Dr Salifu received his first degree from the University of Cape Coast with a BSc Degree in Applied Zoology and a Diploma in Education. He continued his education at the University of Ghana graduating with an MSc in Agricultural Entomology. The desire to make good his dream of becoming an accomplished scientist took him to the University of London, United Kingdom, where he enrolled for the PhD programme in 1982, completing with specialisation in Agricultural Entomology.

Today he occupies the topmost position at Ghana's biggest R&D institution - CSIR and has made significant contributions in the areas of agricultural research

Dr. A B Salifu, Director General
Council For Scientific & Industrial Research Ghana (CSIR)
Chairman’s Remark
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 09:00 AM

Influential global agriculture development and human rights expert with more than 35 years of experience in developing policies and programs, agricultural education, rural development, collaborating across political organizations at the local, state and international level.  Prior to accepting appointment as Minister of Agriculture in 2009, Dr. Chenoweth was Distinguished International Visitor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and Managing Director of the Wisconsin Human Rights Initiative.  Previously she was Director of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) New York Liaison Office and Representative to the UN between 2001 and 2007.  Earlier, Dr. Chenoweth worked with FAO in South Africa and The Gambia and served as chief of party and advisor in Zambia.  The Minister started her career in Liberia, where she worked in the Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture, where she became Liberia's (and Africa's) first female Minister of Agriculture at the age of 32, serving from 1977 to 1979. Dr. Chenoweth earned her doctorate in Land Resources at University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she has also been awarded Honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Human Letters. 

Hon. Dr. Florence Chenoweth, Minister
Ministry of Agriculture of Liberia
Role of Oil Palm Investments and Investors in Rural Prosperity Building and Food Security
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 09:40 AM

Mr. Stephen Kumadoh is a Principal Valuer at the Land Valuation Division of the Ghana Lands Commission. Being a Land Economist he is an estate and valuation surveyor. Much of his work focuses on valuation of landed property where he has acquired considerable experience through several years of professional practice. Being a Public Valuer his professional practice is largely with respect to government compulsory acquisitions of land for its developmental projects. He is also involved in project design and management. He is a key player in the management of Ghana’s Land Administration Project which is in the second phase of implementation. He is also involved in the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP) where he is specifically tasked to provide leadership in matters connected with land.

Mr. Stephen Kumadoh, Principal Valuer
Lands Commission, Ghana
Land Banks & Availability for Rubber & Palm Oil Investments in Ghana
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 10:40 AM

Supramaniam R Ramasamy commenced his plantation career in 1984 with Highlands and Lowlands Sdn Bhd and subsequently with Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd. in Malaysia. In 1995 he joined Agro Hope Sdn Bhd and subsequently rising to be the Director - Operations of Malaysia and Indonesia. In early 2010 he was requested to Head the Felda Global Plantations. Currently he is serving with Olam International Ltd as the Global Head of Plantations.

Supramaniam R Ramasamy was educated at Agricultural University of Malaysia graduating in B Sc Agricultural Science and Masters in Plantation Management. He went on to do his Management Program at Graduate School of Business at University of Chicago.

He is a member of the Incorporated Society of Planters, Malaysian Soil Science Society and Malaysian Institute of Management.

Mr. Supramaniam R. Ramasamy, Global Head of Plantation
Olam International Ltd
Developing Large Scale Sustainable Palm Oil Plantations in Gabon
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 02:00 PM

Henri, Associate VP of Government Affairs is an accomplished agriculturist, manager and successful business man with at least 3 decades of experience , local and at international level. He obtained hi Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture from the University of Liberia in 1976 and then worked for Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation doing extensive work on soil analysis around the country. Later he worked with Liberia Coffee and Cocoa Corporation and then in 1980 with the Firestone Rubber Company as a liason between local farmers and the company providing loan and technical support.

Henri is also a successful entrepreneur who has his own marketing and insurance business in the US for the last 12 and half years

Mr.. Henri Harmon, AVP, Government Affairs
Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc. (GVL)
Liberia - Sustainable Oil Palm Development - An Operator’s Perspective
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 02:40 PM

Patrick Caulker is the CEO of Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency, established in 2007 as the country’s official agency to assist and inform investors and exporters about investment and export opportunities. All key sectors are strongly promoted with agriculture being vibrant sector currently commanding about 40% of the investment projects in SLIEPA’s pipeline. Sierra Leone government has launched targeted strategies for investments in sugarcane and palm oil.

Mr. Patrick Caulker, Chief Executive Officer
Sierra Leone Investment & Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA)
Sierra Leone - Palm Oil Plantation Experience
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 04:00 PM

Eric was educated at Achimota School, Legon Presec, the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS), all in Ghana, and the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).

