Speakers

Mr. Abebe Abebayehu Chekol is currently serving as the Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission. He served as Senior Legal Advisor at the Office of the Prime Minister before he assumed his current position. He also served as Deputy Commissioner at the Ethiopian Investment Commission where he led the policy research, investment promotion and investment climate reform workstreams of the Commission.

Mr. Abebayehu Chekol has more than 15 years of experience working on private sector development, economic policy and regulatory reform, negotiation of international trade and investment agreements, academic research and teaching. Before he joined the Commission, he was working at the IFC/ WBG where he spearheaded the effort to establish a structured public-private-dialogue in Ethiopia and supported IFC’s work on improving Ethiopia’s investment climate.
Mr. Abebayehu Chekol obtained his first degree in law from Addis Ababa University where he finished top of his class and received the Chancellor’s Gold Medal Award. Abebe has LL.M in International Trade and Investment Law from the University of Western Cape, South Africa and LL.M in Energy Law and Policy from the University of Dundee, United Kingdom.

Mr. Hussein Suphian Ally is currently working as a Director of Corporate Affairs for Bakhresa Group of Companies, which is one of the biggest food processing company in Sub Sahara Africa with operations in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
He is responsible for compliance and all matters related to corporate governance, this entails liaising with all government departments including ministries, regulatory authorities, agencies and other stakeholders. For the last two years he has been directing the company regional corporate affairs strategy. Prior to his current position, he has been working as an Assistant General Manager for Said Salim Bakhresa & Co LTD, one Bakhresa Group affiliates companies for a period of six years.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Ally spent six years working as Quality Assurance Manager for Bakhresa Food Product Limited, another affiliated company of Bakhresa Group. Prior to that he was working as a Laboratory manager for the same company for a period of three years.
He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Dar Es Salaam.

Dr. Arianna Rossi is Senior Research and Policy Specialist with the ILO/IFC Better Work Programme, where she leads the Research and Impact team overseeing the programme’s activities on research, impact evaluation, and data analytics. Dr. Arianna Rossi also leads Better Work’s engagement on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, coordinating activities across different countries.

Prior to joining Better Work in 2009, she was Research Officer at the University of Manchester. She holds a PhD from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a degree in Economics from the University of Ferrara, Italy. She has published several academic articles on labour in global value chains, economic and social upgrading and the global garment industry.

Mr. Osman Evren Arikan is an industrial development expert with execution and advisory experience. He is currently appointed as General Manager in Polaris Parks - Egypt, the first private industrial park developer in the country. He has taken leading strategic and operational roles in transforming the company into a firm with several different industrial park developments throughout the country that attracts multinational manufacturers and expanding into facility management and electricity generation and distribution fields.

Prior to Polaris Parks, he has served in Turkish Exporters Assembly and participated in several public and private development projects as a consultant. Being an active member in social and academic chambers, he serves in several associations’ executive boards and board of trustees. He holds a BSc from Koc University and MBA from Istanbul Bilgi University.

Mr. William Baah-Boateng is an Associate Professor Head/Chair in the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana. He holds PhD in economics and an alumnus of the University of Ghana and Harvard University in Massachusetts USA. His research focuses on economics of labour and labour market institutions, development of small and medium scale enterprises, poverty and gender issues and development economics in general. He is also a Senior Fellow and Director at the International Institute for Advanced Studies (IIAS), a research think Tank based in Accra and an Editor of the Ghanaian Journal of Economics. 

Mr. William Baah-Boateng was an Ela Bhatt visiting professor at ICDD of the University of Kassel in Germany in 2015/2016 and won a Senior Research Fellowship at Harvard University’s Centre for African Studies (CAS) in 2016. He worked for African Centre for Economic Transformation based in Accra as Senior Research Fellow for two years. He was a member of the Ghana Presidential Committee on emoluments that determined salaries and service conditions of the Article 71 Office holders (including the President and the Chief Justice) of the 6th Government of the 4th Republic (2013-2017) and was also advisor on labour and employment issues to Ghana’s Labour Ministry between 2007 and 2012. 

Mr. William Baah-Boateng has over 50 publications in the form of books and edited books, book chapters, journal articles, technical reports and working papers. He is married with two children and a Steward of the Ebenezer Society in the Madina Circuit of The Methodist Church Ghana.

Ana Batalhone is an Associate Sustainability Expert at the Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) programme of the International Trade Centre (ITC). Ana works on trade-related technical assistance for sustainable value chain development to strengthen the sustainability and international competitiveness of businesses in developing countries. Before joining ITC, she worked for different international organizations and the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service. Ana holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Corporate Social Responsibility from Université de Genève and a MA degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland.

