Panel -- Governance in Africa

Panel Summary:

Sustainable development in Africa can only arise with good governance and good leadership.  African leaders must enforce democracy, functioning rule of law, and a business climate conducive to economic growth. The success of the African leader is crucial for the lives of many in Africa. The African leaders in this panel will share their experiences in tackling major challenges in Africa such as:
  • fighting corruption as regards to drug and other product counterfeiting
  • policing and developing anti-corruption programs regarding economic and financial crimes
  • implementing public-private partnerships to improve Africa’s business and investment climate
  • restoring peace and democracy in an African nation
The panelists will also discuss how to do clean business in Africa that is profitable and provides social value. Most importantly, they will discuss how to equip future leaders with the knowledge and experience to solve some of Africa’s most pressing problems.

Omari Issa
Chief Executive Officer
Investment Climate Facility for Africa
 ICF Chief Executive Omari Issa has extensive business experience in the public and private sectors, in Africa and abroad.  He was previously Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Celtel International in the Netherlands where he oversaw Celtel operations in thirteen African countries.  He joined Celtel in 2000 as Senior Vice President, Business Development, and was instrumental in its growth across Africa. 

Prior to that Omari spent fourteen years with the IFC and six years with the World Bank. During this time he reviewed and appraised telecommunications projects in several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  He began his career in Africa working for the East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, where he rose to Deputy Chief Engineer and Chief of Long & Short Term Planning. 

In late 2006 he established a fully funded education foundation which will support girls from secondary school to graduation from well recognized universities.  Omari is a Tanzanian citizen and holds a BSc (Honours) from the Polytechnic of Central London as well as an MBA from Columbia University, New York.
Dora Nkem Akunyili
Director General
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
Nigeria
Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili (OFR), the Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), is an internationally renowned Pharmacist, Pharmacologist, Erudite Scholar, Seasoned Administrator, and a visionary leader.

Prof. Akunyili’s educational career started with her passing the First School Leaving Certificate with Distinction in 1966, and the West African School Certificate (W.A.S.C.) with Grade I Distinction in 1973 (both in Nigeria), which earned her the Eastern Nigerian Government Post Primary Scholarship and the Federal Government of Nigeria Undergraduate Scholarship respectively.  It is remarkable that throughout her high school career, Dora Akunyili was always first in her class - a record that has never been broken in the school to date.

Prof. Akunyili won the best student award in the school of Pharmacy in her very first year in the school and the Vice Chancellor’s Postgraduate and Research Leadership prize in Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences for 1984/85 and 1985/86 academic Sessions.

Prof. Akunyili holds a first degree and doctorate degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She was a Post Doctorate Fellow of the University of London and Prof. Akunyili is a Fellow of the West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists and a member of many learned societies, which include New York Academy of Science and International Narcotics Control Board.
 
She has since 1994 worked in various capacities for Nigerian government at local government, state, zonal and federal levels and the latest before her new position was as the Zonal Secretary of Petroleum Special Trust Fund. Prof. Akunyili was appointed the Chairman of West African Drug Regulatory Authorities Network (WADRAN) in March, 2006 and Vice Chairman of the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (IMPACT) on 15th Nov. 2006.
Fidel Abdelkerim Moungar
Ex-Prime Minister
Chad

Born in Doba, Chad, in 1951, and works as a Surgeon in France.  He is the Founder and Chair of ACTUS, Action for Unity and Socialism, represented in the National Parliament.

Former Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, he was elected Prime Minister in 1993 by the Sovereign National Convention, to form a transitional government.  Considered as a dangerous rival by the dictatorial presidency, and very much loved by the people, his government was stopped by a censure motion of the Conseil Superieur de Transition.

In 1996, for the same reasons, he was prevented from participating to the presidential elections.  He actively remains in the opposition, with high hopes for a better future through democracy in his country.
Ibrahim Lamorde
Acting Executive Chairman
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
Nigeria
Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), comes to his position as Acting Executive Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, with over 20 years continuous training and experience in policing and management.

Lamorde, 45, enlisted into the Nigeria Police in 1986, after obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology (1984) from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He was posted to the Niger State Police Command and served between 1987 and 1988 in Minna.  He was Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) in Rijau, Niger State between 1988 and 1989 and for four years (1989-1993), served as Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Niger State Command.

Lamorde was a pioneer officer of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police, created in 1993 and served in the premier anti-419 corps of the Nigeria Police until 2002. While still an officer of the SFU, he was deployed as Chief Investigation Officer of Ermera District of East Timor of the United Nations Civilian Police where he served creditably, between 2000 and 2001.  He was briefly Divisional Police Officer, Ojo, Ibadan, Oyo State and later deployed to the Force Headquarters, Abuja, from where was seconded as a pioneer officer and Director of Operations of the EFCC.

In the global pursuit of criminals, Lamorde has worked effectively with other government law enforcement agencies around the world, including the FBI, Metropolitan Police, US Postal Inspection Services (USPIS), Internet Crime Complaints Centre (IC3), the Dutch Police, German Police and the South African Police, among others.

Lamorde, a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), has attended several international training programmes, seminars and workshops where he delivered papers on the Nigerian fight against corruption, Advance Fee Fraud and other forms of economic and financial crimes.  He also attended a Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies course at the Harvard University in 2005.

 Lamorde would serve as Acting Executive Chairman of the Commission in the period Mr. Nuhu Ribadu would be away on course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.

Eric D. Werker
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School

Eric Werker is an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. His research explores the complex relationship between developed and developing economies.

Professor Werker has written on foreign aid, foreign investment, non-governmental organizations, outside financing of insurgency, AIDS, and refugees. His work has been featured in the Financial Times, Washington Post, BBC, NPR, and publications across the developing world.

Before joining Harvard Business School, Werker worked as an economist with the US Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation, analyzing foreign aid projects in Africa, Latin America, and Eurasia. He earned his Ph.D. and AB in economics from Harvard University.

In his spare time, he enjoys skiing, climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, and travel.