Fatimata Wane is a senior journalist working for France 24, an international news channel based in Paris since 2006. She covers mainly african affairs, including politics, economics and culture. Previously she started her career by joining the investigation cell of Canal+ “90 Minutes” with the awarded french journalist Paul Moreira. Then she worked for various french african press such as Africa International. Since 2006, She has interviewed for France 24, high profile guests, mostly african presidents or artists and covered the most important cultural african events. Since 2018 Fatimata has run a monthly show called “La Grande Palabre” about african concerns from History to Culture through Politics etc. And she also hosts a weekly segment on african culture in the morning show of France 24. In May 2018 she received an award for “Best TV journalist of the year” as the one who best highlighted the african culture. The prize was given in Paris at the Unesco in May 2018.

She is currently presenting the African News bulletin on Fridays, called “Journal de l’Afrique”. In 2019, she founded A AC55 | Action Africa Culture, a panafrican initiative aiming to promote culture made in and made of Africa. AAC55 aspires to establish a multidisciplinary and international network of cultural actors, which is essential for the development of cultural and creative industries. This project will lead to the largest african culture summit in Dakar on decembre 2021.

Currently Secretary of State to the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, in charge of Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou began her political career in 2019, when she was elected Member of the European Parliament. In April 2021, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, she takes the co-chairmanship of the board of the Covax mechanism, in charge of fighting against inequalities in access to vaccines.
Chrysoula Zacharopoulou has a strong commitment to health and is a gynecologist. She co-founded with Julie Gayet the association "Info-endometriosis", to raise awareness of this disease and launched in 2016, the first national awareness campaign around. In 2021, she also wrote a proposal report to improve the diagnosis and recognition of endometriosis and to invest fully in research on this disease.

An expert in economics and international financial institutions, Rémy Rioux has held high-level positions in a career devoted to development and Africa. After serving as chief of staff of the French Economy and Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, he was appointed by Laurent Fabius Deputy General Secretary of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Development, and coordinated the finance agenda for the French presidency of COP21.

Rémy Rioux started heading the French Development Agency (AFD) in 2016, which has seen its mandate expanded and its resources inceased, and was reappointed by President Macron in 2019. In 2017, he also became Chairman of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) – the leading group of 26 national and regional development banks and a large provider of development and climate finance globally.

In November 2020, Rémy Rioux hosted the Finance in Common Summit in Paris gathering, for the first time ever, the 450 public development banks of the world, which now form a global coalition to collectively shift their strategies, investment patterns, activities and operating modalities to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Rémy Rioux is the author of Reconciliations, an essay in which he calls for a reinvented development policy aligned with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.

Koen Doens is Director-General for International Partnerships for International Cooperation and Development at the European Commission since October 2019.
He joined the Commission in 2004 and was Head of Cabinet of Louis Michel, Commissioner in charge of Development and Humanitarian Aid during the 1st Barroso Commission (2004-2010) and Head of the Commission Spokespersons’ Service during the 2nd Barroso Commission (2010-2014). After a period as Director for EU-Africa Relations, he became Deputy Director-General responsible for Africa, Asia, Middle East/Gulf, Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean in the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development in March 2018.

A classical philologist by training, he was a professor of Latin and Greek before becoming a Belgian diplomat. He has been posted in Syria, Iran and Russia and several Belgian ministerial cabinets.

Marie-Hélène Loison is a graduate of the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC.
She began her career in 1996 at Société Générale in export financing. She joined the AFD Group in 2000 at Proparco, AFD's subsidiary in charge of private sector financing, first as an account manager to structure financing in the agribusiness, health and tourism sectors. She then joined the Private Equity team, which she took over in 2008 to structure and develop the activity. In 2011, she became Deputy Managing Director of Proparco in charge of operations, heading a department of about 100 people in France and abroad. She developed the activity, reviewed the strategy and contributed to a capital increase of 200 million euros.
In 2015, she joined AFD as Director of the Mediterranean region, overseeing a network of agencies in eight countries of intervention. She initiated the development of activity in the Western Balkans and shifted activity to the Middle East in response to the Syrian crisis. She was appointed deputy to the executive director of operations in September 2018, a department of 1,500 people carrying out approximately 10 billion in financing per year. In particular, she piloted the creation of 17 regional directorates to decentralize the functioning of the directorate.
She took up her position as deputy executive director on July 8, 2021.

