Africa Business Conference
2101 HBS Student Mail Center
Boston, MA 02163

© 2008 ICG Link, Inc.

Developing Leaders For Africa

Moderator: Sandra Sucher
Coordinator: Eme Udoma

	Roland Akosah Founder and CEO, International, Ghana Roland O. Akosah is currently based in Ghana, and is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of ENO International, a diversified firm involved in farming, information technology, commercial real estate, pharmaceuticals and financial services. He holds an MBA from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania (1989) and Bachelor of Arts (Economics & Statistics) from the University of Ghana (1984). Mr. Akosah has traveled extensively around the world, and prior to striking off as an entrepreneur, had professional experience at IBM, United Technologies Corporation and Sallie Mae in the United States. Mr. Akosah is also a Fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative, a program run under the auspices of the Aspen Institute, which seeks to develop the next generation of African leaders.

	Ambassador Princeton Lyman Adjunct Professor, Council on Foreign Relations Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman is an adjunct senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Ambassador Lyman’s career in government included assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa (1981–86), U.S. ambassador to Nigeria (1986–89), director of refugee programs (1989–92), ambassador to South Africa (1992–95), and assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs (1996–98). He served as director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1976 to 1978. From 1999 to 2003, he was executive director of the Global Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute. Ambassador Lyman is a member of several boards, including the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Fund for Peace, the George Washington University Africa Center for Health and Human Security, and the board on African science academy development for the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the African Advisory Committee to the United States Trade Representative. Ambassador Lyman has a PhD in political science from Harvard University. He has published books and articles on foreign policy, African affairs, economic development, HIV/AIDS, UN reform, and peacekeeping. He has published op-eds in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, and International Herald Tribune. His book, Partner to History: The U.S. Role in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy (U.S. Institute of Peace Press), was published in 2002. He was co-director of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force Report, More Than Humanitarianism: A Strategic U.S. Approach Toward Africa, issued in 2006, and co-editor of Beyond Humanitarianism: What You Need to Know About Africa and Why It Matters (Council on Foreign Relations) published in 2007.

	Nuhu Ribadu Visiting Fellow, Centre for Global Development (CGD), Washington DC Nuhu Ribadu is a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), Washington DC. His work at the Center, which began in April 2009, is to draw lessons from his experience for combating corruption worldwide and to provide fresh thinking on the role of international institutions in this fight. Before joining CGD, Mr. Ribadu was head of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from 2003 to 2007. He served on several economic and anti-corruption commissions and was a key member of Nigeria’s economic management team that drove wide-ranging public sector reforms. He was awarded with the World Bank’s Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service in recognition of his efforts. Prior to leading the EFCC, Mr. Ribadu spent 18 years in the Nigerian police force. A lawyer by training, he received his Bachelors and Masters in Law from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria. Mr. Ribadu is also a Senior Fellow at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University in the UK.

	Obiageli Ezekwesili Vice President of Africa Region, World Bank Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili has been the Vice President for the Africa Region since May 01, 2007. Oby joined the Bank from her most recent position as Minister of Education in the Government of Nigeria and with a rich mix of experiences in the private sector and civil society. Ms. Ezekwesili began her career as an auditor and management consultant with focus on financial planning, SME financing, audit and regulatory compliance in Delloitte & Touche. She served as one of the founding Directors of Transparency International as Director for Africa from 1994-1999. She worked with Professor Jeffery Sachs as the Director of the Harvard - Nigeria Economic Strategy program between 2000 and 2002 during which time she was also appointed as an aide to President Obasanjo. In 2003, she went on to serve as Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence. In this capacity, Ms. Ezekwesili spear-headed institutional reforms through the establishment of “Due Process” mechanisms and strategies resulting in markedly reduced procurement costs to Government projects and turnaround time for completion of Government projects while improving transparency. As Minister of Solid Minerals, Ms. Ezekwesili provided leadership in the drafting and subsequent passage of the Minerals and Mining Act, the establishment of the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office and the opening of the mining sector to private participation. Ms. Ezekwesili also served as the Chairperson of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative from 2004 and pioneered the voluntary sign-on of Nigeria to the EITI ++ Principles as well as the first ever process, financial and physical audit of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. As a member of President Obasanjo’s Economic Team, Ms. Ezekwesili was responsible for developing the government’s overall comprehensive anti-corruption, transparency and good governance strategy and it was in this capacity that she negotiated the partnership between Nigeria and the G8 known as the “Compact to Promote Transparency and Combat Corruption: A New Partnership between the G8 and Nigeria” signed by Presidents Bush and Obasanjo during the Sea Island meeting of the G8 in June 2004. Ms. Ezekwesili served as Nigeria’s Minister of Education from June 2006 to April 2007 with the task of leading a comprehensive reform program within the education sector. During this period, she restructured and refocused he ministry for the attainment of EfA targets and MDGs. She also introduced the Public Private Partnership models for education service delivery; revamped the Federal Inspectorate Service as an improved quality assurance mechanism and introduced transparency and accountability mechanisms for better governance of the budget. Ms. Ezekwesili commitment to the transformation of Nigeria as one of the 20 largest global economies by 2020 through education led to the launch of the Innovation & Vocational Enterprise Institutions initiatives with focus on human innovation capacity development as well as the launch of the “Adopt-A-School initiative in conjunction with the Nigerian Stock Exchange in January 2007. Ms. Ezekwesili is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Masters in International Law & Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, a Masters in Public Policy & Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a Bachelors degree from the University of Nigeria. In 2006, Ms. Ezekwesili was given the national award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR). She is married and has three sons

	Sandra Sucher - Moderator MBA Class of 1966 Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School Professor Sandra Sucher joined the faculty of Harvard Business School after 25 years in industry and nonprofit management. Presently, she teaches and leads the required course, “Leadership and Corporate Accountability” and also teaches and leads "The Moral Leader" – an elective in the MBA curriculum. Her current research focuses on moral leadership, learning through literature, and the management of differences. Professor Sucher has also published two books on the Moral Leader course. From 1986 until 1998, Professor Sucher worked at Fidelity Investments serving at various times as Vice President of Corporate Quality, Vice President of Retail Service Quality and Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to Fidelity, Professor Sucher spent 10 years in fashion retailing at Filene's, a Boston-based department store chain. She wrote the proposal, approved by Federated Department Stores, to expand Filene's Basement from a single store to a national chain and led a reorganization of the business, creating a separate career path for store management executives. In her last assignment, as Vice President of Customer Service, she improved customer service for Filene's then 14-unit regional business. Professor Sucher's Board assignments include: Board of Governors - Harvard Business School Association of Boston (2000 - 2005); Director of Port Financial (2000 - 2003); Chairman of the Better Business Bureau (1994-1996); Director of The Eliot Bank (1986 -1990); Radcliffe Management Seminars Program Advisory Board (1980 - 2000); and Director of the National Coordinating Council on Drug Education (1972-74). Professor Sucher received her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1976 with first- and second-year honors; she also earned a Masters of Arts in Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA from the University of Michigan.