Ms. Sabine Becker is the head of the sector project on ‘employment promotion in developing countries’, commissioned by BMZ. The sector project is working on employment strategies and innovative solutions to employment promotion and on mainstreaming them in the German portfolio of financial and technical cooperation.

She has master degrees in political science and in business administration from the Free University of Berlin and the Open University UK. 
Prior to joining GIZ in 2005 and serving in different positions in Headquarters and in Ethiopia (2009-12), she worked since 1990 mainly for the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva and in East Africa as well as in the Palestinian Territories. 
She has extensive experience in the field of economic policy, private sector development, employment and labour markets. 

Dr. Belachew, who had served as Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, holds higher level degrees from Addis Ababa University, the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, University of Essex, King’s College London and University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Dr. Belachew previously served as the Deputy Commissioner for the Industrial Parks Division at the Commission mandated to attract, support and regulate industrial park developers, enterprises and operators. During his tenure as Commissioner among other things, he has initiated various policy measures needed to create a conducive and competitive investment climate and followed up the implementation of same through effective coordination with key line ministries and agencies; negotiated various bilateral investment promotion and protection treaties with other countries where potential investment is likely to flow into the country. He has interacted with high end manufacturers intending to establish their business operations in Ethiopia, spearheaded the development of the Industrial parks regulations that was enacted by the Parliament, and oversaw the institutionalization of over fifteen One-Stop-Service centers in the various government and private parks. In his previous roles, he had worked for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and as a researcher and graduate program resource person at the National Institute for Legislative Studies, the research arm of the Nigerian National Assembly. He was a founding staff and Faculty Dean of Bahir Dar University School of Law before joining Addis Ababa University Centre for Human Rights as lecturer and coordinator for research and publications.  
 

Jan blum is the  Director of the KfW Addis Ababa office since August 2016. Previously, he has held various positions at KfW Development Bank since 1998. He has also been working for the German Federal Ministries of Development and Economic Cooperation as well as Environment. He holds a masters degree in economics.

Ms. Mareike Boll is an advisor in the GIZ Competence Center Environment in Germany, working mainly on the development of Sustainable Industrial Areas. She is the tandem-partner of the SIA Working Group, coordinating joint activities and advising member projects worldwide. Ms. Boll holds a Master degree in Economics and Governance. 

Hanna is a German-Japanese national and has been working with the International Trade Centre (UN / WTO) since 2011. In her current position she works for the DFID- financed „Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa“ project, which seeks to promote Indian Textile, Leather and Agribusiness investment into East Africa and encourage knowledge transfer in the handloom sector. Previously, she worked with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), advising the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in the area of sustainable economic development and working in a private sector promotion programme in the Philippines. Hanna holds an M.Sc. degree in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies and a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of York (UK). 

Mr. Matt Butler is the Outreach Director for PVH’s operations in Ethiopia. PVH is one of the largest apparel companies in the world with revenues of nearly $9 billion. PVH is the anchor investor in Hawassa industrial park, which is now employing over 20,000 workers and is on track to double Ethiopia’s garment sector exports in 2019. Sustainability and responsible business practices have been central to PVH’s investments in Ethiopia from the outset, as recognized by the 2018 U.S. Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) in sustainability. 

Prior to PVH Mr. Butler was a Senior Advisor at the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) and spent over 16 years as a Senior Economist with the British government, including overseas postings in Cambodia, Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories, the Caribbean and Ethiopia. Mr. Butler holds a masters degree in Quantitative Development Economics from University of Bristol and a bachelors (hons) in Economics from the University of Sussex.  

Mr. Michael Castle-Miller is a legal and policy consultant who has helped develop special economic zone (SEZ) programs for over twenty countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Over the course of his career, governments and private companies have relied on him to draft regulations, establish administrative agencies, introduce investment climate reforms, structure public-private partnerships, and promote socially and environmentally responsible development projects. He is the CEO of Politas Consulting, which provides innovative legal and policy solutions to help cities and special jurisdictions achieve inclusive growth. He is also the Executive Director of Refugee Cities, an NGO applying special-jurisdiction frameworks to expand opportunities for migrants.

Previously, Mr. Michael Castle-Miller served as a consultant with the World Bank Group, Legal Vice Presidency, specializing in urban law and development issues. Before that, he worked for the Public International Law and Policy Group, where he provided legal assistance to the governments of South Sudan, Georgia, and Yemen on a variety of matters.