After studying law at the University of Odessa from 1990 to 1995, Andriy Kostin began his professional career as a lawyer at Polonsky & Partners. He changed law firms several times, holding positions both abroad and in other Odessa law organizations. Thus, in 1998, he became deputy director and then director of the law firm Pravo.

From 2019 to 2022, Kostin is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), attached to the party "People's Servant". He is also, for two years (2020-2022) head of the legal policy committee. On July 27, 2022 he was elected the new Prosecutor General of Ukraine, replacing Iryna Venediktova.

Deputy Director of Expertise France, in charge of operations since 2021, Rima Le Coguic first held high-level positions in Lebanon, within the Ministry, on strategic infrastructure issues. In 2005, she joined French Development Agency (AFD), first as a geographic coordinator for the Middle East, then as an infrastructure project manager, head of the Infrastructure Division and finally as Director of the Energy and Digital Transitions Department. In 2018, she became Director of the Africa Department at AFD before joining Expertise France in 2021.
Rima Le Coguic holds a degree in telecom engineering, complemented by a DEA in international economics, an executive MBA and a diploma from ENA (class of 2001 Nelson Mandela).

A graduate of the School of Commercial High Studies (HEC), Sciences-Po Paris and a former student of the ENA, Aurélien Lechevallier began his career in 2004 at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a deputy and then head of office, before becoming an advisor to the director of international cooperation and development. Three years later, he was sent to the US State Department in Washington to serve as First Secretary at the French Embassy in the United States. In 2010, he moved to Lebanon, where he successively held the responsibilities of second counselor, counselor of cultural action and cooperation and then director of the French Institute of Beirut at the French Embassy of Lebanon.

Back in France, he was seconded to the French presidency as diplomatic advisor to the special envoy for the conservation of the planet of the President of the French Republic from 2013 to 2014. Then, until 2016, he was seconded to the City of Paris as diplomatic advisor and general delegate for international relations.

From 2017, and for 5 months, he evolved as a project manager at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before being placed at the disposal of the Presidency of the Republic as deputy diplomatic adviser to Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic. In 2019, he was appointed ambassador to South Africa.

As of October 3, 2022, Aurélien Lechevallier will be Director General for Globalization, Culture, Education and International Development at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, replacing Michel Miraillet.

Jérémie Pellet joined Expertise France in December 2018. He was previously Deputy Director General of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), in charge of the agency's activities with local authorities, public companies, the private sector and NGOs, and coordinating strategy, communication, partnerships, research and innovation. He was Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Proparco, the AFD Group's private sector subsidiary, and Chairman of its Investment Committee. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of Expertise France and BPI France Financement.
In 2009, Jérémie joined BNP Paribas as Head of Regulatory Affairs for Corporate and Investment Banking, in charge of setting up Basel 3, before joining the bank's Fixed Income market department in 2012. He joined Manuel Valls on his arrival in Matignon in 2014 to monitor economic and financial issues, including the Macron law, the proposed merger between AFD and CDC and the creation of Expertise France.

Graduate from the Institute of Political Studies in Strasbourg, he began his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before entering the National School of Administration (graduated from Leopold Sédar Senghor). Upon graduation, he joined the Ministry of Economy and Finance. After spending 3 years at the Merger Control and Aid Office of the French Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention Directorate, he joined CDC Entreprises (now BPifrance Investissement), a private equity subsidiary of the Caisse des Dépôts Group, as Investment Director, where he manages a portfolio of investments in Southern France, Corsica, the French overseas departments and territories and the Maghreb, relations with Proparco and joint venture capital funds with AFD overseas.

