PNYX Ltd. - Africa Security Symposium 2021

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ASEC2021 Post-Event Guide

Conference Chair

Dr. Phyllis Mihalas, U.S. Army (Retired) (Panel Chair)
CEO
LEXA Global, LLC

Phyllis Mihalas’ military career started in 1979 when she enlisted as a U.S. Army Reservist. In 1980 she earned a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and by 1982, was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in Civil Affairs. Her active duty started as a Psychological Operations officer with the 5th Psychological Operations Group, transferring to the Military Intelligence community as a Counterintelligence Officer. In 1988 she was selected for Command of the HHC, 5th PSYOP Group, followed by Command of the 3rd Psychological Operations Company (Tactical Support), as the first female to hold the position which was designated male only. From there she mobilized to serve in the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Operations Center in support of Operation Desert Storm as the only Civil Affairs/Psychological Operations officer. Her deployment to Oman was followed by various staff positions in the Pentagon where she directly supported then-Chairman Joint Chief of Staff, General Colin Powell.

Beginning her involvement with the United Nations, Phyllis was selected to Command the U.S. Military Observers for the UN Mission in Ethiopia & Eritrea (UNMEE), in addition to serving as the G5/CIMIC Officer. As the G5/CIMIC Officer for UNMEE, then-Lieutenant Colonel Mihalas was responsible for the CIMIC projects and disaster relief throughout the Temporary Security Zone and the oversight of international officers assigned to the G5. In 2006 she was selected to create the Ethiopian Command Defence Staff College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for which she created the curriculum and was the first American instructor. She retired from active US Army service in 2007 after 28 years on active duty.

As a senior civilian for the U.S. Navy, Dr. Mihalas served as the Navy’s Maritime Civil Affairs subject matter expert and worked closely with Allied Command Transformation/NATO in the development of NATO’s Maritime CIMIC. In 2014 the U.S. Navy dis-established and discontinued the Maritime Civil Affairs capability. Understanding the void of the Navy’s decision, in 2015 Dr. Mihalas started LEXA Global, LLC to continue consultation and expertise to NATO and continue her support of CIMIC in Peace Operations which continues to this day. In 2020, Dr. Mihalas earned an Executive Masters in International Affairs from Seton Hall University. She continues to pursue work in support of the United Nations and other peace operations initiatives.

Chris Reynolds
Head of Mission
EUCAP Somalia

Chris Reynolds’s maritime career started in the Irish Navy in 1979 as an Executive (Deck) Officer. He qualified as a Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Officer with the Royal Navy and as a Bomb Disposal Officer by the Irish Army. He was Gunnery Officer on board LE Aisling, the On-Scene Coordinator at the first terrorist bombing of a jet, the Air India bombing, and Humanitarian Convoy Commander first into the Qana massacre in 1995 during his years’ service with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon.

Chris left the Navy in 1997 to join the newly formed Irish Coast Guard as an Operations Officer. During the next 10 years, he acted as On-Scene Manager for most of the serious incidents on Ireland’s coast for both rescue and ship casualty response. He was appointed Director of the Coast Guard in August 2007 at the age of 46. Chris was Chair of the European Heads of the Coast Guards Forum in 2011/2 and wrote the first doctrine on Coast Guard Functions, which now have international legal status, was Chair of the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum in 2017 and Chair of the Bonn Agreement in 2018. As Director of the Coast Guard Chris is a member of the Board of the Irish Maritime Administration.

In 2016/17, he served as Head of Operations for the EU’s maritime Security Capacity Building Mission in Somalia. Chris returned to Somalia as the EUCAP Deputy Head of Mission and Chief of Staff in January 2019 and became Head of Mission in September 2019. Chris as seconded still retains the position of Director of the Irish Coast Guard.

