ENERGY AFRICA CONFERENCE - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer / Brands International Co Ltd
• Contributor to Nigeria

Adesina has been a solid contributor to Nigeria's social and economic development initiatives since returning to the country. He is the founder of a Sportswear manufacturing company serving schools, military institutions, and universities in Nigeria. He has a lot of experience in the financial and industrial sectors, having served as CEO of Oxygen and other industrial gases manufacturing companies and recently as Chairman of Fiŕst Bank Mortgages ltd, a premier Mortgage bank. His experience encompasses the renewable energy sector too. He recently served as the Chairman of the strategic and planning committee of the Council of Renewable Energy of Nigeria. Adesina was born into the Ijebuland Royal family of Oba Ademuyewo Fidipote in Nigeria, where he went to school before going to the United States where he earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from St. Joseph's College, now University in Philadelphia. He obtained an MBA degree from Long Island University at the Brooklyn campus. Adesina is a Christiàn Catholic and has served in his parish at various levels as Chairman of the parish laity council, Chairman of the Catholic brothers league, and many other positions. He is also the Vice President of the World Union of Jesuit Alumni/ae.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Marketing Committee
• Founder and Marketing Generalist

Founder and Marketing Generalist at PostingBee, Adriana is a Content Marketing professional leveraging multilingual capabilities with finely tuned business acumen and a passion for digital marketing execution. Adriana lives in Colorado but is originally from Brazil; she is also a mental health advocate, mom of two, and athlete.

Job Titles:

• Ambassador
• Founder
• President

Ambassador Cheick Keita holds a master's degree in public law, option law, economics, and management. he occupies the following positions: Mr. Cheick Keita is the recipient of several distinctions of the Guinea Talent Award by the HBO Talents of Africa organization. 2019. Mr. Cheick Keita was awarded in Abu Dhabi with a Special Award from the PALEDEC Panafrican Leadership Entrepreneurship Development Center to recognize his Africa investment promotion activities with his company OBA (Open business Africa) and for its initiative to create OPND (Pan-African Digital Observatory for Development). Mr. Cheick Keita speaks French, English, Spanish, and is currently learning Japanese.

Job Titles:

• Founder and President of the Circle of Global Business Women

Ambassador Sindiswa Tshabalala is the founder and President of the Circle of Global Business Women, www.cgbw.global, a global women's organization elevating African women on international forums and creating a platform for women to trade, learn and connect globally. She is global women's economic activist and a pioneer for women's advancement worldwide. The Circle of Global Business Women believes that as leaders, women must play leading roles in this changing and unpredictable world-the highway from mediocrity to growth, prosperity, and greatness. Sindiswa is breaking boundaries as a woman business leader solving global economic challenges. She is a motivational speaker at local, national, and international levels and a mentor and distinguished judge. She has held executive leadership roles in the private and public sectors within South Africa. She is a member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Energy and Green Economy Working Group; she is active in various Gender Advocacy, Education, and Socio-Economic Growth initiatives within the continent and worldwide. She sits on different boards and holds advisory positions, including the Regeneys Foundation, the Global Council for Promotion in International Trade Africa, and the Group CEO of the Circle of Global Business Women Investments African. She is passionate about Economic Development, Leadership, Governance, and Social development programs targeted at women in Africa and globally. She is the Chairman of Edison Power Group KZN, an energy company in South Africa with a presence across Africa. She earned her qualifications from GIBS University.