Sinem Demir joined the World Bank Group on November 2015 as an Industrial Resource Efficiency Specialist. Based in the Istanbul Operations Center, Sinem serves as a technical specialist for manufacturing projects with a special focus on eco-industrial parks, sector specific resource efficiency measures, and green supply chain. Prior to joining the Bank, she has worked for several private sector companies as an environmental and technical consultant active in renewable energy and waste management sectors. Her WBG project engagements include Mauritania, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Greece and Turkey. She has contributed to "Mainstreaming eco-industrial parks" publication, and co-authored "International Eco-Industrial Park Framework" and "A Practitioner’s Handbook for EIPs" publications, jointly with MOTIE, UNIDO and GIZ.

She earned a master’s degree in "International Management of Resources and Environment" from Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg just after she double majored in Environmental Engineering and Civil Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. 

Mr. Rajarshi Dutta is from India and grow up in Kolkata. He is working for over twenty years – a large part of it being in Strategy and Operations Consulting with a globally leading consulting firm. Apart from this, he has worked in Media, Supply Chain Management and now in Garment Manufacturing and Waste Water Treatment Technology.

Mr. Dutta has more than 7 years of experience of working in Africa – both in West and East Africa. Currently, he is the Head of Country Operations of Arvind Group in Ethiopia, helping the organization to grow. The business is active in garment manufacturing and exports as well as Waste Water Treatment Plants.

Mr Ahmed El Mofty holds a BSc. degree in Mechanical Engineering, a MSc. Degree in Mechanical Engineering as well as an MBA degree. During his 19 years working experience, he has managed mega engineering projects inside and outside Egypt, and led the operations of a diversified portfolio of operating companies being the COO of Egypt Kuwait Holding Co. He is currently the commercial director for one of Egypt’s main development projects, East Port Said Industrial Zone.

Dr. Rainer Engels is senior economic policy advisor in the Sectoral Program Sustainable Economic Policy and Private Sector Development. He is an advisor with 15 years of experience within GIZ, the German implementing agency for international cooperation of the German government and about 8 years in civil society. His main expertise is in economic policy, private sector development, trade and investment, with special emphasis on industry in general and on the food, pharmaceutical, light industries, renewable energies and services sectors, among the latter especially business consultancy services, creative industries and quality infrastructure. His regional experience is mainly related to the transformation economies in Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia, to Eastern Africa including Ethiopia, and the Caribbean. Dr. Engels is agricultural scientist by education, with a focus on organic agriculture, agricultural trade, hygiene standards and intellectual property rights. Since 2016, he is based in Bonn, Germany.

Mr. Mohamed Ezzat is a socio-economist with 20 years of experience in industrial zones management, private sector development, green construction and participatory urban development.

Mr. Ezzat gained his expeience through working with developmental organizations such as GIZ, KFW, UNDP, WB and others in Egypt and Arab Region. He is currently working at GIZ as an advisor to the Ministry of Industry in Egypt for promoting improved managment of industrial zones, promote growth of manufacturing companies and job creation. 

Alessandro Flammini is currently project administrator within the Department of Environment of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria, working chiefly on the development of eco-industrial parks.

He has working experience in more than 25 countries around the world. Before joining UNIDO in 2018, he was project manager (Natural Resources Officer) with the Climate, Energy and Environment Department and the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), where he worked since 2007. Until 2015, he also worked as independent consultant for UNDP, the European Commission, REEEP, Stanford University, as well as for other public and private companies.
Alessandro holds a master degree in industrial engineering from the University of Bologna, a post-grad master in management of energy resources, and a PhD in environmental sciences from the Vienna University of Technology.
 

Mr. Tobias Gerster is the Director of the Division Regional Cooperation Africa and Horn of Africa at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. 
Prior to this he was the Head of Section Corporate Organisation and worked as a Senior Expert of the Merger and Integration Team Eschborn, Germany. 
From 01/2006 – 03/2010 he was a Senior Programme Manager of the Partnership for Economic Growth (PEG) in Windhoek, Namibia. 
From 04/2003 – 12/2005 he worked as an Expert for the Project ‘Private Sector Development’ in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. 
Before Mr. Gerster started his carrier at GIZ he worked as a Consultant for Fontin & Company Management Consulting GmbH in Munich. 

Mr. Gerster hold a Master of Business Administration (Diplom-Kaufmann) from the University of Munich as well as a Master of philosophy (M.A.) from the 
Institute of Philosophy, Munich.  
 

