Roberta Annan is the founder of Annan Capital and Africa Fashion Foundation. She is also an impact investor and a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Roberta has dedicated her career to the empowerment of women and to helping young African talent to develop their skills in entrepreneurship. A staunch advocate for Africa, she leads expansion projects for several multinational corporations and small to medium-sized enterprises in the continent.
In 2017 Roberta was appointed as Senior Market Liaison for Fieldstone Africa, the leading independent investment bank and financial services provider in energy and infrastructure. She continues to serve on numerous boards including The Frallain Group, Industrie Africa, Women’s Empowerment and Investment Group, Ghana France Business Club, The Rose of Sharon Foundation and the European Commission Devco Steering Committee for the International Colloquium for the Creative Economy. Her most ambitious project to date is IFFAC, the Impact Fund for African Creatives, launched in 2021 and on schedule to raise a €100 million fund to channel investment into small and medium-sized African creative and fashion enterprises. IFFAC has currently deployed €3 million into four businesses and an incubator.
Roberta is known as one of the most influential women in business in Africa. She has previously been named as one of the “20 under 40 Influential Business Leaders in Ghana” by Business World Ghana, the “40 under 40 Influential Business Leader in Consulting,” and the “100 Young Influential Africans.” She is the youngest African to be inducted into the African Leadership Hall of Fame. She is a member of the Trade and Investment Taskforce Committee for the B-20 (the private sector voice of the G20 nations), the British Fashion Trust and a lifetime member of The Invest Africa Club. She has been invited to be a member of the inaugural Advisory Council of Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design in London.
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Sountou Bousso is the Chief Executive Officer West Africa for Lagardère Travel Retail tasked to oversee the tremendous development and opportunity for duty free and travel retail in the region.
A Senegalese citizen, Sountou began his career in the agriculture-food industry as a consultant before joining the hospitality sector in France. In 2008, he joined the Elior Group where he held several management positions in operations.
In October 2013, Sountou joined Newrest Group International as Operations Director in Angola before becoming as its CEO in 2015. Under his portfolio, he subsequently managed New Caledonia, Cameroon, and Senegal for the Newrest Group.
A graduate of ESMISAB Brest engineering school and HEC Paris Business School, Sountou is passionate about Africa, etymology, and multicultural challenges.
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Abdeslam Azgoul has more than 20 years’ experience in travel food & beverage and retail. He began his career in Grupo Areas, joining Dufry in 2006 where he held roles from Head Controlling and Deputy COO Africa through to Deputy CFO for the Division EMEA. Moving on to join Servair/Gategroup as Global Director Performance and Controlling, Abdeslam spent the last four years as CFO Africa for this company, before rejoining Dufry as CEO Middle East and Africa in 2023.
Alongside a BA in Finance, Abdeslam has a postgraduate degree in International Commerce and a PMD from IESE Business School.
Dina El Sherif is the Commercial Development Director for Egyptian Airports Company (EAC), where she oversees communications, business development, contract negotiations and risk assessment.
In her role with EAC, Dina manages the closure of new business deals on behalf of the commercial department and plays an instrumental role in supporting the development and implementation of the company’s communications strategy.
Dina has helped organize a number of international events on behalf of EAC, such as the World Routes Development Forum. She was also the Project Manager for the Air Show (Avex 2010) at Sharm El Sheikh Airport. Dina has also served as a member of ACI Africa’s Economics and Environment committee.
Martina Bednarikova is IATA’s Economist for Policy Analysis where she is responsible for producing key advocacy and appraisals tools as well as analyzing the impact of regulations and market shocks on air transport.
Prior to joining IATA in 2017, her experience extends from the public sector, a research institute, an NGO, and consulting where she held a number of roles, including analyzing countries’ and regional bodies’ branding and advising clients on how to attract new business opportunities.
Martina holds a Master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of Economics in Bratislava and is currently doing a part-time Master’s degree in Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh.
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Nico Reifkogel is Director Business Development Sales at Gebr Heinemann, one of the world’s leading retailers and distributors in the international travel market. In his role, Nico is involved in international tender projects, the development of new business areas and the implementation of long-term growth strategies.
Nico joined the family-owned company in 2008 and has held various senior marketing positions over the years, including responsibility for Heinemann’s marketing strategy for Istanbul International Airport (IST). This, coupled with his experience in sales for the Northern Europe region, makes him an expert in the world of travel retail.
In addition to his day-to-day work Nico is actively involved in ANARA, the sub-committee set up by ACI Europe to discuss and formulate strategies on how to improve and diversify the array of non-aeronautical sources of airport revenues.
Nico holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Hamburg.
Manuel González is the Global Marketing Director for Travel Retail at Beam Suntory, a world leader in premium spirits. In his current role, Manuel oversees all the brand management and marketing activity of the entire Beam Suntory portfolio with a global scope for travel retail. In the last five years, he has managed to accelerate the brand building function with a special focus on innovation, and more recently Beam Suntory’s elevated shopper experiences at luxury boutiques.
With over fifteen years of experience across different industries, Manuel is a seasoned marketing expert in domestic, international and travel retail. Besides brand management, Manuel is also passionate about digitalization and sustainability, and is keen to drive this critical agenda and contribute to internal workstreams to generate a positive impact for the company and for society.
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Nicolas Bry is an innovation executive at Orange designing places where good innovation thrives. He currently helps 20 innovation managers at Orange Africa to develop their projects locally and mentors African entrepreneurs toward product-market fit.
Previously he created various open innovation programs: innovation with employees (Orange Intrapreneurs Studio), innovation with consumers (Imagine with Orange), innovation with entrepreneurs (Orange African Toolbox).
Incorporating the experience of 40 corporations, he wrote in 2019 The Intrapreneurs’ Factory, a practical guide to leverage intrapreneurship and innovation for your company. Passionate innovation speaker (TEDx) and lecturer (@Google Academy and Tech/Business Schools), ISPIM Prize laureate for innovation management in 2016, Nicolas is the author of the blog RapidInnovation.fr.
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Christy Tawii is a Research Manager at Euromonitor International. Her role is focused on researching industries such as travel & tourism, retailing, consumer foodservice, digital consumers, and consumer finance in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Prior to Euromonitor, Christy worked on consulting and research projects covering industries such as energy, manufacturing, and mining in Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Nigeria and Mozambique.
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Alasdair Dickinson is Director for Asia, Middle East and Africa at Beam Suntory, a world leader in premium spirits. He joined the Suntory group in 2011 and has held numerous commercial and brand advocacy roles spanning the globe.
Alasdair joined the world of travel retail in 2015, supporting the set-up of the newly formed Beam Suntory GTR function. Recently, Alasdair has relocated to Singapore where he heads up the commercial strategy and execution for Asia and MEA.
Believing the driving force of any organization to be people, Alasdair is also a passionate advocate of DE&I and co leads Beam Suntory’s mental fitness workstream with a focus on resilience, energy management and well-being.
