AIRPORT EXPANSION SUMMIT - Key Persons


Abu Bakarr Kamara

Job Titles:
  • Director General / Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority
Mr. Abu Bakarr Kamara started his aviation career in Sierra National Airlines serving more than 25 years in various executive positions including Ghana Airways and Slok Air International. He started serving in Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority in 2010, and since August 2013 he is the is the Director General of the SLCAA.

Alan Shen

Job Titles:
  • Marketing Manager

Alexander Herring

Job Titles:
  • General Manager Africa of ADB Safegate Group
  • Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce CBL - ACP
Alexander Herring is General Manager Africa of ADB Safegate Group and Managing Director of ADB Safegate South Africa. ADB Safegate is specialized in Airport solutions including Airfield Lighting, Gate and ATC Solutions. ADB Safegate offers integrated solutions for increased safety, efficiency and sustainability benefits to airports around the world. ADB Safegate provides the airport industry with efficient solutions for more and safer aircraft movements. Alexander Herring is also Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce CBL-ACP, a Chamber of Commerce promoting business with ACP countries. A Financing Division has been created in the Chamber of Commerce starting 2009 to look for project financing possibilities and communicate to different Institutions the problematic of project financing in ACP Countries. He organizes and conducts regularly seminars and trade missions to Africa with a focus on International Financial Institutions. Since 2011 he is also one of the Private Sector Liaison Officers (PSLO) of the World Bank Group. The PSLO is acting as the voice of the private sector in advising the World Bank Group on how to better engage companies on development issues; and disseminating World Bank Group knowledge and research of interest to the private sector. Alexander Herring published articles related to international financing and is regularly speaker and chairman on airport conferences in Africa. He has a degree in laws and business administration from the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Ashish Dongre

Job Titles:
  • General Manager
  • General Manager, Airports Development
Ashish Dongre is currently working as the General Manager Airports Development. Ashish is part of the core team responsible for the implementation of GVK 360 Airport Solutions which is a proprietary tool for standard operating procedures and best practices for developing, constructing and operating airports. Ashish was also part of the ORAT (operations readiness activation and transfer) Team that very successfully planned and managed the commissioning the new 4.7million square feet mega International Terminal 2 in Mumbai, India. He is presently working with the GVK strategy team to maximize

David Chawota

Job Titles:
  • CEO & General Manager / Civil Aviation Authority
Mr Chawota joined the department of Civil Aviation in 1984 in the then Ministry of Transport and Energy as an Engineer and rose through the ranks to the post of Chief Telecommunications Engineer and Acting Deputy Director of Civil Aviation in 1996. He was appointed General Manager/CEO of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe in 2006. Mr David Chawota holds a Masters' in Business Administration degree from the University of Zimbabwe and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics, majoring in Avionics Systems from the University of Bucharest, Romania. Mr Chawota is a renowned aviation expert in the region and beyond. He was instrumental in the transformation of the Department of Civil Aviation to Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe. He served as the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) Vice President of the Southern Region for three years. He served in the Aeronautical Inspection Services-Modification Department in the Airforce of Zimbabwe and having been involved in the introduction of new fleet of aircraft such as CASA 212 and BELL 412 series into the service. He is a seasoned aviation regulator having served as the Director of Regulatory Services within the formation of the Authority. He was instrumental in the implementation of aviation projects in Zimbabwe, including the Modernization of Communications, Navigation and Surveilance/Air Traffic Management Systems (CNS/ATM) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Safety Oversight Programme. He is a member of the Institute of Directors of Zimbabwe. Aviation Human captive capacity building is high on David Chawota's priority agenda.

David Haslam

Job Titles:
  • Vice President, Ideate Technologies / Managing Director, WorldsView Technologies
David is responsible for driving the sales and adoption of Autodesk products throughout sub-Saharan Africa. An engineer by qualification, David started his career at one of the largest Autodesk resellers in South Africa, providing Autodesk software and implementation services in the process plant and manufacturing sectors. David's passion for business and economics saw him appointed in the Management Consultant division at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000, following which he returned to the Autodesk channel as Managing Director of WorldsView Technologies in 2003. As the sole distributor of Autodesk technology serving over 250 authorized resellers throughout sub-Saharan Africa, David has an intimate knowledge of African business processes, the challenges and opportunities faced within African markets. He holds a BSc (Eng) in Physical Metallurgy and an MBA, both obtained at the University of Witwatersrand.