Keynote Speakers

Amb. Bankole Adeoye
Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace & Security
African Union Commission (AUC)

Bankole Adeoye is a Pan-African Career Diplomat with over 3 and half decades of experience. Ambassador Adeoye assumed office as the African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace & Security on 15th March 2021, having been elected in February 2021 during the 34th AU Summit. Prior to this appointment, he served as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the AU and d the UNECA and Ambassador to Ethiopia with concurrent accreditation to Djibouti from 2017 to 2020. From 2007 to 2015 on secondment to NEPAD Agency HQ, he held the strategic positions of Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer; Coordinator of Partnerships & External Relations and as Director of Corporate Services. Also, Bankole Adeoye served as Director (Second UN) in the International Organizations Department of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He supervised the coverage of the UN Second, Third and Fifth Committees, focusing on Human Rights, Humanitarian, Social; Economic and Financial Matters; and Administrative & Budgetary Questions. Overall, his wealth of diplomatic experience spanned postings to Cairo (Egypt); Brasília (Brazil); Pretoria & Midrand in NEPAD HQ (South Africa) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).

David Haeri
Director - Division of Policy, Evaluation & Training
UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO)

Mr. David Haeri is the Director of the Policy, Evaluation and Training Division, in the United Nations Department of Peace Operations (DPO). He has extensive field and UN Headquarters experience related to political affairs, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and inter-agency policy development. At UN headquarters, Mr. Haeri has served in a range of capacities in DPO including as the Chief of Staff ad interim, Chief of the peacekeeping Policy and Best Practices Service and as Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary General, as well as in the Department of Political Affairs and the Office of the Secretary-General. He has previously served as the UN-wide Senior Planning Coordinator for Syria, and was the Director of the US$100m multi-donor Joint Peace Fund for peacebuilding support in Myanmar. His field experience includes extended deployments to Cambodia, Liberia, South Africa, East Timor, Afghanistan, and Myanmar.

Mr Molahlegi Molope
Divisional Head for Telecommunications & Sensing Systems
ARMSCOR

Molahlegi Molope has BSc in Electrical Engineering (USA), Master of Business Leadership (MBL), Honours in Management of Technology (MOT) and just submitted his dissertation for Master in Engineering. In his role as Divisional Head of Telecommunications and Sensing Systems (TSS) division in Armscor, he is responsible for directing Research and Development plus Acquisition of systems which includes but not limited to Radars, Radar Electronic Warfare (EW), Communications EW (Comms EW), Cyber Warfare, Optronics EW and Telecommunications systems. He is passionate about border safeguarding due to its complexity and its criticality in protecting the sovereignty of a country. His approach is the use of Telecommunications and Sensing Systems as force multiplier for border safeguarding since no country has enough human resources to man its borders without the use of technology. His motto is : “Give border patrollers tools for early warning so that they can address real incidents instead of patrolling aimlessly hoping to come across an incident.”

Maj Gen Abdul Khalifa Ibrahim
Force Commander
Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF)

Major General Abdul Khalifah Ibrahim, born 18 March 1968 in Kaduna State, Nigeria, hails from Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State. His interest in taking up a military career was influenced by his father who served in the military and was a veteran of World War II (Buma Campaign) and the Nigeria Civil War before being retired. General Ibrahim gained admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna in September 1987 as a member of the 39 Regular Course. He was commissioned into the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1992 in the Infantry Corps.

Major General Ibrahim holds a Bachelor of Science Honours (History) from the NDA and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan. Until his appointment as the MNJTF Force Commander, he had held numerous instructional, staff and command appointments. He was Platoon Commander, Intelligence Officer, Adjutant and Operations Officer at NIBATT 17 Economic Community Monitoring Group (222 Bn) and NIBATT 12 UNMIL (11 Field Engineer Regiment). He also served at the United Nation Missions in South Sudan and Liberia as a Military Observer Team Leader and Deputy Sector Commander at the NIGCON Liberia.

