Erastus Mwencha was amongst the first crop of civil servants handpicked to promote Africa's economic integration agenda. One of the first employees at the then Preferential Trade Area (PTA), Amb. Mwencha served as the Secretary-General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). In that role, he launched Africa’s first free trade area and the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), a multilateral investment guarantee agency.

After COMESA, Mwencha was elected Deputy Chairperson of the African Union and was the 'architect' of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Since leaving the African Union, he concurrently serves, notably,  as Board Chairman of Equity Bank, the Africa Capacity Building Foundation, and TradeMark East Africa.

Oliver Saasa is the Chancellor of Mulungushi University, Zambia and a Professor of International Economic Relations. He is also Chief Executive and Managing Consultant of Premier Consult Limited, a social, business and economic consulting Firm based in Lusaka.

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Before setting up his own firm, Prof. Saasa served for 12 years as the Director of the Institute of Economic and Social Research at the University of Zambia and was Head, Development Studies.

During his 21-year career with University of Zambia, he served in the University Senate and was a member of University Council committees. He was promoted to the rank of Professor in 1994.

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Fareed Arthur is an African integration expert with over 30 years of work in Asia, Africa, and Europe. He is currently head of the Ghana National AfCFTA Coordination office and is also a Senior Technical Advisor at the Ghana Ministry of Trade. He was a Strategic Advisor and deputy Chief of Staff at the African Union and helped develop the original AfCFTA concept.

He has extensive experience in African integration and development policy, with extensive exposure to Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Systems (SPMES), development finance, public and private sector intermediation, and project management. He has a PhD in Economics.

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Jacqui is a digital marketing strategist and coach who specializes in teaching entrepreneurs how to accelerate their business growth using digital marketing and sales automation. She is currently the Managing Director of Buyology Co. LLC, a Kenyan based startup that also assists companies to enhance their customer experience through mystery shopping concept and training. She created 10X Marketing for business owners and entrepreneurs keen to harness the power of social media marketing. She previously worked for Telkom Kenya, and for Simba Telecom. She went to the Strathmore Business School. 

Following his successful two-terms as the Deputy-Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Yonov was appointed Director-General and Chief Trade Negotiator of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations. He was previously Director of External Trade in the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Nigeria’s ambassador to the WTO, and Chair of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body. As Deputy Director General of the WTO, he was lauded for organizing the WTO's Eighth Ministerial Conference; a resounding success despite the stalemate of the Doha Round. He has a Ph.D. in Economics.

Dr. Matanda is Chief Executive of Morgenthau Stirling, Inc. He was one of the first Africans to be appointed Staff Director of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He has extensive trade, investment, and strategic communication experience from working in over thirty-eight developing countries for the African Union, COMESA, ECOWAS, UN, and USAID. His post-grad and doctoral qualifications are in American politics and international business.