"Demystifying the African Economy" Conference 2006 - Oxford Entrepreneurs

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Speaker Profiles We will be welcoming the following eminent speakers (listed in alphabetical order):
		Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
		Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, OFR, is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Member of the Federal Executive Council, the highest decision making body in Nigeria. He attended various academic and professional programs at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, Harvard Business School, Arthur D. Little School of Management, and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service all in the USA. During his tenure as the CEO of Nigeria’s privatization agency, he was at the forefront of the battle for the reform of the Nigerian economy. In spite of being subjected to personal and institutional attacks by entrenched interests, he maintained the pace of the program and sustained the political support of Nigeria’s leadership for the program. He is one of Nigeria’s new generation of technocrats. In October 2001, he was conferred a national honour, OFR (Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) by the Federal Government of Nigeria. On July 16, 2003, he was appointed as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory by the President Olusegun Obasanjo led democratic government.
		Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede CEO Access Bank Plc
		Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede is the Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc. He was appointed CEO of the bank 2002 following the successful management buyout of the business, which he co-lead. Since then, he has repositioned the bank as one of Africa 's fastest growing financial institutions while forging alliances with other global players. Access Bank recently acquired Capital Bank Plc - previously the banking franchise of Credit Lyonnais (now Caylon) in Nigeria. He is also on the steering committee for the establishment of the African Investment Bank. Aigboje is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.
		Rosalind Kainyah Director of Public and Corporate Affairs, De Beers Group
		Rosalind Kainyah is the Diamond Trading Company's Director for Corporate Communications. The Diamond Trading Company is the sales and marketing division of the De Beers Group. Rosalind is responsible for building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between the DTC and its stakeholders which include governments, clients, the media, NGO's and others and for promoting the DTC's corporate image. Prior to taking up this position in July 2004 she was the Legal Counsel for corporate and commercial affairs for the De Beers Group for two years and before then was a corporate lawyer at Linklaters, one of the major city law firms. Before her career as a corporate lawyer, Rosalind worked as an international environmental lawyer and was engaged by international and national organisations and institutions to advise government departments and agencies on environmental policy and legislation and reviewing and drafting primary and secondary legislation.
		Richard Laing Chief Executive of CDC Group
		Richard Laing is Chief Executive of CDC Group plc based in London. CDC is a government owned private equity firm and provides capital for investment in sustainable private sector businesses in the emerging markets. Its investments and commitment in Africa is approximately US $1 billion. Richard joined CDC in January 2000 as Finance Director. He was appointed Chief Executive in July 2004 following the spin-out of the fund management team. Prior to CDC, Richard spent 15 years at De La Rue where he held a number of positions both in the UK and overseas, latterly as Group Finance Director. He was a non-executive director of Camelot plc. Prior to this he worked in agribusiness in developing countries and at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
		Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman Deputy Governor - Central Bank of Nigeria
		Dr. Usman is a Chairman and Board Member of a number of institutions. He is currently the Chairman of the Nigerian Export - Import Bank, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Abuja Commodities Exchange (ACE) and a Board member of the African Export-Import Bank (AFRIEXIM) based in Cairo, Egypt. Dr. Usman was Executive Director, International and Investments Sector, United Bank for Africa between 1992 and 1993 and Executive Director, Corporate and International Banking, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. from April 1993 to October, 1994. Dr. Usman was Managing Director/Chief Executive, NAL Merchant Bank Plc, from where he was appointed the Deputy Governor in charge of Domestic Monetary and Banking Policy in the Central Bank of Nigeria. Dr. Usman obtained his masters and doctorate degrees in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of London respectively.