Category: Invited guests

Prime Minister, Minister of State Budget, Head of the government of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. Previously, he served as Secretary General of the Presidency. Minister of State, Minister of Agriculture (2003-2005), then Minister of Agriculture (2006-2010). Director of Economic and Financial Studies at the Direction du Contrôle des Grands Travaux (DCGTX) and Deputy Director General (1994-1995). He was mayor of Korhogo from 2001 to 2018. In January 2019, he has been appointed Chairman of the Management Board of the “Houphouétistes Rally for Democracy and Peace” (RHDP) since January 2019. 

President of Masen. Through the development of the Noor Solar Plan, Masen is now a reference on the regional and international scene of renewable energies. Before joining Masen, he has led one of the major institutions of Morocco, the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion. Previously, he held senior positions in the banking sector, within the BNP Paribas group. He was also in charge of the development and financing of the activities of the National Urban Development Company (SONADAC). He is a graduate from the “Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées of Paris” and holds a degree in Banking and Finance in one of the leading French universities. He is President of the Casablanca-Settat region.

Sebastiaan is a Venture Capital Investor at Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s leading early-stage startup investors. Before this, he was an early employee at European micro-mobility startup Circ, where he set up the global supply chain and helped drive its acquisition by industry pioneer Bird. He started his career at McKinsey & Co., working primarily on growth strategy and restructuring. Sebastiaan graduated from King’s College London and Vlerick Business School. While a student, Sebastiaan was President of the King’s College London Students’ Union (2013-15) and President of King’s College London Think Tank, a non-profit activism group (2012-2013).

Former Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China, Hong Kong Basic Law expert, and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. In the transition from 1984 to 1997, Mr. Leung was Secretary General of the Basic Law Consultative Committee and held many other senior positions related to the establishment of the HKSAR throughout this period. Since 1997, he served as a member and then the Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. In 2017 he founded the Belt and Road Hong Kong Centre and the Greater Bay Area Centre. Mr. Leung was also instrumental in the land and housing reforms and the establishment of the real estate market in China.

Adjunct fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA). Former Special Assistant to the Foreign Minister of Japan. Previously, he was Director-General for Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Chief Negotiator of the Japan European Union Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations. He also served as Ambassador of Japan to France. Formerly, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Japan’s G8 Foreign Affairs Sous Sherpa, and Ambassador of Japan to Singapore. He received a law degree LL.B from Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo and is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration of France (ENA). 

Deputy Director-General of the WTO. His areas of responsibility include the two legal divisions dealing with the WTO’s dispute settlement system (Rules and Legal Affairs), the division for administration and general services including budget and finance as well as the human resources division. Prior to joining the WTO, he held the position of Director General for external economic policy in the German Federal Ministry of Economics in Berlin for 12 years. He is a lawyer by profession, with degrees from Germany and the United Kingdom (Cambridge). He started his career in the legal department of the Federal Ministry of Economics in Bonn in 1983. In 1986-87, he worked at the German Mission to the United Nations in New York. Further postings abroad were in Athens and Sydney.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Renault. Chairman, Nissan Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors. Mr. Ghosn joined Renault as Executive Vice President in 1996. After the Renault-Nissan Alliance was formed, Mr. Ghosn joined Nissan Motor as Chief Operating Officer in 1999 and was named Chief Executive Officer in 2001. CEO of Renault since 2005, he was appointed President and CEO of Renault in 2009, while keeping the same responsibilities at Nissan.  Mr. Ghosn has been the industry’s leading advocate for sustainable transportation; Renault and Nissan were the first automakers to launch a range of affordable zero-emission cars and commercial vehicles. Mr. Ghosn is also establishing the Alliance as a leader in the development of future automotive technology, such as autonomous drive and connected vehicles and services. Before Renault, Mr. Ghosn held several positions in Michelin, the last being Chairman and CEO of Michelin North America starting 1989. Having obtained degrees from École Polytechnique and École des Mines in Paris, Mr. Ghosn started his career at Michelin in 1978.

CEO of the American Hospital of Paris since 2017, a worldwide renowned, non-for-profit hospital. From 2014 to 2016, he has been President and Chief Commercial Officer of InSightec, the leading MedTech company for MR guided Focused Ultrasound. Previously he spent seven years at General Electric Healthcare, first in the Hospital and Healthcare Solutions business unit (2007-2009), then as General Manager and President of GE Healthcare France (2010-2013). Prior to joining the industry, Robert Sigal had a seventeen-year career at Institut Gustave Roussy, the largest comprehensive cancer center in France. He was successively staff radiologist, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiology (Paris XI University), and Executive Medical Director.