Job Titles:

• Retired Nuclear Physicist

Over his 40-year professional career Bai has contributed his expertise to over forty major and minor power plant projects and their associated interconnections worldwide. This involved detailed power plant and transmission systems design engineering, Systems and operations planning, project development-feasibility assessment oversight, and construction management. Among his more notable assignments, Mr. Blyden served as Project Manager on the Calpine team, which planned a 70,000 MW development program that included EPC oversight. Within this scope he also served as a site Construction Manager for the Emergency Peaker Program which constructed and commissioned eleven (11x 45 MW.) General Electric simple cycle gas turbine units in response to California executive order D-26-01 issued to protect the grid around Silicon Valley at the peak of the 2001 California energy crisis. Mr. Blyden has also worked on large Nuclear, Hydro, and mid to small distributed energy systems, having held senior technical consulting and staff positions with various utilities, AE, and Manufacturing firms such as TVA; Pacific Gas & Electric; Bechtel, ABB, Cummins, The New York Power Authority, Texas Utilities. He is currently completing the updates on the electrical

Job Titles:

• Chairman and CEO / American Renewable Energy Institute
• Chairman and CEO of the American Renewable Energy Institute

Chip Comins is the Chairman and CEO of the American Renewable Energy Institute, (AREI, Inc), Founder of the AREDAY Summit, Expo and Film Festival, Managing Director of American Spirit Productions, President and CEO of WEnergy, Inc. and Co-founder of the Green Girl Minute. He has produced and directed both long and short form documentary films for educational and broadcast television markets, including The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, DOE Wind Powering America, PBS, Link TV and BET. A long-time advocate of developing and implementing renewable energy resources to abate greenhouse gases and climate change, Comins advocates a business approach to solving both the economic and environmental crisis. In 2009, he produced 13 official side events at the UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen and is now producing the 13th Anniversary AREDAY Summit featuring President Jimmy Carter "Accelerating Solutions for the Great Transition" August 10-13, 2014.

Job Titles:

• Founder and CEO, Green Climate

Mr. Pedretti is an Italian serial entrepreneur and industry leader considered an expert in solar mini-grids and in DRE generation (Distributed Renewable Energy). He is currently serving in several boards in the energy sector around the world both profit and non-profit. He is also the President of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Rural Electrification. UN SDG7 "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all" is his passion and focus. He founded few successful startups in the renewable energy sector. He is founder of Green Climate Venture (GCV) an early-stage impact investor focused in off-grid renewable energy sector and related applications.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Marketing Committee
• Technology Module and Integration Yield Engineer / Intel Corporation

Dr. Idemudia J. Airuoyo (JJ) holds a bachelor's in physics from Fisk University and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Colorado School of Mines. Currently, Dr. Airuoyo is a Technology Development Module & Integration Yield Engineer at Intel in Portland, Oregon. In this role, he is responsible for first-of-a-kind (FOK) tool installations and qualification, defect reduction, and factory operational development via automated solutions. Outside of work, Dr. Airuoyo enjoys playing golf, tennis, and table tennis. He's also a dedicated Arsenal fan. He is passionate about mentoring young people of color and climate activism. JJ is invested in the fight against climate change, especially the looming climate crisis in the sub-Saharan African region.

Job Titles:

• Professor and Executive Director / Regis University
• Professor of Economics and Finance

Dr. Luka Powanga is a professor of Economics and Finance in the Anderson College of Business and Computing at Regis University. He is the founder of the Energy Africa Conference (https://energyafricaconference.com) to help Africa meet its Energy Demand. He is also the founding member of the Denver Chapter of the Angel Capital Group and the Powanga Group, focused on connecting US investors to Projects in Africa. He is also the co-founder of the Africa Healthcare Group, focused on improving the quality and access to healthcare in Africa. He worked in the mining and telecommunications industry at local and international levels. He taught at Colorado School of Mines before transitioning to Regis University. He consults in economic development, mining, energy, international business management, healthcare and education. He has spoken at many business forums and sits on many boards. Dr. Powanga holds a BSC degree in Metallurgy and Mineral Processing from the University of Zambia, Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Mineral Economics from Colorado School of Mines USA. He also holds a Master's degree in Computer Information Technology (MSCIT) and Graduate Certificate in Object-Oriented Programming from Regis University.