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Hartwig is the Managing Director of aqua consult Ingenieur GmbH. 
His key qualifications are:

• Design and optimisation of several wastewater treatment plants for municipal plants and industrial wastewater (technology for aerobic/ anaerobic treatment, partial stream treatment, sludge treatment incl. sludge drying, process optimization) 
• Training of specialists from authorities and engineers from consulting offices as well as of operators of treatment plants in the field of computer aided dimensioning of wastewater treatment plants and plant optimization/ energy reduction 
• Execution of inspections and evaluations of municipal and industrial wastewater plants, e. g. in Germany and Romania (Galati, Iasi), Croatia (Zagreb), India (Pune) and China (Jinan, Zibo) 
• Design, planning and technical project management for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment and sludge treatment plants 
• Research and process development (deammonification, co-fermentation, 4. treatment, micro plastics elimination, flooding simulation) 

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Hartwig holds a PhD from the Institute of Water Quality and Waste Management from the University of Hanover. His doctor thesis has the topic: contribution to dimensioning of aerobic activated sludge plants including nitrogen and phosphorus removal. He finished his studies of civil engineering at the Technical University of Hanover.

Mr. Jens Haubensak, graduate geographer and MBA, started his career 15 years ago as an environmental consultant at Arqum, a boutique sustainability consultancy in Munich. Since 2012 he is a member of the management board and responsible for corporate responsibility, environmental and climate protection advisory as well as international business development. Mr. Haubensak advises SMEs as well as large corporations across industries and coordinates initiatives within the context of international cooperation, capacity development and private sector cooperation for sustainable development.

Mr. Haubensak has been developing and implementing various initiatives promoting sustainability, energy and resource efficiency in industry parks in emerging economies in Asia, Southern Africa and Latin America. Mr. Haubensak lives with his family and three children near Munich.

Dr. Seok Jung currently works as Deputy Director at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in Korea. Obtained his Ph.D. in the field of eco-industrial parks from the University of Tokyo in Japan, he holds a on a solid academic background on this matter and is leading the efforts on Korea’s EIP policy. He is in charge of the strategic implementation of Korea’s EIP program which has developed 235 successful industrial symbiosis investments totaling $740M, generating revenue and cost savings of $2.4billion. He is also driving an extended cooperation scheme to disseminate EIP model in other countries. In addition to EIP policy design and planning, he is interested in Cleaner Production, Resource Productivity and Eco-efficiency system. He has recently co-authored A Practitioner’s Handbook for Eco-Industrial Parks publication jointly with World Bank Group, GIZ and UNIDO.

Mr. Etienne Kechichian is a Senior Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank Group and leads manufacturing work, helping governments to implement projects that improve competitiveness while ensuring growth is sustainable and climate-friendly. The approach leverages competitive drivers, such as serviced industrial infrastructure, skills, supply chain linkages and sustainability. In the areas of sustainability, global work covers projects that deal with circular economy, eco-industrial parks and climate resilience in industries. Prior to this work, Mr. Etienne Kechichian worked globally on special economic zones projects. These projects helped improve the legal and regulatory framework governing SEZs in order to generate private sector investments into their development, management and promotion.

Mr. Nebil Kellow is the Managing Director of Enterprise Partners, a 50-person organisation supporting market development in Ethiopia. Enterprise Partners supports Ethiopia’s ambitious industrialisation programme while also spurring financial sector investments in Africa’s leading growth economy. 
Enterprise Partners’ work is resulting in jobs created and improved incomes for poor people, primarily women. Prior to EP, Mr. Kellow founded First Consult - one of the implementing companies powering EP - at the age of 23 and grew the business rapidly to become a leading business and development consulting firm in Ethiopia. He has previously worked for McKinsey & Co. and in the investment industry in the UK. 
Mr. Kellow is passionate about increasing the role of youth and women to lead growth and transformation in Africa.

Mr. Lutz Kempe – graduated from Technical University in Giessen / Germany as a Biomedical Engineer. After gaining experience in medical research he became head of an international development project in Kenya, focused on establishing a three year Diploma course at the Mombasa Polytechnic. 

From 1995 to 1999 he was in charge of the Infrastructure Department of EPOS Health Management in Germany. EPOS Health Management provides project management and consulting services in the health sector. 

1999 Mr. Kempe became the Director of TTM in Marburg/Germany, a company operating in the field of international development cooperation and providing medical technology and general equipment for development, emergency relief and healthcare projects worldwide.

Mr. Kempe is member of ISWA, the International Solid Waste Association and gained in particular expertise in offering solutions for hazardous waste such as medical and other types of special waste.

Ms. Meron Kidane is a Development professional currently responsible for overseeing the development, testing and implementation of new and innovative program approaches within CARE’s country office, specializing on inclusive economic development, focusing on the integration of vulnerable and underserved populations into market systems and financial sectors.

Ms. Kidane holds an MBA from Delta International University.
 