Paul Maasseen holds a Master's degree (MSC) in Industrial Engineering and Management and started his career with the Dutch development organization Hivos. As Program Manager for the global ICT& Media program, he was exposed to the complexities of the financial world for 7 years. After working as Finance and Partnerships Manager for WWF International's Global Climate and Energy Initiative, Paul Maassen works since 2012 for the Open Government Partnership as Head of Country Support.

Paul Maassen also helped establish the East African citizen agency initiative Twaweza and gained experience in the private sector working for the Dutch telecommunications company KPN.

Valérie-Noëlle Kodjo Diop holds a post-graduate degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Paris Dauphine and graduated from ESCP Business School in 1993. She started her career the following year with the Société Générale banking group, as a Specialist in structured commodity finance on the African continent. After 11 years in Paris, she moved to Johannesburg and joined BNP Paribas in 2005, where she successively held the positions of Head of Structured Commodity and Infrastructure Finance for Southern Africa, then Managing Director of the CIB South Africa Branch and Territory Manager.

In May 2017, back in Paris, she became Director of Innovation and CSR within the International Banking Networks and Financial Services Department for the Africa-Mediterranean Basin-Outremer (AFMO) region at Société Générale Group. She is now working at the West African Development Bank (WADB) as Director of Sustainable Development and Innovation.

Son of the first mayor of Bouaké, Nicolas Djibo completed his secondary education in France and obtained his baccalaureate in 1968. After obtaining a master's degree in econometrics and a DES in management, he returned to Ivory Coast where, after several political failures, he finally became Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ivory Coast. From 2012 to 2016, he is even the President. The same year, he recovers the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tourism Development Company of the Lakes Region.

Member of the Board of Directors of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan from 2002, he also joined the Board of Directors of the National Investment Bank (BNI) in 2007. In 2013, he became the sixth mayor of the city.

Patrick Lefas graduated from the ENA in 1976 and began his professional career as a civil administrator at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Eight years later, after having successively held the responsibilities of project leader to the President of SNIAS and project leader to the office of Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy, Patrick Lefas became Director of the office of the Minister Delegate for Cooperation and Development.

In 1990, after a few years in the Foreign Economic Relations Department, Patrick Lefas became head of department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1994, he became Director of International and European Affairs at the French Federation of Insurance Companies.
He then pursued his professional career at the Court of Accounts, to the point of being in 2015, the President of the sixth chamber of the Court of Accounts in the capacity of maintained chamber president.

Now President of Transparency International France, Patrick Lefas has been involved in the fight against corruption since 2020 by joining the French branch of Transparency International, an organization present in more than 100 countries and fighting against this bane. He also remains honorary president of a chamber of the Court of Auditors, vice-president of the Council of Compulsory Levies, president of a panel of judges at the National Court of Asylum, and president of the National Committee for Health and Social Organization.

Niagalé Bagayolo holds a PhD in Political Science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (IEP) in Paris. She was awarded the first prize of the Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale (IHEDN) for her thesis. Initially a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and at the Institute of Research for Development at the IEP in Paris, she later became a lecturer in international relations at the latter. She is a specialist in security system reform (SSR) in Francophone Africa, international security policies and conflict management in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2010 to 2015, she directed the "peacekeeping and peacebuilding" program of the Internationale Organization of Francophonie. Nigalé Bagayolo is currently President of the African Security Sector Network (ASSN).

She is frequently interviewed by television (France 24, TV5 Monde, Deutsch Welle, Africanews, ....), radio (France Culture, RFI, BBC ....) and the written press (Le Monde, le Point...).

A Harvard College graduate in psychology, Tom Osborn was born in rural Kenya. A brilliant entrepreneur, he co-founded the social enterprise GreenChar at age 18, which provided clean energy to homes and institutions in rural Kenya and urban slums. For this innovation, he received the Echoing Green Fellowship award for the world's best social entrepreneurs. At 19, he is among the youngest people to be named to Forbes' "30 under 30" list in the field of social entrepreneurship. Other awards for his work include the Anzisha Prize Energy Award in 2014 and the Women Deliver Social Entrepreneur Award in 2016. Salt magazine also listed him as one of the 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs.