Job Titles:

• Conference Chairman

Dr. Robert Stoner is the Deputy Director of the MIT Energy Initiative/Executive Director of the MIT-Tsinghus-Cambridge Low Carbon Energy University Alliance

Job Titles:

• CEO

CEO SureChill ​ Over 13 years of Managerial experience in General Management, Strategy & Planning, Business Partnering, Corporate Finance and Financial Audit roles acquiring strong knowledge across various continents, operations and functions. ​ ➢ Track record of driving organisations toward better operational and financial performance delivering action oriented financial and business performance information, proposing strategic direction and building a strong organisation to sustain the changes implemented. ​ ➢ Reached Country General Management role after 12 years of professional experiences working in blue chip MNCs, smaller FMCG companies, BIG4 and now in a fast growing start-up company. Having covered or partnered with most business functions in my career (Financial Planning & Analysis, Strategy, Commercial, Supply Chain, Corporate Finance, Controlling, Audit, Reporting, Treasury, Business Development,...) I am a hands-on General Manager able to coach directors on detailed Business Operations while being able to put in place Strategic direction of a company to deliver strong and profitable growth of the Business. ​ ➢ MBA in International Business (Canada) & Master in Management (France) with Finance and Accountancy specialisation. ​ ➢ Consistently exceeded expectations with accomplishments being recognised by fast promotions, wide responsibilities becoming quickly the right hand of Business Leaders early in my career and learning from them to manage a Business end to end. More recently I have proven my ability to set-up a business in a new country, lead it and exceed by far the Board plans. ​ ➢ Respected leader, collaborative and natural team-player, drive organisations toward increased efficiency, better business results and stronger capabilities. ​ ➢ Action-oriented with strong problem-solving and analytical skills, strong business acumen, deal with large quantity of information to identify/anticipate issues and drive a fact based decision making process. ​ ➢ Understand, leverage and implemented various Information Systems (Odoo, SAP, BW, MS Dynamic, Oracle, Pronto, Odoo). ​ ➢ Multicultural understanding with easy adaptability to new environments: worked/studied for more than a year in 8 different countries across 4 different continents (Senegal, Nigeria, Singapore, China, USA, Canada, Switzerland & France); traveled in over 90 countries worldwide. ​ ➢ French/English (Fluent), German/Spanish (Intermediate), Mandarin (Beginner).

Job Titles:

• Head of the Royal House Andriakazomanga - Zafimbolamena Born June 30th, 1976, Comes from Two Long Royal Lineages in Madagascar

He is an inheritor from the Kingdom of the Zafimbolamena of Sakalava Menabe by his late father Prince Raymond Telesphore (Zafinimamiratra), and the Kingdom of Andriakazomanga of the Merina Vakinankaratra by his mother, Princess Voahangy Soa Rafiringa. His Royal Highness Prince Rina Telesphore is married to Pst Norma Queensly and has six children, one son and five daughters, two of whom are twins. He has two brothers and a sister, those still alive Prince Manak´Ash ou Menakasina (Rado Telesphore), a sister Yahloah (Miora Jeny Telesphore), and a deceased brother, Prince Fy Telesphore. By his love for serving his God and his people, His Highness Prince Rina Telesphore and his wife are founders of the Christian Shrine Ministry International based in Mauritius to pray and help his compatriots. He has held and holds many high responsibility positions in the service of countries. Among others, he is the Special Envoy, Ambassador of the African Diaspora Union, National President of various professional groups such as Association of Jewelers and Lapidaires of Madagascar, Federal President of Indian Ocean Bijoutiers, or Vice-President of Small Exporters from Madagascar. He holds a triple Doctorate Honoris Causa in Diplomacy, Humanity and Human Rights.