IAP Joseph Okumu

Job Titles:
  • Airport Manager, Kisumu International Airport / Kenya Airports Authority
  • Kenya Airports Authority As Airport Manager
IAP Joseph Okumu works for the Kenya Airports Authority as Airport Manager of Kisumu International Airport. He has had a distinguished 24 years career in the aviation industry serving in the fields of airport management, aviation security, airport operations and safety as well as being an instructor at the East African School of Aviation. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Aviation from Moi University and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Nairobi. In addition he is an ACI /ICAO designated International Airport Professional (IAP), and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Airport Professional Community of Practice (IAPCoP), the premier global network for IAPs.Previously he has held the positions of Manager Operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and Head of Aviation Security at Eldoret International Airport and Wilson Airport. His major achievement includes the oversight of the development of Kisumu from a domestic airport to an international airport.

Impana Jeevan

Job Titles:
  • Senior Operations Manager

Johann Frank

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director / Airport Consulting Vienna
After studying at the Business University of Vienna, Johann Frank started Consulting in the 1980s and has, since, been demonstrating his scientific knowledge as a lecturer and international management trainer. In 1985, he became a strategy consultant to the Vienna International Airport (VIE) and in 1992 he founded Airport Consulting Vienna (ACV) as a joint venture with Vienna International Airport.. He has lead ACV in various strategic airport management, development, and privatization projects. In 2001 he bought the shares from VIE and became the only shareholder and Managing Director in 2010. ACV merged with Airport Design Management (ADM) in 2013 forming the ACV Group. Within the ACV Group Johann Frank operates as the mastermind for novel solutions and innovative airport strategies in which his exceptional experiences was proven in more than 100 airport transactions all over the world.

John Ryan

Job Titles:
  • Project Director
John Ryan has over 25 years professional experience in the management of aviation, real estate, retail and hospitality related industries. His range of business experience extends from running a finance and accounting department to preparing airport operational readiness, project management, financial controlling, strategic planning, IT systems strategy and detailed design, coordinating public tenders, budgetary planning, cash-flow forecasting, M&A procedures, regulation, cost control and asset management. He has a thorough operational understanding of how an airport is managed on a day to day basis and the challenges that entails. At present, John is Project Director with Fraport AG, based at the headquarters in Frankfurt. He deals with international acquisitions, operational management contracts and consulting services. He has spent 10 years in our subsidiaries overseas, in New Delhi, Jeddah and in Dakar.

Kabiru Jammeh

Job Titles:
  • Project Manager for the Banjul International Airport Improvement Project at the Banjul International Airport
  • Project Manager, Airport Improvement Project, Banjul International Airport
Kabiru, has been the Project Manager for the Banjul International Airport Improvement Project at the Banjul International Airport since June 2012.He is responsible for managing day-to-day operations of the project in accordance with the loan agreement between the Funding Agencies and The Government of The Gambia in ensuring that the project objectives are achieved. Prior to his current position he was the Civil Engineering Manager from August 2002 to June 2012 at the Banjul International Airport and he was responsible for running the day to day Civil Engineering Section: Aerodrome engineering activities; Civil Works activities; Building and Construction works; Plan, design, implement and monitor civil engineering activities of the GCAA. Kabiru Jammeh received his B. Eng (Hons) in Civil and Water Resources Engineering from the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria and his Masters in Infrastructure, Asset Engineering and Management, University of Leeds, UK. He also has a Masters Certificate in Project Management (MCPM), and received the FAA Award's International Airport Certified Employee (IACE) in 2004.

Karin Mulder

Job Titles:
  • Vice President for Ports & Airports / KfW IPEX - Bank GmbH
Karin holds an university degree in Business Administration and a degree as Certified International Investment Analyst, CIIA. She has 20 years working experience with financing of projects in emerging and developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. During that period she has been working with equity and debt financing instruments including export & project finance and concessional financing. For the last 5 years of her career she has been focusing on export & project finance of ports & airports mainly in Africa.

Mr. Simon Lotter

Job Titles:
  • Regional Sales Director
Mr. Simon Lotter holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Aviation Management and has more than twelve years of international management experience of which he has spent more than 8 years of his professional career in Asia-Pacific including Hong Kong and Singapore. As a Senior Consultant at Munich Airport he was one of the driving forces behind the ORAT team that successfully opened the new Hamad International Airport in Doha in 2014. Early 2015 he was appointed Regional Sales Director.

Shaun Carter

Job Titles:
  • Head Delegate Acquisition & Sponsorships