Minister of Justice of Hungary since 2014. Dr László Trócsányi is a lawyer by profession. He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University in 1980 and was admitted to the bar in 1985. He served as an assistant professor, then a reader (1991-1994) and a senior lecturer (1994-2000) at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of Szeged. Since 2000, he is professor and head of department at the same university. Since 2004, he serves as Director of the European Studies Centre of Szeged University. Dr Trócsányi has been appointed Hungarian Ambassador to both Belgium and Luxembourg between 2000 and 2004 and to France between 2010 and 2014. He holds various awards that he received from France, Belgium and Hungary.

Chairman of Hang Lung Group Ltd. and its subsidiary Hang Lung Properties Ltd., both publicly listed in Hong Kong. The Group expanded into mainland China in 1992, developing, owning and managing world-class commercial complexes in key tier one and tier two cities. He founded and chairs the China Heritage Fund, is a co-founding Director of The Forbidden City Cultural Heritage Conservation Foundation, Beijing, and is former Vice President and former Advisor of the China Development Research Foundation in Beijing. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Chairman Emeritus of Asia Society and Chairman of its Hong Kong Center, and founding Chairman of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society. He serves or has served on the governing or advisory bodies of several think tanks and universities, including Peterson Institute for International Economics, World Economic Forum, East-West Center, Pacific Council on International Policy, Eisenhower Fellowships, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, University of Southern California, Indian School of Business, Yale University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University.

Olivier Blanchard is a French macroeconomist who has spent his professional life in the U.S. He first taught at Harvard, then at MIT, where he was chairman of the economics department from 1998 to 2003. From 2008 to 2015, he was on leave as the chief economist of the IMF. He is now the Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington. He also remains Robert M. Solow Professor of Economics emeritus at MIT. He is the author of many books and articles, including two textbooks in macroeconomics, one at the graduate level, and one at the undergraduate level. He is a fellow and past council member of the Econometric Society, past president of the American Economic Association, and a member of the American Academy of Sciences.

CTO and Group Vice President Corporate Strategy & External Relations VALEO. Previously, he was technical advisor for Industrial Affairs at the Office of the French Minister of Defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian (2014-2016). He was also project manager at the Aerospace & Defence Unit, French Government Shareholding Agency (2011-2014), advisor for Industry at the Office of the Chairman and CEO of OCP Group (2009-2010). He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines, Paris.

Deputy Chairman, Oilfields Supply Center. He started his career as Third Secretary and Head of Information and Translation Section, Political Dept., Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abu Dhabi. He also served as First Secretary at the UAE Embassy in New Delhi, India.  In 1974 he became Head of UAE Consular Mission in Bombay, India. In 1979 he represented the UAE on the Political Committee of the United National General Assembly session. In 1983, he took charge of investment affairs of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Government of Dubai.  He graduated from University of Jordan.

Founder and Principal of EM Conseil, an independent consultancy which provides strategic and legal risk assessment advice on sovereign debt management matters, investments in emerging markets, as well as on best practices in corporate governance compliance. She served in General Counsel, strategy and risk-related senior positions at alternative investment funds at Citigroup, Fortress Group and Nomura International PLC.  She advised the NYSE board on international issues. The first Russian lawyer to graduate from a U.S. law school (Berkeley), she started her career at Sullivan & Cromwell and Cleary Gottlieb.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Kingdom of Morocco. He held previous positions such as Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ambassador, Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Prior to that, he served as General Director of Multilateral Relations and Global Cooperation Directorate. He also held the position of Director of the United Nations and International Organizations Directorate. His diplomatic career includes postings to Austria and Belgium (1995-2000 and 2002-2003). He graduated from the Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Studies, Rabat.

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Kingdom of Morocco since 2015. He was among others Ambassador to the Dominican Republic (2011-2014) and to Italy (2008-2011). He was also seconded to the Supreme Court of Korea (2006-2008). He held different positions in Canada, Sweden and Indonesia. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) in 1981. He graduated from Korea University, Seoul, from the University of Illinois and from the University of Michigan.

Leila Mokaddem joined the African Development Bank in 2002 as Head of the Financial Institutions Division. The current Country Director for Morocco has lead the implementation of the African Guarantee Fund and the Trade Finance Initiative before becoming resident representative to the regional office in Senegal. Prior to ADB, she worked at the Tunisian Ministry of Economy and the IMF. She was also counselor of the Minister of Finance in Haiti before being named counselor of the Presidential Commission in charge of drafting the new Investment Code. Graduate from the Institute of High Trade Studies in Tunis, she also has a Master’s degree in International Trade.