Job Titles:

• President
• Member of the Austrian Diplomatic Service
• President of the Global Forum

Irene Giner-Reichl has been a member of the Austrian Diplomatic Service since 1982. Her main areas of expertise are economic and social development, women's rights' issues, environment, energy, and development cooperation. Irene Giner-Reichl has held numerous international bureau functions. From 1995 to 1998 she was director of the international department of the Austrian Ministry for the Environment. From 1998 to 2001 she was Austria's permanent representative to the UN, IAEA, UNIDO and CTBTO in Vienna. From 2001 to 2004 she headed the UNIDO office in New York in the rank of assistant director general. From 2005 to 2012 she was director general in charge of Austria's development policy and cooperation. Since 2012, she held the position of Austrian ambassador to the People's Republic of China and Mongolia until recently when she transitioned to her current position. Irene Giner-Reichl is president of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE), which she founded in 1999 as a multi-stake-holder platform for dialogues on energy in the service of sustainable development, and vice-president of the REN21 steering committee. She has published books and articles on international relations and global issues. She has lectured at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna for several years on human security and development policy.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Member of the Marketing Committee
• Managing Partner of the Board of Directors

John Dee is Managing Partner of the Board of Directors - Global Energy Options Holding S.A. (EU) and is CEO of Global Energy Options (US) Inc. These two companies hold diverse patents in energy and currently their operations are managed by legal and accounting companies in Luxembourg. John's life is about his values and passion - all of which inspire his vision for making the world more habitable, as well as influencing his way of doing business. His dedication and singularity of purpose motivate his teams. As an engineer and inventor, his work has been about bringing collaborative development of projects and products for environmental sustainability in the fields of Agriculture, Industrial, Transport, Energy, Hydrogen and Environment. After a career working as an engineer and Marketing Manager for Toshiba Medical, and establishing, as Managing Director, a Subsidiary of Fisher Imaging Inc., Northglenn CO. John launched several technologies in the Asia Pacific Region, including the foundation of Australia's leading biological farming company, Geoflora Life Science. John was founding managing director of Soil Foodweb in Asia for Elaine Ingham the world-famous soil biologist of the USA.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Marketing Committee
• Development & Communications Director at the Posner Center for International Development
• Development and Communications Director / Posner Center for International Development

Julia Kennedy is currently the Development & Communications Director at the Posner Center for International Development in Denver, CO. She joined the Posner Center after returning home from a Peace Corps Response assignment with the UN's World Food Programme improving local capacity and field operations for food security, nutrition, and gender equity programs in Kankan, Guinea. Julia comes to the global development sector from twenty years at IBM where she led strategic development and organizational change across a wide range of business domains from marketing to supply chain, business intelligence, human resources, and information technology. Among various IBM leadership roles building global and emerging market capabilities, she was a VP of Business Transformation and IT, based in India where she rolled out global programs in China, Eastern Europe, and Africa, developed local talent, and promoted the advancement of women. She holds a Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University and a B.A. in Economics and French from Macalester College, studying in France at the University of Toulon and University of Rennes, Business School.

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Vice President

Ms. Larson is a consultant with 24 years of experience in the power industry. As a Vice President at HDR, she leads HDR's international power pursuits and is an advisor to HDR's Strategic Consulting Practice. She has experience and background in Sub-Saharan Africa and has participated in the advancement of the Nacala Solar and Storage project in Mozambique. Ms. Larson has significant technical and project management experience associated with power and water projects. She has extensive experience working with stakeholders to develop practical solutions that meet the needs of multiple interests. Ms. Larson has been involved in a variety of industry organizations and activities, including presenting applied research results at meetings and national conferences, and serving on boards including for the Northwest Hydroelectric Association and the Hydropower Foundation. She has a master's degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University and holds a Wharton Executive Management CPD in Strategy and Leadership.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Marketing Committee
• Owner
• President

Maggie Fouquet is an international businesswoman and entrepreneur. She has have founded and run several companies over the past 20 years. Maggie has lived in five countries, speaks four languages, and enjoys working across the world. Currently, she is the President/Owner of IBCircle, Inc. (since 2010) and involved in many international projects in Colorado, USA. Over the past few years, she was also a director of a global commercial investment company. Her areas of expertise include: • Product commercialization (locally & internationally);

Job Titles:

• Executive Leader - Strategy and Growth, Integrated Gas and Power Solutions
• Executive Leader at Baker Hughes

Michael is an executive leader at Baker Hughes. He is responsible for business development of integrated gas and power products and solutions. This includes early engagement and conceptual design on integrated gas and power projects. As a leader in Baker Hughes, he is also part of the Strategy and Marketing team helping to drive the companies gas value chain strategy and advance Baker Hughes' global gas leadership with external partners and other stakeholders.