He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1993 and is a practicing member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) Ghana. He also holds an Executive MBA from CEIBS.

He has over the years acquired a rich experience in auditing, accounting, finance and general management having worked with Coopers and Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), a firm of chartered accountants in Accra as an audit manager/consultant, DHL Ghana Limited as a finance manager and as finance director of Carson Products West Africa Ltd (now Loreal West Africa).

He is currently the general manager of Norpalm Ghana Limited, an oil palm plantation/processing company in the western region of Ghana, where he has supervised the transformation of the company from a divested loss-making state enterprise into a vibrant and profitable private sector venture.

Mr. Eric A Anang, General Manager
Norpalm Ghana Ltd / Norpalm AS
Logistics Challenges – From Getting the Fruit from Local Outgrowers to Processing Mills to Refineries or Ports
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 04:30 PM

 

Dr Dery is Principal Research Scientist for Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Ghana) and Director for the Oil Palm Research Institute. He obtained his highest education PhD in Entomology from the University of Wales, U.K.

Dr . Sylvester Dery,
Council For Scientific & Industrial Research Ghana (CSIR)
Chairman’s Introduction
Day 2 [Thu 06, September], at 08:00 AM

Doug Hawkins has combined a 30 year career in equity capital markets, both as a sector analyst and investment banking business generator, with a lifelong involvement with agriculture, first in the NZ dairy sector and for the past 25 years farming beef under an organic system in England. Coupled with direct operational experience of farming, Doug has developed a worldwide network of contacts in the producer sector and with key players throughout the value chain. Doug's capital markets experience was developed at James Capel & Co [where he and Roger Hardman were colleagues] during the 1980s and with Nomura International in London during the 1990s and first half of this decade. At Nomura Doug was variously head of the International Telecommunications Research Team, head of International Logistics Research Team, Head of International Equities Research and a member of the Investment Banking team. At Hardman & Co, Doug is developing a research and consultancy franchise centred on agricultural land & agri-business investing.

Mr. Doug Hawkins, Partner
Hardman & Co
West African Oil Palm: Country Risk v Execution Risk
Day 2 [Thu 06, September], at 08:10 AM

Marc holds an M.Phil. in Environmental Management from the University of Stellenbosch’s School of Public Management and Planning in South Africa. His professional interests include environmental impact reporting for linear, mining, energy and large infrastructure projects, and in more recent year’s numerous commercial agriculture and forestry projects – specifically palm oil, forestry and biofuel projects throughout Southern and West Africa. Before entering the private consulting industry he gained extensive experience in the Environmental Impact Assessment regulatory field whilst in the employ of the South African government. Marc has been active in the consulting field for 6 years of which the last 3 have been in the employ of CES. He is currently managing the EIA processes for numerous renewable energy, commercial agriculture and biofuel developments, as well as various mining projects throughout Africa.

Mr. Marc Hardy, Principal Environmental Consultant
Coastal & Environmental Services
Environmental & Social Impact Assessment for Palm Oil Projects in Africa
Day 2 [Thu 06, September], at 08:40 AM

Dr Michel Cazemajor, Ph D in genetics from University “Pierre et Marie CURIE”, Paris France.

He worked for 15 years on the evolution of the genome and physiology under high selection pressures. Now works for PalmElit at the Pobè Agricultural Research Center on Perennial Plants in Bénin (CRA-PP), as oil palm breeder. He is involved on the production of commercial seeds and makes the link between the academic research programs on oil palm and the amelioration programs of palm tree conducted by PalmElit – CIRAD and CRA-PP.

Dr . Michel Cazemajor, Breeder
PalmElit SAS
PalmElit Breeding and Genetic Improvement in Response to the Specific Constraints in Africa for the Oil Palm (Drought and Vascular Wilt Disease)
Day 2 [Thu 06, September], at 10:45 AM

Dr. George Okyere-Boateng graduated from University of Ghana, Legon with BSc. (Honors) Agriculture and M.Phil Agriculture (Crop Genetics) in 1981and 1993 respectively.  He also holds a Ph.D from the University of Reading in England (2001).

He has been working in Oil palm Genetics and Crop Improvement for the past twenty nine years at CSIR. Oil Palm Research Institute, Kusi – Ghana.

His other areas of interests are in Biotechnology tissue culture, Plant anatomy and wild germplasm prospection, collection, characterization and utilization.

