60th anniversary speakers
Key speakers
![António Guterres](/sites/default/files/styles/speaker/public/speakers/ant%C3%B3nio-guterres-bw-200x257.jpg?itok=t06mrPmM)
![Rebeca Grynspan](/sites/default/files/styles/speaker/public/speakers/Grynspan-Rebeca_bw_200x257.jpg)
Key Speakers
All speakers
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José Antonio Ocampo is director of the Economic and Political Development Concentration in the School of International and Public Affairs, Member of the Committee on Global Thought and co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University. He is also the Chair of the Committee for Development Policy, an expert committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In 2012–2013 he chaired the panel created by the IMF Board to review the activities of the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office; in 2008–2010, he served as co-director of the UNDP/OAS Project on “Agenda for a Citizens’ Democracy in Latin America”; and in 2009 a Member of the Commission of Experts of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System.
Prior to his appointment, Ocampo served in a number of positions in the United Nations and the Government of Colombia, most notably as United Nations Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs; Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Chairman of the Board of Banco del República (Central Bank of Colombia); Director of the National Planning Department (Minister of Planning); Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Executive Director of FEDESARROLLO.
Ocampo has published extensively on macroeconomic theory and policy, international financial issues, economic and social development, international trade, and Colombian and Latin American economic history.
Peter Ogbu Okwoche is an award-winning broadcaster and journalist. He has been in the broadcasting industry for over 30 years, 19 of them with the BBC, where he was Senior Presenter for BBC World News television and BBC World Service Radio until 31 July 2023.
He was the main anchor for BBC Focus on Africa, the channels’ flagship African affairs programme broadcast around the globe. He also worked on several of the BBC’s flagship radio programmes like the World Today, Focus on Africa, Network Africa, and Fast Track, amongst others.
He is Nigerian but has spent an extensive amount of time travelling. He has been regularly deployed across Africa to cover major events, including major elections and sporting tournaments. He has interviewed many of the continent’s Presidents and Heads of States including those of Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi.
He has spoken to leaders of industry, politicians and other news makers across the world and is highly respected internationally in the profession he recently led the BBC’s biggest expansion across West Africa in 60 years, successfully launching three new services: BBC Pidgin, BBC Yoruba and BBC Igbo.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). She is an economist and international development expert with over 30 years of experience.
She was Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (2016 – 2020), the African Risk Capacity (2014 – 2020) and Co-Chair of The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. Previously, she served as Senior Advisor at Lazard and sat on the Boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala was appointed as an AU COVID-19 Special Envoy and WHO COVID-19 Special Envoy. Dr Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (2003-2006, 2011-2015), the first woman to hold the position, and spent a 25-year career at the World Bank rising to the No.2 position of Managing Director.
In 2020 Dr Okonjo-Iweala was named Forbes African of the Year. She has been ranked by Fortune as one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders (2015) and by Forbes as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World consecutively for four years. She holds a Bachelor’s in Economics from Harvard University and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Guy Bernard Parmelin is a Swiss Federal Councillor and head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
He has been a member of the Federal Council since 2016, when he took over as head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport. Since January 2019 he has been head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
He was president of the Swiss Confederation in 2021.
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Ms. Jessy Carmelle Petit-Frère is a professor, researcher and speaker at Université Publique du Sud au Cayes. She is also the Founder and Principal (Chief Executive Officer) of Executive Management Consultancy Inc. in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
Previously, she worked for the World Bank in the capacity of Project Management in the education sector. She is a private sector development specialist at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). She implemented a youth entrepreneurship program/small business development project in Comoros. In Haiti, she was Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry and worked to promote and foster the development of domestic commerce, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and industries.
As Minister of Haitians Living Abroad, she developed and implemented policies, programs, and services to facilitate the integration and involvement of Haitians living abroad. She has gained many professional experiences with leading international organizations. She conducted business missions to 43 countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia to negotiate projects and set up contractual agreements. She was a panelist at UNCTAD on Trade Capacity Building.
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Mr. José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs was appointed Executive Secretary of ECLAC by the United Nations’ Secretary-General on September 1, 2022. He took office as from October 3, 2022. Previously he served as Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Labour Organization (ILO) from 2015-2018. He joined the ILO in 2005 as Executive Director of its Employment Sector and served as Assistant Director General for Policy from 2013 to 2015.
Prior to joining the ILO, he served from 1998 to 2005 as Director of the Trade Unit of the Organization of American States. Mr. Salazar was Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica from 1997 to 1998, Executive President of the Costa Rican Development Corporation from 1988-1990 and Chief Economist and then Executive Director of a Central American private sector think tank (FEDEPRICAP) from 1990-1996. In the academic sphere, he is also the author of numerous journal articles on development, trade, productive transformation, competitiveness and employment policies, and has written and edited several books. He has taught at the University of Costa Rica, the National University of Heredia, Cambridge University and Georgetown University.
He holds a master’s degree in Development Economics and a doctorate in Economics from Cambridge University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Costa Rica.
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Nuno Sampaio was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation for the Government of Portugal on 5 April 2024.
Previously he served as Political Advisor to the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and was Advisor for Parliamentary Affairs to the former President, Anibal Cavaco Silva.
He was also Assistant Professor, Integrated Researcher, Head of International Programs and Vice-president of the Strategic Council at the Institute for Political Studies of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon.
Mr. Sampaio holds a PhD and Master’s in Political Science and International Relations; undergraduate degree in International Relations.
Ian Saunders is Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO). He took office on 1 January 2024.
Prior to joining the WCO, Mr. Saunders worked as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In this role, he was responsible for developing programmes, policies and strategies designed to strengthen the United States’ commercial position in this region of the globe.
Mr. Saunders spent most of his career with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where he held several senior positions including Assistant Commissioner for International Affairs, Deputy Assistant Commissioner for International Affairs, and Acting Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner for Operations Support. Earlier in his tenure at CBP, he was Director of International Policy and Programs, Director of International Training and Assistance, and held several staff positions working on bilateral, regional and multilateral portfolios. Mr. Saunders entered the U.S. Government Senior Executive Service in 2008.
He has undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Affairs from Georgetown University in Washington DC, and has attended executive courses at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the American University.
H.E. Dr. Younes Sekkouri has been the Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment, and Skills in the Kingdom of Morocco since October 2021.
He holds a Ph.D. in Strategy from ISCAE (Institut Supérieur de Commerce et d’Administration des Entreprises) and two Executive MBAs from Ecole des Ponts Business School and the Fox School of Business at Temple University. He is a state engineer in telecommunications and graduated from the Institut National des Postes et Télécommunications (INPT). He is a laureate of the ASPEN Institute in Paris in leadership.
Prior to his appointment, Dr. Sekkouri was Dean of the Africa Region of the Ecole des Ponts Business School. He is also an expert in the UN Economic Commission for Africa in the areas of economic and industrial policies and structural change.
Dr. Sekkouri has developed significant research, teaching, and consulting experience in the United States, Europe, and Africa in the areas of corporate strategy, leadership, innovation, and public policy design.
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