This Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), is a diplomat and development expert with four decades of solid experience across the world. As Special Adviser to the President of African Development Bank from June 2006 to July 2011, he contributed immensely to the development of the Bank’s longer-term strategy, planning and implementation as well as in the negotiations for its capital increase among other strategic contributions. His remarkable input to the delivery of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) for two decades culminated in his appointment to head the Department’s Operations in Africa from 2000 to 2004 and later to the position of Director and Strategic Adviser to the Management Board of the Department. During his leadership roles at DFID included the development of its strategic direction for Africa policy; and setting priorities for UK Presidency of G8 and Gleneagles Summit, the Blair Commission for Africa and UN Millennium Summit.
He has been a member of the Board of British Red Cross and is presently an independent consultant and Chair of Board of SciDev.Net – a leading source of reliable and authoritative news, views and analysis about science and technology for global development. Having worked in many countries of the across Africa, he has a deep understanding of the continent’s development dynamics.