Ms. Gail Klintworth serves as a NED, Personal Board Advisor and Trustee with a select group of businesses and NGOs who are well placed to make a significant difference to create ‘A Better Flywheel of low carbon, inclusive Growth’. Formal roles include but are not limited to NED of Tiger Brands (foods); Board Advisor to MAS Holdings (apparel), Chair of the Shell Foundation (energy and mobility), Chair of Globescan Inc. (building trusted leadership) and Chair of Integrity Action (democratizing accountability).

Ms. Klintworth serves as "Special Advisor: Sustainable Economic Zones and Clusters" for SYSTEMIQ, an advisory and investment company founded to create good disruptions in economic systems that will speed the achievement of the UN Global Goals.  She has also recently served as the Business and Transformation Director for the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, which made the 12 Trillion$ case for the business benefit associated with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr. Werner Krause is the Chainman of Institute for Eco-Industrial Analysis. His main fields of experience are circular economy, material efficiency, industrial waste management, waste-management software, material flow management, industrial and domestic surveying, capacity development. He started to work as a Senior researcher in 2014 and became a Project director (subproject: "Framework data and Capacity Building") for the research project "RAPID PLANNING - Sustainable Infrastructure, Environmental and Resource Management for Highly Dynamic Metropolises", (funded by BMBF) in 2016. Prior to this Dr. Krause worked as a senior researcher for the project “Recast Urumqi” (Megacities, funded by bmbf) in Ecrein and the project "Network eco innovations", funded by the EU. From 2000 to 2007 he was a research associate to at Heidelberg University / IUWA for a mass-flow-management project, funded by BMBF. 

Dr. Krause studied Geology at Heidelberg University and holds a PhD for the University of Potsdam. He did his Master in technical business economy. 

Ms. Lelise Neme currently serves as CEO of Industrial Parks Development Corporation. She is the member of core leadership the Oromia Democratic Party and served as General Director at the office of Oromia Industrial Development Agency before. Ms. Neme also served as Deputy CEO at the Oromia Industrial Park Development Corporation. Before she started to work as a higher official for the government, she was a Lecture in one of Top University in Ethiopia, Jimma University, Jimma Institute of Technology, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Mr. Robbie Marwick is an Associate at SYSTEMIQ and is the Operations Director of SSEZ’s for Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. Since joining SYSTEMIQ, Robbie has focussed on innovation and business model evolution and has lead the team working with LADOL Free Zone in Lagos, Nigeria, to successfully implement the first Sustainable SEZ.

Mr. Marwick has a background in investment, clean-tech start-ups and latterly as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. He has helped drive multiple FTSE 100 company transformations and has worked on supply chain and process optimisation across sectors from grocery retail to oil and gas. As an investor he has conducted multiple DDs and market scoping studies, including a $1bn portfolio allocation for a global tech giant. 

Mr. Peter McAllister has spent over 25 years engaged in international development and rights-based initiatives around the world. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, a ground-breaking alliance of companies, trade unions and voluntary organizations seeking to improve the working lives of poor and vulnerable people in global supply chains. He joined ETI in October 2010 and has led the development of an innovative approach to ensure that ETI is able to demonstrate impact for workers and value for its members.

Previously, Mr. McAllister spent seven years at the Geneva-based International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), which brings together companies, trade unions and NGOs to eliminate the worst forms of child labour and forced labour from the cocoa industry. ICI earned an impressive reputation among all stakeholders in the sector for its clarity of leadership and its impact on the lives of many cocoa-producing families, producer policy and sourcing practices of major global brands.

Previously, Mr. McAllister spent 13 years working in leadership roles for the international development NGO CARE, including prolonged spells in strategic roles in India, West and Southern Africa. Peter trained as an industrial engineer and served as a VSO Volunteer in Africa. 

Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa is a Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister for Planning in Ghana. He led the technical team in developing the Coordinated Programme for the President of Ghana (2017-2024) and currently its facilitating its implementation.  Dr. Mensah-Abrampa prior to taking up the home task was a Senior Policy Adviser for the United Nations Development Programme headquarters at New York responsible for Local Development and Urbanization and initiating several development and investment programmes in post war countries. He had before that spent five years working as the Deputy Head of Office for East and Southern Africa for UN Capital Development Fund facilitating private sector funding of public infrastructure and local economic development in the Africa Region. At home in Ghana, he worked as a senior lecturer in Development Planning & Management at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Scinece and Technology, a Monitoring and Evaluation Expert for the National Development Planning Commission and as a Senior Adviser for Netherlands Development Organisation in Accra.

