John Kaninda (DR Congo)   is a lawyer with multiple experience in the media sector and in  diplomatic and business analysis and operations. He studied law at the university of Lubumbashi (DR Congo) and business and economics at Rhodes University (SA). He was a partner in leading law firms in Kinshasa (DRC) before entering into journalism, focussing on business developmnent for Summit TV, Radio France Internationale and several publicaitons, and finally becoming diplomatic editor of the leading South-African business daily Business Day.  Thereafter he joined Beachhead, an international firm specialised in investor relations.           John now heads his own public and investor relations company, Daima Communications, and looks after the interests of mining companies active in the DR Congo and Zambia. He also edits Partners In Development, the Development Bank of Southern Africa's quaterly publication, which focuses on development issues across the African continent.

Prof.dr. John Luiz (South-Africa)   is the author of ‘Doing Business in Africa’, a leading analysis of doing business in emerging markets. He has a PH.D. in economics from the University of Stellenbosch (SA) and is a professor at the WITS Business School specialising in international business. He was previously Executive Dean of the Faculty of Management at Johannesburg University. He worked as a consultant to the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Industrial Development Corporation, the Department of Trade and Industry, the US Agency for International Development, and the Johannesburg Development Agency and the Centre for Development and Enterprise, as well as for several leading multinational and South African corporations and public entities. He is widely published in leading international publications.

John H E Maré (South-Africa)   has been for many years a senior diplomat with postings i. a. in Tokyo, New York (UN) and Brussels (EU). As Director for Central and Eastern Europe in the Department of Foreign Affairs he had a major role in developing relations with these countries in the post-1990 period, and while in Brussels was a key negotiator for the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and SA, as well as for coordination with the ACP countries. Since 2000 he is an adviser on public affairs, strategic partnerships and the business-enabling context. He studied international relations, negotiations and economics with the Universities of Witwatersrand (SA), South Africa (SA), Harvard (USA), and John Hopkins in Bologna (I) , obtaining a DLitt et Phil in international relations. He has ia advised multinational companies, NEPAD and the UN, and lectures at universities in SA and Europe.

Jacqueline Musiitwa (Zambia, Uganda)   is the Founder and Principal Attorney at Hoja Law Group where she represents clients in corporate and intellectual property transactions. Jacqueline has worked for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in San Francisco and Denton Wilde Sapte (Corpus Globe Advocates in Lusaka, Zambia). She founded and acts as Executive Director of Transitional Trade, an organisation that promotes social trade, investment and entrepreneurship in post conflict countries and within transitional communities. She is an Adjunct Professor of International Law at Central Michigan University and also of Sociopolitics and Economics at Drexel University. She studied Political Science and International Studies at Davidson College (United States) and law at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University (Australia).

Dr. Stefan A.V.J.G. Schepers (Belgium)   was Director general of the European Institute of Public Administration (Maastricht, Netherlands), before co-founding EPPA, a Brussels based consulting firm specialised in political and regulatory risk and opportunity management, of which he is still a partner. He studied law and European Studies at the Universities of Leuven (Belgium) and Strasbourg (France) and obtained a PH.D. in political science at the University of Edinburgh (Great-Britain). He has advised the EU Commission and several EU governments, and presently consults leading multinational companies on the development and implementation of innovative and socially responsible lobbying strategies. He represents AEAC in Brussels.

Yusuf Abebe J. Turundu (Nigeria)   is an expert on public-private partnerships and on development and integration processes. He combines a business management background as executive of several media companies in his home country, with extensive public sector experience as Head of Public Affairs at OPEC Secretariat in Vienna. This position gave him a close working relationship with various UN organisations, in particular UNIDO and IAEA. He later became an advisor to the African Busines Round Table and Coordinator for the Private Sector at the NEPAD Secretariat. He studied social sciences, communications, and international relations and political economy at the Ahmadu Bello University of Zaria (Nigeria) and the Universities of Leicester and Kent (UK). Chairman of AEAC Ltd.