Dr . George Okyere-Boateng, Plant Biotechnologist: Breeder
CSIR-Oil Palm Research Institute
Wild Oil Palm Germplas Research & Crop Improvement in Ghana
Day 2 [Thu 06, September], at 09:15 AM

Claude Jannot obtained his degree in general agronomy from the Institut National Agronomique de Paris in September 1972 and immediately joined the Institut de Recherches pour les Huiles et Oléagineux (IRHO, which was melt into Cirad in 1984), to be appointed in Côte d’Ivoire. He was seconded to Sodepalm/Palmindustrie from 1972 to 1996 to monitor the development of oil palm and coconut estates and smallholder plantations as well as processing facilities, as a member and then head of the planning division.

He came back to Cirad’s headquarters in Montpellier when Palmindustrie was privatized and performed various assessments of plantation companies in Indonesia and Africa as an oil palm expert. He was seconded to IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) in Yaounde in 1998/1999 to participate to EPHTA (Ecoregional Program for the Humid and Sub-humid Tropics of Sub-saharan Africa) and then to IRAG (Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Guinée) from 2005 to 2007 as an adviser to the Director and the Scientific Coordinator of the Research Center of Guinée forestière in Sérédou.

He now monitors research activities on the improvement of perennial-based cropping systems in the humid tropics and performs various expertise works on request.

Dr . Claude Marcel Jannot, Agronomist
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche, Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)
Agronomic Specificities in Africa and Yield Potential
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 05:30 PM

 

Adiko, Amoncho, graduated from the University of Reading, U.K, with a Ph.D in Degree in Agriculture. His has majored in Plant pathology and has conducted research on banana and vegetable crops. He is currently the Director of Research Programs of the National Center for Agricultural Research (CNRA) in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.

Dr . Adiko Amoncho, Director of Research Programs
Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA HQ)
Developments in Palm Oil Seed Resistant to Diseases : Case of CNRA of Cote d’Ivoire
Day 2 [Thu 06, September], at 09:45 AM

Zineb Zeryouhi is currently working as Senior Investment Officer in the agribusiness team in the Private Sector Department of the African Development Bank. She is responsible for originating, structuring and executing transactions in the agribusiness sector. Before joining the Bank, Ms. Zeryouhi worked for ONA/SNI Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers and BNP Paribas. She holds a Master’s degree in Management from ESCP Europe, specialized in corporate finance.

Ms. Zineb Zeryouhi, Senior Investment Officer, Private Sector Operations – Industries & Services (OPSM2)
African Development Bank
Financing RoundTable : Agricultural Financing Facilities & Risk Mitigation in Africa
Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 11:40 AM

Mr. Bedu-Addo is a Ghanaian national and has worked in the areas of public policy, international development and Banking & Finance.

He joined the private sector in 1998 as a Financial Analyst at General Leasing & Finance Company Ltd. and later joined Standard Chartered Bank in 2000. In June 2010, he was named as Chief Executive of Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana, a 1000 Employee strong institution and one of the Standard Chartered Bank Group's biggest businesses in Africa.
Kweku is also a member of the Board of Advisers of AISEC Ghana. He has recently been appointed to the Global Investment Committee of Acumen Fund, a New York based Venture Capital Company. He is married with 3 children and his hobbies are reading and astronomy.

He is a product of Mfantsipim School, Cape-Coast. He has a Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon (1990) and a Masters Degree in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University, New York (1996).

Mr. Bedu Addo Kweku, CEO
Standard Chartered Bank Ghana

Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 11:40 AM

Mr. Thomas M. Kouadio is responsible for agribusiness at IFC in the sub-region, namely Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Niger. He joined IFC in Washington, D.C., in 2006, where he led several transaction teams for agribusiness projects in Eastern and Southern Europe, Latin America and Africa. Since September 2011, he is based in Accra, Ghana. Prior to IFC, Thomas worked for 6 years as the Chief Financial Officer of Ogilvy & Matters in West & Central Africa, leading the project finance team in charge of opening new offices in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon and Chad. Before then, he was a Principal at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

Thomas graduated from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management, and from the Polytechnic Institute of Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire, with a Master's degree in Finance (ESCA).

Mr. Thomas M. Kouadio, Investment Officer
IFC, Sub-Saharan Africa, Agribusiness & Forestry

Day 1 [Wed 05, September], at 11:40 AM

Cobus is the managing director of SGS NviroCrop an agricultural business specializing in managing sustainability in crop production through precision agriculture and independent agricultural advice

He has wide experience in agronomy and precision farming having worked several years for a major fertilizer company in South Africa before joining SGS. Cobus graduated with a

 B.Sc.Agric. Degree with majors in Soil Science and Agronomy from University of Pretoria

Mr. Cobus Burger, Managing Director
SGS Agricultural Services
Precision Farming and Nutrient Management to Assist Investors & Plantations to Reduce Input Costs and Increase Yield in a Sustainable Way
Day 2 [Thu 06, September], at 11:45 AM