He is an ardent institutional development and public-private-partnership expert and undertaken advisory and consultancy assignments for key development organisations including the World Bank, EU, DfID, GIZ, AfDB and many others. He shared his experience as a Guest lecturer with University of Dortmund in Germany, 1996-1999 and supported scholarly activities in Yale University School of Governance’s Conflict Programme, July 2015; and MIT’s Urban and Regional Planning Programme, August 2015.
 
He is a scholar and practitioner in Development Management and Public Finance with a Bachelors in Planning from KNUST, a Masters in Public Administration from University of Ghana, and a Doctorate in Development Economics and Public Financial Management from University of Dortmund Germany.

Mr. Lamau August Mpolo is a seasoned expert in Investment Facilitation and Management of Public Institutions with over 15 years of hands – on proven experience in both Public and Private Sector including International experience. He is also experienced in the coordination of all matters related to infrastructure Development, Research, Planning and development of organization Strategies in SEZs as well as Management of Public Owned SEZs and ensuring of efficient functioning of Private owned SEZs. 

Mr. Mpolo holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Information Systems Management (MISM) from the Keller Graduate School of Management - Devry University; Atlanta, GA, USA. 

Ms. Mulleta is a Private Sector Specialist at the International Finance Corporation/IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. She is currently an Acting Lead for IFC’s Ethiopia Advisory Program on Investment Climate including IFC’s engagement on Investment Policy and Promotion, Improving the Ease of Doing Business, and Sub National Investment Climate in Ethiopia.

Ms. Mulleta is a trained lawyer with specialization in international trade and investment law, public policy analysis, and business environment diagnostics. She holds Advanced M.Sc in Globalization and Development Policy from the Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp and LLM in International Trade and Investment Law from University of the Western Cape.

Prior to joining IFC, she worked at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) as Program Manager for Regional Economic Integration and Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa. She also served as a lecturer of law at Addis Ababa University.

Mr. Alexio Musindo has more than 20 years of experience of international development work across several countries in Africa. He is the current Director of the ILO Office for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, and also the ILO Special Representative to the African Unions and Econbomic Commission for Africa, responsible for ILO activities within the subregion. Prior to this appointment, Alexio was the ILO Director of the Office in Lusaka, Zambia responsible for ILO activities in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Before Zambia, Mr. Musindo was responsible for ILO activities for the United Republic of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, as Director of the Office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Prior to joining the ILO, Mr. Musindo worked in the Government of Zimbabwe as an Economist at the National Economic Planning Commission, a Tax Assessor and a Teacher.

Mr. Skander Negasi is CEO of Trade and Fairs Group which consists of various offices in Germany and Africa. Within East Africa, the branch called Trade and Fairs East Africa Ltd (located in Nairobi / Kenya) organizes various high end exhibitions and conference in Kenya and Ethiopia. The German office called Trade and Fairs Consulting GmbH is in charge of advising German companies in African affairs as well as promoting African industrial zones and investments to European investors. 

The Trade and Fairs Group organizes over 7 annual international exhibitions in East Africa, hence is the largest exhibition company within the region. The group plans to organize 10 annual exhibitions from 2020 on. 

Skander Negasi has studied Business Management in Frankfurt/Germany and works in the exhibition and consulting industry since 2001. He lives in Germany and has African teams/offices in Kenya, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique Nigeria, Ghana and Mauritius. 

David Neugebauer is a junior advisor with GIZ's program Proklima addressing sustainable cooling supply and foam blowing technologies. The focus is on the promotion of energy efficiency and the use of natural refrigerants as well as natural foam blowing agents. David is a member of the of the GIZ working group on Sustainable Industrial Areas (SIA). Prior to Proklima, he worked and did research in the field of resource efficiency and climate adaptation of agricultural value chains. David holds a M.Sc. in agriculture and environment and a B.Sc. in environmental protection.

Mr. Ulrich Plein is a Program Manager at GIZ. Since 2006 he is working in private sector programs in Ethiopia. From 2000-2006 he was in Management position with a German Chamber of  Craft. Prior to this Mr. Plein was supervising development programs in South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire. 

From 1998-2000 he was the Manager of an eco foundation in Germany. He also worked as a consultant and as an advisor at German Chamber of Craft and to a member of German Parliament as a consultant. 

Mr. Plein holds a Diploma in Geographical Science and Environmental Science. 

Ms. Masarrat Quader has worked for over 15 years on private sector development for a range of institutions including DFID, IFC, USAID as well as in the private sector in South Asia and East Africa, including Ethiopia for the last two years.   

Amongst other things, she has worked on garments in Bangladesh for over a decade with a focus on improving social compliance, productivity and skills with various partners.