General AK Ibrahim participated in several operations both within and outside Nigeria, some of which include the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia, UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). Others within Nigeria are Operation HARMONY in Bakassi Peninsular, Operation RESTORE HOPE in the Niger Delta area, Operation YAKI in Kaduna and Operation LAFIYA DOLE in the Northeast part of the country. He is a recipient of numerous honours and awards amongst which are the Distinguished Service Star, Fellow Defence College, Field Command Medal of Honour and Operation LAFIYA DOLE medal amongst others.

Najwa Natalie Ayoub
Market Development Manager - Head of the Government & NGO Sectors
Thuraya Telecommunications Company

Najwa Ayoub is Thuraya’s Market Development Manager for the UN-NGO and Relief sector. She is responsible for the development of Thuraya’s NGO and humanitarian business that includes the implementation of marketing strategies, establishment of partnerships and unlocking new opportunities to promote relief communications solutions. She grew Thuraya’s NGO segment by creating partnerships with many humanitarian organizations and formulating a Thuraya Donation Policy that lays down the framework for immediate assistance by the operator to responders and donors during disasters, relief operations and other emergencies. Najwa joined Thuraya in 2011 as its Programs Manager. In this capacity, she managed all the projects within the organization. Her strong project management skills were enhanced through her work to position Thuraya’s verticals internationally - at key events and forums such as the Satellite Show in Washington DC, the National Space Symposium and the Euroconsult World Summit for Satellite Financing. Prior to joining Thuraya Najwa held various positions in the retail, education and the airline industries of the US and the Middle East. She was in charge of needs analysis, research and development of international accounts using strategic differentiated product strategies and commercial offerings. Najwa has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in Information Systems Management from the Southern Methodist University, Dallas – Texas.

Gen. Charles Richard Mondjo
Minister
Congo; Ministry of National Defence

General Charles Mondjo served in the First Battalion in 1979 and rose through the ranks to become Chief of Staff of the 1st Armored Regiment before taking command in 1987, Director of Teaching and Studies at the Marien Ngouabi Military Academy in 1993 and later commander of the Military Defense Zone no01 Pointe-Noire. In 2002, General Mondjo was Chief of General Staff of the Congolese armed forces until 2012, when he became Minister of Defense of the Republic of Congo. General Mondjo is a recipient of several medals which include: Grand Officer in the Congolese Order of Merit, Grand Officer in the National Order of Peace, Officer in the Order of the French Legion of Honor and Grand Officer of Peace of COPAX / ECCAS. He also has medals within the framework of collective security (Angola; Cameroon; Chad; Gabon and CAR).

Workshop Hosts

Matthew Johnson
Industry Liaison,Management Bureau (M/OAA)
USAID - U.S. Agency for International Development

Matthew Johnson is the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Industry Liaison and Communications Director for the Office of Acquisition and Assistance. In this role, he helps to connect and engage with organizations around doing business with USAID. He has led a number of initiatives in support of these efforts, including the creation of the Agency’s live-feed Business Forecast, the development of the first-ever Acquisition and Assistance Strategy, and the New Partnerships Initiative. He has been with USAID since 2008. Prior to joining USAID, he served as the Director of Presidential Personal Correspondence and the Deputy Director of Presidential Writers at the White House.

Matthew is hosting the pre-event USAID Funding Workshop.

Balakrishnan Amirthalingam
Chief - Global Procurement Support Section (GPSS)
UNPD - UN Secretariat Procurement Division

