WELCOME TO THE CEO AND GLOBAL LEADERS FORUM
Held as part of the ICO-led structured sector-wide dialogue and, as recommended by the Council at its 125th Session in decision ICC 125-10, this high-profile event brings together top executives of the coffee value chain, producers, traders, roasters, retailers and high-profile policy leaders, together with development partners and civil society. Together these stakeholders will consider the outcomes of the work of the Coffee Public-Private Task Force and seek to converge towards measurable commitments for the sustainable future of coffee growers and of the whole coffee sector in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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Wednesday 9th September 2020
Session 1 - Private Meeting of the CEO's
1:30PM- 3:00PM
Closed Meeting among the signatories of the London Declaration
(Only for CEOs and Company Sherpas)
Session 2 - Panel Discussion
3:00PM-4:30PM
(Open meeting)
Session 2 will include a Panel Discussion on the topic “Leveraging the role of International Finance Institutions and Development Partners for a sustainable coffee sector”.
SESSION 2 - PANEL DISCUSSION SPEAKERS
MR ABAH OFON
Manager Research and International Cooperation, AFREXIMBANK
Abah has over 21 years’ macroeconomic, commodities, trade and research experience in financial markets in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Prior to joining Afreximbank, he was lead analyst at the London firm Agribriefing, Head of agri-commodity research and Africa economist for Standard Chartered Bank’s global franchise based in London, Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia. Abah has provided advisory services on agricultural markets to some of the largest agribusiness names and institutional clients including hedge funds and central banks. Abah is a prominent pundit in the financial and business media and was profiled in the UK’s Financial Times at the height of the 2008/09 commodity crisis. Abah is a graduate of the London School of Economics and has been a member of UK Society of Business Economists as well as a Financial Advisor licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Out of the office Abah enjoys political satire and literature.
MR CHRIS BRETT
Lead Agribusiness Specialist Agriculture & Food Global Practice, World Bank
Christopher Brett was appointed as the Lead Agribusiness Specialist with the World Bank in November 2016 and joined the Agriculture and Food Global Agricultural Practice, based in Washington DC. He has a Master’s Degree in Management for Agricultural Development from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. He has more than thirty years’ experience of working within the public private and voluntary sectors in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Prior to working with the World Bank, he worked for 9 years as the Global Head of Sustainability for a large multi-national agricultural supply chain management company, as part of the senior management team, Chris supported the company’s transition from a trading-based company to a global agri-business supply chain management company.
From 2001 to 2007, he undertook a range of consultancies for leading development organisations and the private sector, such as; the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, African Development Bank, European Union, United Nations Development Programme, commercial banks and infrastructural development companies. He also worked for 6 years in Central America as a Private Sector Development Advisor (1995-2001) for the UK Department for International Development.
MRS DAPHNE VAN GEFFEN
Program Director Coffee, IDH
In the capacity as Program Director at IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative, Daphne van Geffen is responsible for their Coffee program, and active in Asia, Latin America and East-Africa. In this role she works with both public and private parties in the global coffee sustainability arena. Prior to joining IDH in May 2020, she worked in Commodity banks and in consultancy, specialised in Soft Commodity finance.
She started her career at ING Bank as Trainee International Division in 1987.
From 1990-2000 she worked at Bank Mees & Hope/MeesPierson in Trade & Commodity Finance, managing the Coffee/Cocoa desk in Amsterdam.
From she worked 2000 as an independent consultant and interim manager.
From 2013-2019 she was the specialist in structured inventory financing of Coffee and Cocoa worldwide with ABNAmro Amsterdam, New York and Singapore.
Daphne has a degree at the University of Amsterdam and a MBA certificate Sustainability & Systemic Change at Nyenrode University.
MR HANS BOGAARD
Manager Agribusiness, Food & Water, FMO
Hans is an experienced agri banker and advisor specialized in developing markets. A graduate from Wageningen University, he spent over 20 years with Rabobank in various agribusiness positions lastly with Rabo’s agribusiness advisory services (RIAS) where he managed the Agribusiness team. 3 years ago he switched to FMO, the Dutch Development Bank heading the Africa & Farmer Financing Team at the Agribusiness Department.
Coffee has been a red thread throughout his career. Key question indeed has been how smallholders can get better access to inputs, markets and financing. At Rabobank, cooperative development was considered as a critical factor in the solution. At FMO, we finance some of the largest coffee traders and support smallholder development via these anchor traders. In addition, we invest in dedicated smallholder funds (IDH Farm Fit, Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund, Fair Trade Access Fund, etc) to increase resilience of the coffee farmers.
MR HANS PERK
Regional Director for Africa and interim Global Agriculture Specialist, Oikocredit
Hans Perk joined Oikocredit in January 2018. As regional director for Africa he is responsible for development and implementation of the strategy for the continent, working in 13 countries from 4 offices in East and West Africa. Currently he is also acting as the Global head of agriculture on an interim basis.
Before joining Oikocredit, Hans lived and worked in Guatemala for a Coffee plantation implementing sustainable production practices and in Ghana working for a Dutch NGO as regional director for West Africa. Hans started his career as investment manager at Triodos Bank in The Netherlands
MR GERD FLEISCHER
Head of Section G510 Value Creation, Innovation, Employment, GIZ GmbH
Gerd Fleischer studied agricultural economics at the University of Goettingen, and holds a Ph D from Hanover University, Germany. He has been working for over 30 years on issues related to agricultural and rural development in developing countries and emerging economies, mostly with GTZ and now GIZ. He had assignments in countries in Africa and Asia, such as Tunisia, Indonesia, China and East Timor, and served as advisor for sustainable agriculture at the World Bank. Currently, he manages global projects on agricultural innovation, based at GIZ in Bonn, Germany.