Mr. Sinha is spear-heading VIP’s vision to make it the most advanced apparel manufacturing facility in Africa, if not the world. His accomplishments, vast experience in apparel manufacturing and acquaintance with the Ethiopian government equips him to execute such a feat.
Experience  Mr. Sinha is currently leading Velocity Group Companies (“Velocity”) specialising in apparel manufacturing, design, retail, logistics services. The group currently employees over 6,000 people with operations spread across UAE, Egypt, Italy, China and Ethiopia.
In addition to experience in the apparel sector, Mr. Sinha has immense experience in the engineering of steel fabrication and pre-fabricated structures. Apart from constructing his own facilities in Egypt and Ethiopia, Mr. Sinha made significant contributions to the design and layout of the Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone) as well. His company Onyx FZE was responsible for fabricating steel structures, engineering and construction of the zone.

Mr. Sinha has a hands-on approach to his business and maintains a high regard for technology and innovation. He is currently conducting R&D on infusing 3D printing into garment manufacturing, as well as wearable technologies with leaders of this sector.

Ms. Nilgün Taş is the Deputy Director of the Department of Environment and Chief for the Industrial Resource Efficiency Division at UNIDO. She also leads UNIDO’s cross-departmental team for Circular Economy. As a private sector development specialist with over 34 years of experience, Nilgün held various positions as Chief for Competitiveness, Business Environment and Industrial Upgrading Unit, Chairperson of the Gender Mainstreaming Steering Committee, UNIDO Representative in Vietnam at UNIDO and Chief/Senior Technical Advisor for various UNIDO, UNDP, OECD and TIKA projects since 1996. Previously, Nilgün was the Vice President of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Administration (KOSGEB) in Turkey; founder and a Board Member for the Turkish Credit Guarantee Fund Company (KGF), and a founding member of the Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TIKA).  In her capacity as Projects and Programmes Coordinator of TIKA, she deployed funding for technical assistance projects in the NIS countries and helped set up the OECD Ankara Tax Training and the Istanbul Private Sector Development Centers for training of government officials and entrepreneurs from the NIS. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering and a master’s degree in business administration.

Mr. John Tress is an Assistant Director at PwC, a global network of professional services firms. He advises aid agencies, DFIs and foundations on the use of development, blended and impact finance to drive environmentally sustainable growth and better social outcomes. 

Clients have included a range of innovative development initiatives, including the Global Innovation Fund, the Start Network, and the Regional Education Finance Fund for Africa, as well as major mainstream development actors including DFID, CDC Group, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID. 

Mr. Tress recently led the PwC team that published a report on the planning, management and financing of industrial parks in sub-Saharan Africa. The report provides practical guidance on how to plan, develop, manage and regulate parks in the context of common public finance constraints and still unproven private sector business models.
 

Heino Vest works as an Advisor for GIZ SIA Working Group and has over 30 years of professional experience in more than 40 countries worldwide as free-lanced consultant (incl. 5 years employee of GIZ).

His key qualifications are in the area of 

• Recycling and processing of secondary raw material
• Waste management, hospital waste management, hazardous waste management
• Energy conservation, energy efficiency, energy resources
• Energy and resource efficiency of industrial parks, sustainable industrial areas
• Environmental protection technologies, environmental impact assessment 
• Metallurgical engineering, coking technology
• Technical and economic assessment and evaluation of industrial projects 
• Project development, implementation. 
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Training and education

Clients have been German and international organisations, universities and companies. Heino Vest holds a PHD in Metallurgical Engineering from the Aachen University of Technology, Germany.
 

Ms. Brita Wagener is the German Ambassador at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Through their work the German Embassy aims to support Ethiopia and its citizens to make the promising development process in the country sustainable and equitable - a process that shall be conducted in a participatory way, respecting democratic values and human rights, and should increasingly be based on and supported by the private sector on both sides.

Prior to this Ms. Wagener holt different positions in the US, Iraq, Turkey and Cairo. She studied law at Bonn and Hamburg Universities.

Ms. Natasha Walker is a communication consultant and has been living in and working from Heidelberg, Germany, for 24 years, where she is married and has two children. 
After her literature degree at Oxford University, Ms. Walker discovered her knack for facilitating complex change and strategy projects for corporations, governments and civil society. She also specializes in supporting teams going global and is called on to manage high-level policy conferences. Her work makes decisions more effective and changes the way people work together. 

Since May 2018, Prof. Dr. Warning, Claudia is the Director-General for the Middle East; Asia; Latin America; South-Eastern and Eastern Europe at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). 

From 2005 to 2018, she was a member of the Board of the German Protestant development agency Bread for the World within the Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung and of its predecessor organisation, the Church Development Service.

From 2005 to 2009, she chaired the Association of German Development and Humanitarian Aid Non-Governmental Organisations (VENRO).