Managing Director, Rothschild & Co. She started her career at Lazard Frères in 1989. She joined Rothschild in 1999 where she started the emerging markets division. Managing director since 2006, she is also a member of the board of Lucien Barrière Group, Rothschild & Co and Electrica S.A. She has also been President of CARE France from 2007 to 2018 and sits currently on the Supervisory Board of CARE International. She holds a PhD in international economics from the Institut d’Etudes politiques de Paris and a DEA in Monnaie Banque  Finance from Université de Paris  II Assas.

Energy and Sustainability Industry Leader of Deloitte Central Europe. He has almost 20 years of experience in the energy sector, holding positions both in the public and private sectors. In 2014, he was the Romanian minister for energy. Between 2006-2008 he was the Energy Attaché of Romania to the European Union. From 2008 to 2014 he held the position of director for Public and Regulatory Affairs of Petrom. He has been the Chairman of the Administrative Board of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). He graduated from Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Brussels, Belgium.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CDG Développement Group since 2014. He joined CDG Développement in 2007. He began his professional career in 1989 as Technical Director at Pechiney in Morocco. In 1996, he became General Manager of SOMACOPA. From 1999 to 2002, he held the position of General Manager of the Compagnie Industrielle des Fibres in Tangiers. He was appointed Deputy Director of the Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA) and member of the Management Board in 2002. He graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées (ENSTA) in Paris. He obtained a DEA in Fluid Mechanics from Paris VI University.

General Director of Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG) since 2015. He began his career in 1982 at Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) where he held several executive positions. In 2004, he was named Director General of the Customs and Indirect Taxes Administration. In parallel, he was elected in 2007 Vice-President of the World Customs Organization (WCO), President of the Organization for the MENA region, and in 2008 he was also elected Chairman of the Audit Committee of the WCO. In 2010, he was General Director of the Directorate General of Taxes. He graduated from the Mohammedia Engineering School (EMI), Morocco.

Professor of Crisis Management, and Security Studies and Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South. His area of expertise covers Afro-Asian affairs, strategic and security studies, terrorism, extremism and deradicalization. He got his Ph.D. in Regional & International Affairs from the University of Tokyo and a Doctorate from the University of Mohammed V on the psychological dynamisms of suicide bombers. He is the Executive Director of the Moroccan Observatory on Extremism and Violence, Director of the African Center for Asian Studies, Rabat, Visiting Professor at the University Mohammed V and president of the Moroccan Association for Asian Studies.

Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the President of Rwanda. He is also the representative of Rwanda to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). He has just completed a book on Rwanda’s post-genocide reconstruction released in October 2017 in French, untitled “Rwanda Tomorrow: A long Walk to Transformation” (Editions Karthala).

President of AMMC, Morocco’s Capital Market Authority, since 2016. She was elected Vice-Chair of the Africa and Middle East Committee (AMERC) within the International Organization of Financial Market Regulators (IOSCO). She was chairperson and CEO of Sogelease (Société Générale Morocco group). She started her career in Spain at the international division of Banco Atlantico as responsible for international risks and restructured debt portfolio (1985-1988). In 1999, she was elected President of the Association of stockbrokers in Morocco during two mandates. She was nominated global leader for tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2001. She also co-founded AFEM, the association of women business leaders in Morocco, in 2000. She created le “Club des femmes administrateurs au Maroc” in 2012, to promote women in corporate boards. She graduated from ESSEC Paris.

Managing Director of the Casablanca Stock Exchange and member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). In 2011, he was appointed member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Operation Hope Foundation and Chairman of the executive committee of the Association of African French-speaking Exchanges (ABFA). Before joining Casablanca Stock Exchange in 2009, he was CEO of Atlas Capital Group, which he set up in 1999. In 1990, he joined the ONA Group as advisor to the Chairman and then became chief financial officer in 1994. He graduated from New York University, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and Paris IX Dauphine University.

Head of the financial stability unit at the Research Department of Bank Al-Maghrib (Central Bank of Morocco). He published several articles in academic journals (International Economics, Revue Economique, Revue d’Economie Politique) and recently a study for the European Parliament. He obtained his PhD from Paris 1 Sorbonne University and visited many international institutions (Bank of England and Bank of International Settlements).

Professor of History and Political Anthropology, Institute of African Studies, Mohammed V University (UM5) and Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South. Professor at Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah University (Fez) after earning his first doctorate in African Studies from UM5 focusing on West Sub-Saharan Africa. He also earned a Doctorate of State in African Studies, where he focused on Contemporary West Africa. He is Director of Research Group: African Politics, doctoral supervisor at UM5, Professor of African History in EGE School of Governance and Economy of Rabat, Polytechnic Mohammed VI University and Director of Africa and Middle East Centre Studies AMES Centre.