Makane Moïse Mbengue is Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva where he teaches General International Law, International Environmental Law, International Investment Law, Climate Change and International Law, International Water Law, International Dispute Settlement Law and Philosophy of International Law. Prof. Mbengue is also an Affiliate Professor at Sciences Po Paris (School of Law) where he teaches General International Law, the Law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Dispute Settlement in the Law of the Sea. He holds a Ph.D. in Public International Law from the University of Geneva.

He was the Lead Expert for the negotiations and drafting of the Pan-African Investment Code (PAIC) in the context of the African Union. He was also among the Experts who have prepared the Global Pact for the Environment. He has acted and acts as expert for the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) among others. He also acts as a Professor for courses in International Law organized by the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) and by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Prof. Mbengue acts as counsel in disputes before international courts and tribunals (in particular, before the International Court of Justice and in investment cases) and as advisor for governments. He is involved in the negotiations of several International Investment Agreements in Africa.

He is the author of several publications in the field of international law.

Dr. Oramah has been President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank since September 2015.

Prior to this, he was Executive Vice President responsible for Business Development & Corporate Banking (October 2008 – September 2015), specifically supervising  Trade Finance, Project & Export Development Finance, Syndications & Specialized Finance, and Corporate Finance & Advisory Services. He also supervised the Research and Strategy functions of the Bank.

He holds an Advanced Management Certificate from Columbia University, M.Sc. and Ph.D. Degrees in Agricultural Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, and a B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan. On 22 July 2018, he was decorated Professor of International Trade and Finance by Adeleke University, Nigeria.

Dr. Oramah currently serves on the Practitioner Advisory Board of the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI) of Offenburg University, Gengenbach, Germany. He is also a Member of the Emerging Markets Advisory Council of the Institute of International Finance; an Executive Committee Member of the Factors Chain International (FCI); a member of the Consultative Board on the World Cocoa Economy of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO); and a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of African Trade (JAT).

Dr. Oramah has won several awards, including the Afreximbank Outstanding Staff Award (2010); the 2017 Banker of the Year Award of the African Banker and the Africa House Leadership Award of the New York University (2018).

As a prolific writer, he recently published a book entitled: ‘Foundations of Structured Trade Finance’, contributed a chapter on Export Credit Arrangements in Capital-Scarce Developing Economies in the Hand Book of Global Trade Policy. He has also authored Chapters in several other books and written over 40 professional/scholarly articles on a wide range of African economic, trade and trade finance issues.

Prof. Sylvia Kang’ara is the founder of a Nairobi-based law firm that serves domestic and international clients seeking legal representation and advisory services in investment law, commercial law, technology law, international corporate finance law and international law.   She has been a law academic for over fifteen years, and for six years, she was the founding dean of Riara Law School in Nairobi.  She is currently engaged as visiting faculty in the Master of Laws Programme (International Financial Law) at Strathmore University Law School in Nairobi.  Before joining the legal academy, she was an international legal associate at the  project finance and equipment leasing practice of the global law firm White & Case, LLP, New York Office.

Prof. Kang’ara has taught law in the United States at the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, and at the Oklahoma City University Law School. She has also given lectures or presentations at various institutions including the University of Cape Town-South Africa, Harvard Law School, Goethe University-Germany, University of Perugia-Italy, Albany Law School, Osgoode Hall Law School-Canada, and King’s College-London.  She has published several articles, most recently a book chapter titled, “China and Africa: Infrastructure Development and Colonial Legacies of Property Law”, published in Bandung, Global History, and International Law: Critical Pasts and Pending Futures, Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Prof. Sylvia Kang’ara holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Nairobi, a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Harvard Law School and a Doctor of Juridical Sciences (SJD) degree from Harvard Law School.  In the course of her doctoral studies she received fellowships from the Association of American University Women, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and the Institute for the Study of World Politics.  She was also awarded the Samuel Morse Lane Scholarship by Harvard Law School. She is admitted to the Roll of Advocates in Kenya.  She is also a Member of the Charted Institute of Arbitrators (UK and Kenya).  In 2016, she was appointed to the Governing Council of Kenya’s National Crime Research Centre.  She is also a member of various professional bodies including the Law Society of Kenya, the American Society of International Law and the Law & Society Association.