. Luigi Maria Vignali  graduated in Political Science in 1987. He has served in the Italian Diplomatic Corps for over thirty years, holding different positions in a number of offices. Among others, he was appointed Coordinator of the Permanent Representation of Italy to the European Union in Brussels, Consul General in Jeddah, Head of the Recruitment Office and later Head of the Coordination Unit at the Secretariat General. After a year in a private company in the defense sector, where he served as diplomatic advisor of the CEO, he was in charge of the promotion of international sport events and later appointed Independent Performance Evaluation Body. In 2017 he became Director General for Migration Policies. In 2025 he was appointed as the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Special Envoy for Italian nationals detained in Venezuela.

H.E. Mr. Negus Kebede Kassaw is a Minister Plenipotentiary on WTO Affairs at the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva. He coordinates Ethiopia’s engagement with the World Trade Organization, including its WTO accession process, and represents Ethiopia’s strategic interests in the multilateral trading system. A career diplomat and international affairs professional with over two decades of experience, he has held senior leadership and policy positions at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director-General for Middle Eastern, Asian and Pacific Affairs and Advisor to the Minister on Economic Diplomacy. He has also served in Ethiopia’s diplomatic missions in China and Uganda. 

Luz Maria de la Mora is the Director of UNCTAD's Division on International Trade and Commodities. As a former Vice-Minister for International Trade and decades of government and private sector positions, Ms. de la Mora developed a career in international trade policy, negotiation, operations, and trade promotion. 

During her tenure as Vice-Minister for International Trade of Mexico from 2018 to 2022, Ms. de la Mora led Mexico's trade and investment policy, overseeing fourteen free trade agreements with 51 countries. To bolster Mexico's development, she steered discussions in the World Trade Organization, the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and Pacific Alliance, among others. She also coordinated policy dialogues and handled private sector consultations.

Ms. de la Mora holds a PhD in Political Science from Yale University, USA, a Master's degree in International Affairs from Carleton University, Canada, and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from El Colegio de México, Mexico.

She is fluent in English and Spanish, and proficient in French.

Mr. Oliveira-Gómez is the Director of the Division of Country Programmes at the International Trade Centre (ITC). Prior to this role, he served as the Director of the Division of Enterprise Competitiveness and Institutions (DECI) at ITC. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Oliveira-Gómez is an expert in drafting, managing, supervising, and evaluating multi-donor programs and projects. His career has centered on the creation, strengthening, and internationalization of SMEs, as well as the capacity-building of Business Support Organizations (BSOs) in developing and transition economies. Before joining ITC, Mr. Oliveira-Gómez held several key positions, including Assistant Secretary General for Structural Economic Transformation and Trade at the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Deputy Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency, and Deputy Minister in charge of Development Cooperation attached to the Presidency of the Dominican Republic. 

Mr. Antonio Brasca is a senior civil engineer with over 25 years of international experience in the design and supervision of large dams, hydropower plants, water supply and irrigation schemes. Since 2005, he has been Chief Hydraulic Expert at Studio Pietrangeli, contributing to the studies and design of more than 40 large dams and 30 hydropower projects worldwide. He has more than 20 years of experience as Project Director and Team Leader on major hydropower and dam projects, particularly in Africa. His expertise covers hydraulic and structural design, project and contract management under FIDIC conditions, and technical advisory services for internationally financed projects. He has served on expert panels for major infrastructure projects and has also taught at Sapienza University of Rome. Throughout his career, he has worked in more than 20 countries across Africa, Eastern Europe, South America and other regions. 

Gianfranco Previtera is the Vice President for International Market at Almaviva Group, Italy’s leading Information Technology company. A graduate in Statistical and Economic Sciences from the University of Palermo, he began his professional journey at IBM, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, eventually serving as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. Since joining Almaviva in 2012, he has been coordinating the group’s global expansion and managing its foreign subsidiaries. His core areas of expertise and strategic focus include digital transition, fintech solutions, the digital euro, and highly secure government infrastructure, with a particular specialization in international visa outsourcing operations and border management solutions.