Mr. Balakrishnan Amirthalingam, based in Entebbe, Uganda, is a procurement practitioner currently working as Chief of the Global Procurement Support Section (GPSS), previously known as Regional Procurement Office (RPO) of the United Nations Secretariat Procurement Division. He leads a team of experienced procurement experts and provides comprehensive procurement support to various missions located in Central and Eastern Africa. His team is responsible for establishing long-term systems contracts for various goods and services. Mr. Amirthalingam has been working for the UN for over 29 years. He worked as Chief Procurement Officer in UNFICYP (Cyprus), MINUSTAH (Haiti) and UNDOF (Syria). Before that, he served as a procurement professional in the ICTY (The Hague), in UNOG (Geneva) and in IAPSO/ UNDP (Copenhagen). Before joining the UN, Mr. Amirthalingam worked for approximately 6 years in a Public Sector Enterprise of the Government of India in which, through Technology Data Bank and Technical Services Centres, he assisted medium, small and micro enterprises in the development and implementation of technology strategy. Mr. Amirthalingam is a mechanical engineering graduate and a chartered engineer, and he acquired his master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

Speakers

Damien Touidjine (Panel Chair)
United Nations and Int'l Accounts Manager
Motorola Solutions

With 30 years of experience in Critical Communications and emergency systems, C4ISR, Electronic Warfare, Blue Force Tracking, Battle Management system and EOD/IED solutions, Damien is involved in Motorola Solutions UN team to support Peace and Security initiatives led by the United Nations, African Union Commission and European Union. His Electronic Engineering degree and operational tracks as well as negotiation skill allow him to deal with major decision makers to offer the most accurate Motorola technology through turnkey projects and services deliveries over the African continent.

Gen. Mohamed Abdulle Dore
SPF Int. Liaison Officer & Interpol NCB Mogadishu
Somali Police Force (SPF)

General Dore joined the Somali Police Forces (SPF) 1976 where he has held multiple positions, amassing vast experience in policing and counter terrorism. Gen. Dore is one of the SPF officers that worked very hard to revive the Police Force of Somalia after the civil war. Recent assignments included Director of Training & Planning, Head of Interpol NCP Mogadishu, police point of contact for the East African Standby Force (EASF Secretariat), SPF International/UN/AMISOM liaison officer, and SPF regional focal point for the Regional Operational Center in Khartoum, Sudan.

Madume Fortune Junior
Regional Specialised Officer
INTERPOL Regional Bureau for West Africa

Madume Fortune Junior serves as Regional Specialized Officer at the INTERPOL Regional Bureau for West Africa. He is seconded to the regional office, as a Police Officer from Nigeria, responsible for several crime areas namely - maritime piracy, intellectual property crime, counterfeit/fake money, financial/corruption crime, and cyber fraud.

Jared Ondieki
Chief Inspector of Police
Kenya National Police Service

Jared serves as a Chief Inspector of Police within the Kenya National Police Service, a Criminal Intelligence Analyst / Police Trainer in the Criminal Investigation Department with 13 years of policing experience gained in various fields of legal and enforcement duties. He is currently Liaison Criminal Intelligence Bureau Officer seconded to the office of the Inspector General of Police based in Nairobi, Kenya. Gathering and analysing crime statistics, and producing reports based on researching long-term problems, presenting response strategies to senior management which assists The National Security Advisory Committee Kenya (NSAC) in the development and implementation of National Policies. Jared possesses a proven track-record establishing and maintaining relationships and cooperation with external and internal stakeholders and high-level officials, to influence and guide in setting operational priorities in crime prevention. He has an MA in International Studies and BA in Political Science from the University of Nairobi.

Cdr Abebe Muluneh Beyene
Director
IGAD Security Sector Program (ISSP)