Job Titles:

• Investor
• Principal

Mr. Julius Mwale is a successful industrial entrepreneur and investor with more than 20 years of proven track record in innovative investments in Technology, Energy, Health, retail and construction industries.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Engineer
• Member of the Marketing Committee

Patrice Barber is a recovering engineer, digital marketing tech leader, serial entrepreneur and international speaker. She is Founder/ CEO of Career Con-X, a SaaS Personal Branding Platform that connects business leaders to their Top 100 influencers for mission driven opportunities taking 87% of executives from "looking" to "landed" in under 90 days. Career Con-X platform provides a contact management app, online accelerator program and personal branding services to build a powerful sphere of influence with 20-50% more engagement in 15 minutes a day, attracting hidden opportunities, starting and scaling new business ventures driven by personal brand. Patrice has been featured in CoBiz Magazine, Denver Business Journal, Denver Post, Prospector, KNUS radio, is a frequent speaker at international entrepreneurial events, and guest lecturer at University of Denver and Regis University's MBA programs. Over 25 years' experience in both corporate leadership for teams from 3 to 300 and building multiple startups with clients spanning five countries. Successfully sold three firms with one generating over $5M in gross revenue in 18 months. Her high-energy, actionable presentations bring audiences to action. Over 25 years' experience in both corporate leadership for teams from 3 to 300 and building multiple startups with clients spanning five countries. Successfully sold three firms with one generating over $5M in gross revenue in 18 months. Keynote presenter, frequently sharing proven strategies and cutting edge tactics for digital marketing, CRM implementations, entrepreneurship, and personal branding with people all over the world. Board Chair for TiE Denver, Pitch coach and mentor for TechStars, Rockies Venture Club, State Director Clean Tech Open, guest lecturer at Regis and Denver University's MBA programs. Developed the entrepreneurship program in 2008 selected by the U.S. government for the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for veterans transitioning into the civilian work force. Fun facts, Patrice has climbed 10 of the 14,000 ft mountains in Colorado, grew up in 7 different countries, conversationally speaks 5 languages, enjoys single track biking and exotic beaches with scuba sites nearby to toast the sunset with family and friends.

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder / Cedar Street Capital, LLC
• Co - Founder of Cedar Street Capital

Peter is the co-founder of Cedar Street Capital, LLC, an advisory firm headquartered in New York that assists its emerging markets clients in raising capital in amounts greater than $20 million. Peter has focused on promoting and facilitating growth over the course of his career, primarily through raising capital for growing firms, but he has also been an entrepreneur and founder of several firms over the course of his career. Throughout the 1980's and 1990's his primary focus was on working to raise funds for early-stage technology companies across a wide spectrum of industries. Early last decade, he changed the focus of his activities to the emerging markets of Africa and Latin America, and along with that switch in focus he shifted his activities towards more mature companies seeking expansion capital as opposed to early-stage funding. Over the course of his career, he has worked on deals in virtually every large industry sector ranging from software and telecom to banking and agriculture. In terms of standout transactions, Peter's two most significant transactions were in the African financial sector. From 2005-2007 he helped raise over $50 million for the micro-lender Blue Financial Services of South Africa, and in 2007 he led a $161 million private equity investment into Intercontinental Bank of Nigeria.

