Discussion themes & speakers

H.E. Patrick Achi is a former Prime Minister of the Republic of Ivory Coast, serving from March 2021 to October 2023. Prior to this, he was Secretary General of the Presidency and Executive Secretary of the National Council for Economic Policy (2017-2021), where he played a key role in developing the Vision 2030 Strategic Development Plan, focusing on economic growth, food security, youth employment, human capital, and environmental sustainability. From 2000 to 2017, H.E. Achi served as Minister of Economic Infrastructure, overseeing the development of essential infrastructure, including roads, water systems, ports, airports, and railways.

His public service began in 1998 as an advisor to the Prime Minister’s office, where he led the reform of the cocoa sector, vital to 1 million farmers and 15% of the nation’s export revenue. He also advised the Minister of Energy in 1999 on electricity sector modernization.

He is actively engaged at international, national, and regional levels. He currently serves as an External Advisor to the Bretton Woods Initiative @80, is an Executive Board member of the ruling party (RHDP), a member of the Ivorian Parliament, and President of the La Mé Regional Council. He was recently a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

He holds a Master of Science in Management from Stanford University, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from École Supérieure d’Électricité de Paris, a bachelor’s degree in physics from Université de Cocody in Abidjan, and a Certificate in Economics from the University of Paris 1 – Sorbonne.

Karim Traoré has been Chief of Staff to the Ivorian Prime Minister since April 2022, and has over 20 years’ experience gained in Côte d’Ivoire and the United States.

Karim Traoré holds a degree in Statistical Engineering from ENSEA in Abidjan and a Master’s in Public Economics from the University of Cocody Abidjan. Karim is an alumnus of the TRIUM Executive Global MBA program, Class of 2018.

After working at Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, Karim Traoré joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2013 as an Economist with responsibility for the Togo team. Since 2018, he has been the IMF’s External Expert on Public Finance Management.

Between December 2014 and October 2018, Karim Traoré was Chief of Staff to the Minister of Budget and State Portfolio. In this position, he contributed to the digitization of tax payments (e-tax and payment of property tax by mobile-money) and the introduction of an electronic land register book.

Between November 2018 and July 2021, he joined the Ivorian Prime Minister’s Office as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Head of the Pole in charge of planning, economic development issues, public finance and the financial sector. In this capacity, he coordinated crisis management, including COVID-19 and the setting up and monitoring of support funds. He is also responsible for coordinating the Ivorian government’s flagship project, the Government Social Program (PSGouv) 2019-2020. His actions have resulted in an innovative PSGouv project management model, combining a results-based approach, performance, transparency and accountability.

In July 2021, Karim Traoré was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, in charge of economic governance and infrastructure.

Father of 3 children, this executive holds 6 international certificates and represents Côte d’Ivoire in several economic circles. Karim Traoré is also member of numerous Ivorian companies’ board.

Dr. Albert Zeufack is a Cameroonian national with over 30 years’ experience in economic development and finance, including six years as the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa and 4 years as Director of Research and Strategy/Chief Economist of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, a Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund. He is an international lecturer and author of over 50 scientific publications.

Since July 2022, he has been the World Bank’s Director of Operations for Angola, Burundi, DR Congo and STP, where he manages a $14 billion portfolio and a staff of 250 in 6 offices. He is the architect of the World Bank’s recommitment to the construction of the Grand Inga dam, which could provide clean energy to more than 10 African countries.

Dr. Zeufack is the founder of CEoG, a network of economic advisors to Heads of Government, present in 42 African countries. Prior to his appointment as Chief Economist for Africa at the World Bank in May 2016, Albert Zeufack was Manager of the Global Cluster of Expertise on Macroeconomics and Public Finance, and leader of a World Bank community of experts on commodity rent-based economies.

Albert Zeufack holds a PhD in Economics from CERDI, University of Clermont-Ferrand (France), where he taught before joining the World Bank. He also holds a DEA in Economic Analysis and Policy from the University of Yaoundé (Cameroon) and has taken professional courses at Harvard, Michigan and Stanford Universities in the USA. Albert Zeufack is Chairman of the Board of several NGOs and a member of the United Nations Network for Sustainable Development, a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Natural Resources Charter (Oxford), a member of the Advisory Board of the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI) and an emerging member of the Board of Directors of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).

Nouhoun Coulibaly, has been Chief of Staff to the Ivorian Minister of Agriculture since January 2022, and has over 20 years’ experience gained in Côte d’Ivoire and the United States. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma University.

Solange Amichia has been Chief Executive Officer of the Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI) since 2021.

She has spent a large part of her career abroad, notably in France and the United States, where she acquired considerable expertise in investment banking. She graduated from the EDC Business School in Paris in 1983, specializing in SME management.

With over 20 years’ experience in the investment banking sector, Solange Amichia rose through the ranks to become Senior Vice President at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking (SGCIB) in New York, where she worked until 2013.

In February 2014, Solange AMICHIA returned to Côte d’Ivoire and took on the role of Deputy Managing Director of CEPICI.

She has also acquired certifications in finance, project management and information systems design, which have propelled her into increasingly important roles as an expert in project management, information systems design, capital markets products and investment promotion.

Besides her professional duties, Solange Amichia plays a crucial role as Vice-President of the Institut Delayam, a foundation dedicated to active citizenship. This involvement illustrates her desire to contribute to the well-being of her community and promote essential values for society. In addition, since 2019, she has held the position of special advisor to the President of the Agnéby-Tiassa Regional Council for economic projects in the region.

She is a fervent advocate of the environment and sustainable development, themes that have become crucial to the future of the planet. She also enjoys culinary travel, exploring the richness of the world’s cuisine, as well as African art, a passion that reflects her attachment to her culture and roots.

Redda Ben Geloune is an enthusiastic and positive leader who has dedicated his life to making Africa a better place. Born and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, he graduated from ENSICAEN in France with an engineering degree after completing scientific preparatory classes in Paris. He is an alumni of Hec Paris (eMBA) and Harvard Business School (OPM50).

Founder of the Aitek Group (www.aitek.fr), one of the leading companies operating in the IT industry in Africa with the vision to contribute to making the continent a driver of the global economy by leveraging the exponential convergence of technologies, he is also the Academic Co-Director of Challenge + Africa, an HEC Paris programme that helps entrepreneurs build winning businesses.

In addition, as a Ph.D. student at Case Western Reserve University (USA), he is a research fellow at the Fowler Center for Business and his goal is to understand how artificial intelligence can help organisations build high-performance teams by capitalising on the psychological and cognitive factors of its individuals. A keen obstacle course runner, Redda Ben Geloune is also the father of two daughters, Wafa and Kahina.

Graduating with a double master’s degree in business management and political science from HEC Paris and Sciences Po, Mathias Léopoldie began his career in West Africa working on a payments portfolio for French fintech Lemon Way.

Mathias Léopoldie co-founded Julaya, or “trade” in the bambara language of West Africa, with Charles Talbot in 2018. After launching a mobile payment solution in Mali and Burkina Faso for Lemon Way Africa, the two Lemon Way alumni decided to go deeper and create a full-fledged mobile money application to serve the needs of traders and small-to-medium sized companies. These companies were struggling to transfer or accept payments from one mobile money operator to another. Existing solutions were complicated and expensive. Thus, Julaya was born, making it possible to unite cash, bank payments, and mobile money payments on one platform. Today, the platform is operational in Côte d’Ivoire, Sénégal, and Bénin.

Julaya has already raised €7 million. The company is backed by a diverse team from more than 7 countries across Africa and Europe.