Other bodies of which she is, or was, a member include: the board of trustees of the German Development Institute; the governing body of the GEPA fair trade organisation; the board of trustees of the Kaiserin Augusta Victoria Foundation; the board of trustees of the Evangelische Jerusalem-Stiftung; the board of the Brussels-based European umbrella organisation of Protestant aid agencies, APRODEV; the board of the Anna Huberta Roggendorf foundation; the board of the Dr. Ilse Maria Ehmann foundation; the Indienhilfe Siegburg Prem Sadan, which provides aid in India; and others.

Professor Warning studied geography in Bonn, Germany, and in Pune, India. In July 2012 she became a part-time professor at the International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) of Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.

Dr. Michael Weber (PhD in Physics) was working for 31 years on various positions in the Bayer Group and is now working or 6 years as an independent management consultant. His expertize in industrial parks include:

• Business and operating model transformation for industrial park management
• Transformation of governance & corporate structures of industrial park management
• Site master planning for chemical & pharmaceutical production sites and for industrial  & chemical parks
• Transformation of industrial parks into Sustainable Industrial Areas (SIA/EIP)
• Establishment of site and business services, corporate functions in industrial parks,
• Site concepts for chemical and pharmaceutical production sites including partition of site, design & establishment of site service companies, outsourcing of services and optimization of outsourcing relationships
• Growth options for resident companies and service providers in industrial parks

Mr. Moritz Weigel is the Founding Director of The China Africa Advisory, an independent German advisory firm specialized in China-Africa relations and sustainable development in African countries with a focus on industrialization, infrastructure and renewable energy. Prior to founding the firm, he held different positions as civil servant and senior consultant with UNFCCC, UNDP and UNIDO as well as consulting companies. 

Mr. Weigel has conducted extensive research on special economic zones (SEZs) in African and Asian countries with a focus on Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and China. He co-authored a flagship UNDP publication on SEZs in Africa and China and is currently leading the development of UNDP Practical Guidelines for Sustainable SEZs. He has also been supporting the African Union (AU) Commission on fostering pan-African experience sharing and the development of policy recommendations on SEZs and green industrialization. He has been serving as advisor to international companies on SEZ development and investment promotion activities. Mr. Weigel is a founding member of the Industrial Parks and Globalization Forum under the leadership of China’s Tsinghua University. 

Mr. Weigel holds a Master’s degree in Economics, Political Science and Modern China Studies from the University of Cologne, Germany and the University of Shandong, China.

Dr. Jia YU, Senior Operations Officer and Director of International Development Cooperation at the Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University. She is responsible for the application of New Structural Economics to the international investment practice. 

Previously, Dr. YU worked more than 8 years for China State Power Investment Corp. (SPIC) International Minerals & Investment Co., Ltd as the director of the Dept. of Business Development & Public Relations. She was responsible for overseas energy and mining investment, public relations at a corporate level, global resources market research, China’s outward FDI policy, as well as empirical studies at a macro level. Before joining SPIC, Dr. YU started her career as a consultant for the utility industry with Accenture. Dr. YU graduated from Peking University with a double major in French and Economics and received a scholarship from the French government to continue her studies in France. Dr. YU has obtained two Masters’ degrees, one in Development Economics and another one in Project Management, both at CERDI-CNRS in France, where she also received her PhD in Development Economics. 

Her research fields focus on Chinese "Go Global" empirical studies, Industrial Park and Special Economic Zones (SEZ) diagnosis, China's overseas investment and the interaction of the manufacturing, energy and mining sector as well as their roles in the process of industrialization for Belt & Road countries. 

Dr. YU is a consultant to the Asian Development Bank and she is also the first representative of the People’s Republic of China to be nominated for the "Future Energy Leader" (FEL) by the World Energy Council. She is a global board member of the FEL and was a key member of its development committee (2015-2017).

Ms. Hanna Arayaselassie is a Deputy Commissioner at the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) where she is responsible for overseeing investment facilitation and regulation in industrial parks. Ms. Arayaselassie is also a member of the EIC executive management team in charge of developing and executing key strategic decisions of the Commission.

Prior to joining EIC, Ms. Arayaselassie was a Senior Policy Researcher at the Prime Minister’s Office where she undertook special assignments in policy reviews and reforms. In her previous career, Ms. Arayaselassie served as Chief of Staff to the Investment Commissioner, Law Lecturer at the Addis Ababa University School of Law, and an NYU Fellow at International Development Law Organization (IDLO).  

Ms. Arayaselassie holds a Masters of Law (LLM) from New York University School of Law, and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Addis Ababa University.