Ada Osakwe is a Nigerian economist, an entrepreneur and corporate executive, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Agrolay Ventures, an agribusiness investment company based in Nigeria, which invests in African agricultural food-related companies. From November 2012 until May 2015, Osakwe was the Senior Investment Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina.

Agnes Kalibata is a Rwandan agricultural scientist and policymaker, and president of AGRA. She served as Rwanda’s minister of agriculture and animal resources from 2008 to 2014 and began her tenure as president of AGRA in 2014.

Ishmael Sunga has more than 30 years of experience, mainly in the development sector. Prior to his current position as head of a regional farmers’ organization for southern Africa, he previously worked in various capacities for research and academic institutions, and for international development agencies.

Jens Hartmann is the Regional Head for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) for the Crop Science Division at Bayer. His focus at Bayer is driving business growth focused on commercial innovation and execution, such as in the fields of climate-smart innovations, and digital, allowing him to help Bayer unlock agriculture’s great transformation across the EMEA region. Jens has worked in the agriculture industry for his entire career spanning over 30 years with a passion for emerging markets, smallholder farmers and digital. Prior to assuming the overall responsibility as Regional Head for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Jens led Commercial Operations for Asia Pacific region at Bayer Crop Science, where he oversaw the business in delivering value for customers in Asia. He has held various global and regional leadership roles across the Crop Science division, including the division’s Global CIO (Chief Information Officer), Head of Global Marketing for Commercial Operations and Country Cluster Head for South Asia. His working experience includes various commercial and managerial positions in South Africa, Kenya, Pakistan, India and Singapore. Jens has a B.A. in economics from Cologne, Germany.

Mohamed Ait Kadi is President of Morocco’s General Council of Agricultural Development, a policy Think-Tank of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. He is a key player in Morocco’s agricultural sector reforms and has served on several national and international boards and many high-level international assignments. He is a resident member of the King Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology.

Strive Masiyiwa is one of Africa’s most respected business leaders. He is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Econet Group which comprises Cassava Technologies and Econet Wireless. Strive Masiyiwa set out more than 20 years ago to bring connectivity to Africa. He went on to build Africa’s largest independent fiber network, totaling more than 100,000 kilometers. In May 2020, Masiyiwa was appointed to serve as an African Union Special Envoy to help coordinate Africa’s private sector efforts to procure medical supplies and fight the spread of COVID-19. As Special Envoy he also heads up the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. He led a similar private-sector initiative to fight Ebola in West Africa in 2014-2015. Masiyiwa has a bachelor of engineering degree from the University of Cardiff.

Surita Sandosham joined Heifer International in 2022. Born and raised in Singapore, Sandosham has more than two decades of senior leadership experience at global non-profit organizations. Most recently, she served as Executive Director of Heartland Alliance International, a humanitarian and human rights non-profit based in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to Heartland, Sandosham was Vice President of Programs at the global non-profit Synergos in New York, building multisectoral partnerships on behalf of smallholder farmers and other vulnerable populations. Sandosham is a lawyer by training who graduated from City University London and the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University. As an international development practitioner and human rights advocate, she has served in leadership positions at Amnesty International, Equality Now, Rockefeller Foundation, Synergos, and Heartland Alliance International, working to accelerate agricultural growth, address malnutrition, improve retention rates in education and support economic development for marginalized communities.

Svein Tore Holsether is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Yara International and also a member of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Food & Nature program for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), member of the steering committee of IMAGINE Food Collective, a nature champion and member of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF). In 2021, he was elected President of NHO, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. Previously, Mr. Holsether has held a range of executive and senior position in large industrial companies. Mr. Holsether has a BSc degree, specializing in Finance & Management, from the University of Utah, USA. Sandosham is a lawyer by training who graduated from City University London and the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University. As an international development practitioner and human rights advocate, she has served in leadership positions at Amnesty International, Equality Now, Rockefeller Foundation, Synergos, and Heartland Alliance International, working to accelerate agricultural growth, address malnutrition, improve retention rates in education and support economic development for marginalized communities.