Speaker biographies
Deborah Bräutigam is a professor of international development at American University’s School of International Service, where she is also an adviser for the concentrations in development policy and in governance and democracy. She has also held faculty appointments at Columbia University and at Silpakorn University in Thailand, and has been a visiting fellow at the University of Liberia in Monrovia, the University of Mauritius, Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone, and the Christian Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway. She has served as a consultant for the United Nations, the World Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and various Sub-Saharan African countries. Bräutigam is the author of Chinese Aid and African Development: Exporting Green Revolution (Palgrave Macmillan, 1998) and Aid Dependence and Governance (Almquiest & Wiksell Intl., 2000).
Mauro De Lorenzo is a resident fellow in foreign and defense policy studies at AEI, where he studies private sector-based approaches to development in post-conflict and post-socialist countries; Chinese investment and political influence outside the Pacific region, particularly in Africa; and democratic accountability in aid-receiving countries. In 2005, he worked as a consultant to Afghan construction companies in Kabul, and prior to that was a research associate at both the American University in Cairo and the Makerere Institute of Social Research in Kampala, Uganda, focusing on refugee policy and the wars in Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. In 2002, he researched and was associate producer of “The Price of Aid,” a BBC documentary about U.S. food aid to Africa.
Patrick Mazimhaka is the deputy chairman of the African Union Commission (AU). He was elected to this office by the heads of state and government at a summit held in Maputo, Mozambique, in July 2003, and assumed his duties on September 16, 2003. Before joining the AU, Mr. Mazimhaka served as Rwanda’s minister of youth, sports, and cooperatives; minister of rehabilitation and social affairs; and minister in the office of the president. In 2000, he was appointed special envoy of the president. In his capacity as deputy chairman, Mr. Mazimhaka is involved with AU policy initiatives and dialoguing with AU development partners to promote accelerated socioeconomic development of the continent.
Joe Mollo currently runs Corporate Diplomats, which facilitates government-corporate contact. Educated in South Africa and Canada, Mollo previously served as Lesotho’s ambassador to Denmark and South Africa, and as high commissioner to Canada and to the Court of St James. After his diplomatic career, from 1997–2005 Ambassador Mollo served as vice president for public policy at BHP Billiton in South Africa. Ambassador Mollo also serves on the National Council of the South Africa Institute of International Affairs.
Witney Schneidman is the senior advisor at the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation. He served in the Clinton administration as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, where he was responsible for economic and commercial issues in sub-Saharan Africa. He helped organize President Bill Clinton’s two visits to Africa and was a member of both official delegations. He was senior vice president at Samuels International Associates in Washington, D.C., and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has also worked for the World Bank as a senior policy analyst and as a senior associate at the Investor Responsibility Research Center.
Michael Spicer is the chief executive officer of Business Leadership South Africa. Prior to his arrival at Business Leadership, he was an executive vice president at Anglo American, PLC, and executive director of Anglo American South Africa. He remains on the board of Anglo American South Africa in a non-executive capacity, is the chairman of Vergelegen Wine Estate, and is a board member of Rothschild South Africa. Mr. Spicer is widely involved in business and public life, serving as deputy chairman of the National Business Initiative, a member of President Thabo Mbeki’s Big Business Working Group and International Marketing Council, and a board member of the Business Trust. He was appointed in 2006 as an inaugural member of the Presidential International Advisory Board of Mozambique. He is also chairman of the council at St. John’s College.
View Event Details