Job Titles:

• Chief Innovation Officer & Venture Management

Pierre-jean Cherret connects the dots between highly innovative products with new markets, helping both financial investors and entrepreneurs to create impactfull collaborative partnerships, project origination funnels for skyrocked sales, networking platforms for due diligence and business development. He loves to impulse change with a mixed open ecosystem of hightech industries, startups and CVC's wrapped around an outreach business strategy to be executed. He also develops and extends global sales with a turnkey customer-focused approach. His areas of expertise include; Energy markets & policy, Cleantech, Smart & distributed Grids & Cities, Supply Chain, Asset mngt, Project Finance & program mngt , Contract Negotiations, Due Diligence &M/A support, Lobbying & Strategic analysis, Market studies, Business development, Sales & Bid & account mngt. Technological scouting, smart data/IOT, and Business/IT master plan. His accomplishments are; 1 to 5 M turnover, scouted and engaged with more than 200+ startups, 50+ CAC40 business partners and clients, 2M program mngt scope.

Job Titles:

• Chairman of the Board
• Executive Director

A recognized leader in strategic development, commercialization and implementation of advanced fuel additives and specialty chemicals for global energy, Clean Tech, and Petrochemical markets. An accomplished, innovative, and recognized global executive, Robert is best known for his extensive leadership roles as Chairman, CEO, President, and Managing Director of multiple international technology enterprises. Robert is the architect and has oversight responsibility of OctaneX's global business development; leading implementation of comprehensive business strategies, development of partnership and joint ventures, representative and distribution channels and all technology licensing. He represents the company with key strategic and global partners, business and government leaders and other external enterprise groups. Central to his work has been Robert's strategic vision for the Company's future, which includes OctaneX's growth, technical advancements, IP development, global integration, and continuous innovation. With extensive experience growing technology, energy and software enterprises, Robert has held multiple executive and senior management positions focusing on innovation, ESG and technology advancements with a vision of applications and commercialization while driving performance, profitability, and value creation for the shareholder. As Chairman and CEO, Robert is well suited in his role as advisor to companies, governmental agencies and organizations on policy issues associated with small to large-scale transactions. He has represented a broad range of enterprises supporting M&A, joint ventures and partnership structures, PE/debt financing and corporate governance while developing and implementing organizations to meet corporate objectives and drive enhanced value. Recognized for executive leadership and strategic thought, Robert has led international teams that have merged or acquired companies, developed public offerings, formed joint ventures, and founded new enterprises. Since joining the OctaneX Board of Directors in 2012, he led the company's restructure, the formation and structuring of an US$500 million affiliate, advanced and enhance the company's intellectual property portfolio and has launched the design and development of new refining/processing facilities in the US and China with additional sites under development. Introduction into the European markets is anticipated in mid 2020. He also co-founded Big Horn Renewables, LLC for the development and production of renewable natural gas and serves as Executive Chairman. Robert has advised and counseled companies, investors, acquirers and government agencies on corporate strategies and policy matters in a variety of industries, ranging from technology enterprises to regulated companies in energy, life sciences, software, digital imaging, and artificial intelligence. He has also advised corporations on various governmental, administrative and regulatory policy matters and continues today to work and assists in the planning and implementation of corporate ESG, social and environmental responsibility programs. Robert is an entrepreneur, investor, publicly speaks and serves on corporate and nonprofit boards actively "giving back" to local communities supporting corporate responsibility and environmental balance. He is graduate of Millikin University with advance studies at Arizona State University and the American University, Washington DC.

Job Titles:

• Chairman / Investment

Sheikh M Ahmed El Haiba is a member of many financial firms and organizations dedicated to investing in social and impact programs ranging from government to private enterprises.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Marketing Committee
• Senior Partner and Co - Founder of North American Development Group

Mr. Victor Ngoma is a seasoned Strategic Marketing and Business Development Professional in the Oil and Gas/ Energy and Manufacturing sectors. He has spent 16 Mr. Ngoma is a Senior Partner and Co-Founder of North American Development Group (www.northamericandevelopmentgroupllc.com) and is on the organizing committee of the Energy Africa Conference.