Tom Osborn is also the founder and CEO of Shamiri. This youth-led organization works to provide affordable mental health care at a time when mental health professionals are in short supply in Kenya and help-seeking is hampered by stigma.

Josefa Cariño Tauli (Sefa) is an Ibaloi-Kankanaey Igorot Indigenous youth from the Cordillera, Philippines. She is a steering committee member and Policy Co-coordinator of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) - the international youth coordination platform and constituency to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. A dedicated advocate for meaningful youth engagement, human rights, and Indigenous Peoples’ rights and knowledge, she plays active roles in GYBN’s capacity-building efforts and participation in global biodiversity policy processes. She is also the Advocacy Officer of Partners for Indigenous Knowledge Philippines, a learning network of organizations and individuals with initiatives on promoting and strengthening Indigenous knowledge.

In 2020, National Geographic included Josefa Tauli in its fall 2020 cohort of young explorers.

Painter and writer, Mahi Binebine first trained in mathematics for 8 years before devoting himself to writing and painting. His books have been translated into several languages and have won awards. His first novel, Le Sommeil de l'esclave (Stock), published in 1992, won the Prix Méditerranée. A few years later, Mahi Binebine was awarded the Franco-Arab Friendship Prize for Pollens (2001) and the Arab Novel Prize for Les Étoiles de Sidi Moumen in 2010. In May 2019, his book Rue du Pardon is selected by the jury of the Renaudot Prize to participate in the competition.

As for his paintings, one of his collections is on permanent display at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. His last exhibition in December 2020 called Oblique Horizons was the first to be held in Marrakech. It followed the global crisis of Covid-19 and invited viewers to meditate on social concepts such as coexistence and solidarity

Mahi Binebine was also the winner, in November 2011 in the cultural sector, of the Trophy of Public Diplomacy awarded in Rabat, for his contribution to the influence of Morocco abroad.

Odile Renaud-Basso graduated from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris in 1987, from the National School of Administration in 1990 (Jean Monnet class) and from the Harvard Kennedy School (Senior management in government program) in 1993. Then, for 5 years (2005-2010), she was Director of Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission.

At the end of 2010, she was in charge of the management of the euro zone crisis through her responsibilities as Deputy Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Council. In May 2012, she joined the cabinet of Jean-Marc Ayrault, then Prime Minister. She deals with all economic and social issues (macroeconomic, budgetary and fiscal policy, energy, housing, infrastructure, sustainable development, financial sector).

She held this position until September 2013, when she became Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations . In April 2014, following the appointment of Jean-Pierre Jouyet as Secretary General of the Elysee Palace, she acted as interim Director of the
Fund deposits and Consignment.

Three years later, she was appointed Director General of the French Treasury, the first time a woman had been appointed. In this capacity, she monitors all economic and financial issues at the national, European and international levels as well as multilateral trade and financial issues and official development assistance. Since October 2020, she has been President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the first woman elected to this position.

After attending the School of Fine Arts in Dakar and the Paris Conservatory, Baaba Maal joined the group Lasly Fouta, with which he toured West Africa with 70 other musicians. In 1985, he formed the group Daande Lenol in Dakar with Mansour Seck. His first album entitled Wango was released 3 years later. From 1990 to 1993, Baaba Maal recorded Taara, Baayo and Lam Toro, three albums that brought him recognition in Europe and opened the doors to world tours. In 2017, Baaba Maal receives the Arts Award from the President of Senegal. Two years later, he won the award for best film music for his participation in the soundtrack of the film Black Panther where he gives his voice to several tracks on the album. He will soon be featured in the sequel to the film, Black Panther 2.

Ambassador of Africa, his commitment goes far beyond the musical framework as he is now the representative of the Ambassador for the Earth of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. He was the only Senegalese artist invited to the Copenhagen Conference on the subject in 2009.