Commander Abebe Muluneh used to be a seasoned Police Officer in the Federal Democratic Republic of the Ethiopian Police Service between 1989 and 2006. He served at Ethiopian Police College with different capacities… instructor, middle-level management, and senior management. He has been trained in policing in Ethiopia, Germany, the USA (FBI National Academy), and Turkey. He has been awarded BA Degree in Political Science and International Relation (PSIR) from Addis Ababa University (AAU), MA degree in International Relations (AAU), MA Degree in Managing Peace and Security in Africa (AAU), and Post Graduate Diploma on Peace and Security in Africa (Uppsala, Sweden). Since February 2006, he Joined IGAD as (1) Senior training coordinator to counter-terrorism and (2) Director of IGAD Security Sector Program (IGAD SSP), which is responsible for (a) Counter-Terrorism; (b) Maritime Security, (c) Containment of Transnational Organized Crime and (d) Security Institutions Capacity Building. He researched “Impacts of terrorism on Ethiopia’s relation towards neighboring countries”, published a book entitled “The proliferation of Illicit small arms and light weapons in the Horn of Africa” at Lambert Academic Publishing in Germany, and designed and published IGAD Counter Terrorism training manual. Besides, he has rich diplomatic experience with Regional and International Organizations. He reported twice at UNSC Sanctions Committee on Eritrea and Somalia.

Dave Jackson
Head of Product Management: UAV Systems
Milkor

Dave Jackson qualified as a pilot in the South African Airforce in 1980 and continued to fly Impalas (Aermacchi MB-326). In 1983 he was appointed as the project officer for the UAV program, responsible for the development and planning thereof. The development culminated in the opening of a UAV squadron in 1986. At this time, he was also the base operations officer for one of the SAAF bases while continuing to fly. In 1989 he left the SAAF and joined Denel to assist with UAV development, operations and eventually achieved the first overseas sale. Dave moved to the buyer’s country as the technical representative and remained in country for 14 years. On his return to RSA he was employed by Denel to oversee the high speed UAV ground station development as well as the flight testing of all their UAVs. In 2010 he moved to Cape Town and began the development of the Astus UAV system at Tellumat. This was completed in 2020 where after he began working at Milkor group. Dave has helped develop and operate 9 different UAVs in 13 different countries (including Afghanistan) and has flown almost 8000 hrs on UAVs and 3500 hrs on real aircraft.

Raymond Kitevu
Conflict Early Warning Expert
COMESA Secretariat - Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

Raymond Kitevu is the Conflict Early Warning Expert of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa which has its headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia. His responsibilities include coordinating the COMESA Conflict Early Warning Mechanism (COMWARN) conflict prevention initiatives towards addressing and resolving the diverse conflicts affecting the COMESA Sub-region in collaboration with the African Union, other Regional Economic Communities, NGOs, civil society, governmental institutions, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders. Before joining COMESA in 2014, Mr. Kitevu had over fifteen years of professional experience working in the field of peace and security with national and international NGOs in Kenya and Eastern Africa, as well as other institutions including IGAD, UNDP, and UN agencies.

M.G. Mainasara Masanawa
Commandant
Nigerian Army; Nigeria Armed Forces

Maj. Gen. Mainasara Abdul Masanawa is the director of Innovation and Concept Development at Defence Headquarters Abuja and currently the Commandant of the Nigerian Army Ordnance School, Lagos. He has attended several military courses and seminars both at home and abroad including Armament & Ammunition Technical Officers, Material Management & Work-study, Ordnance Executive Officers Management, Logistics Management, Senior Command & Staff, International Peace Support Operations, Internal Crisis Management and National Defence. Maj. Gen. Masanawa has held several regimental and extra regimental appointments among which are Armament Officer Commanding Officer 2 Base Ammunition Depot, Directing Staff at Nigerian Army College of Logistics, Deputy Commandant/Director of Studies at Nigerian Army Ordnance School, Chief of Staff at Nigerian Army Ordnance Headquarters and Director Equipment Procurement at Army Headquarters. He is currently the Commander Army Central Ammunition Depot, Agunu.

Koos Joubert (Panel Chair)
Technical Adviser
DCD Protected Mobility

Presently Koos is the Technical Adviser to DCD Protected Mobility on Route Clearance Applications and Mine Protected Vehicles. He joined Armscor (Defence Acquisition Agency) in 1971 and studied Mechanical Engineering and served for 42 years at Armscor where he was involved in the design, development and testing of mine protected vehicles and managed the Landward Defence Programmes on behalf of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Koos is also a retired Citizen Force Officer and served operationally in the Namibia/Angola Border War. Koos did several post graduate courses which included; Systems Engineering, Logistic Engineering, Programme Management (University of Pretoria), Fluid of Mechanics, Strain Gauge Course (University of Stellenbosch0, Explosives Course (SANDF), Armour Development Course (Shriven ham -UK) and participated in the Executive National Security Programme: ENSP 04/01 Jan – June 2001.

Hassan M. Said Samantar
Director General
Somalia; Ministry of Defence

Ramsey Khanfour
VP Sales - Global Government
SES Networks

Ramsey Khanfour is a Vice-President, Global Government at SES, leading the Middle East, Africa and APAC business development and sales activities for government, security & defense satellite applications. He is based in the firm’s Dubai office. Mr. Khanfour has more than nineteen years of diverse telecommunications experience in fixed and wireless technologies including satellite, mobile and optical networks with various verticals including public sector, security & defense, telcos/MNOs, maritime and oil & gas. Prior to joining SES, he held senior roles in strategy management consulting with Booz & Co. and STC focusing on communications, media and technology serving clients in the GCC and South East Asia. Previously, Mr. Khanfour was leading the pre-sales and business development efforts for satellite and fixed networks solutions with Orange Business Services, NSI Communications and Nortel Networks in North America, Europe, ME, Africa and APAC. Mr. Khanfour holds an electrical Engineering degree (telecommunications), from The Ecole Polytechnicque de Montreal (University of Montreal). He is fluent in English, French and Arabic.

Dr Luthando Prinsloo (Panel Chair)
Director Business Development - Africa
Airborne Technologies GmbH

Luthando Prinsloo B.Mil-B.Sc, T.Dr, M.Th, is Director of Business Development - Africa, for Airborne Technologies, Austria. Luthando initially followed a Naval career, then branched out into commerce and innovation. Coming full circle to military and security; he combines his passions for aviation, technology, and strategy with broad operational and tactical experience in various parts of the world.

Gorgui S. Diallo
CEO
PanAfricare

Mr. Gorgui S. Diallo serves as inaugural President & CEO of PanAfricare at the HQ based in Dakar. Prior to that, he was Country Director for Senegal at Africare. He possesses more than 20 years of experience in design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation & management of development programs across Health, Agriculture & Food Security, Micro Enterprise & Micro Finance, and good Governance. Gorgui has led the design & implementation of several health system strengthening projects/programs in malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, Maternal & Child health, and Community Health Policy. He was the principal innovator of ‘Saving Live at Birth Program’ initiated and implemented by Africare in Senegal, introducing innovative solutions such us mHealth and Predictive Modeling for Maternal Death Risk Assessment. He also plays a key role in various Senegal Strategic committees in addition to representing the Consortium of International NGOs in the UN Food Crisis Committee.

Maj Darin Hunter
East/South Branch Chief
U.S. Army Africa & Southern European Task Force (USARAF/SETAF)

Major Darin Hunter is the South and East Africa Branch Chief at the U.S. Army's Southern European Task Force-Africa. He is a Sub-Saharan Africa Foreign Area Officer and Army Aviation Officer. The majority of his previous experience on the continent has been focused on Central and West Africa.

Paul Williams
Fortinet Country Manager - Southern Africa
Fortinet

Paul Williams brings 33 years of ICT experience to the African market. Paul is currently employed as the Country Manager for Fortinet - Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Islands; Fortinet is the No 1 Cyber Security company in Africa. Paul studied as an Electrical Engineer and comes to this emerging market with a wealth of experience in Networking Design, Implementation, Architecture and Strategy and a breadth of other ICT skill with a new focus on Cyber Secuirty industry. Paul come with a wealth of knowledge on the ICT operational side, Project Management, P&L models, Business Intelligence modelling, Programming and a functional understanding of OPEX and CAPEX models in relation to ITIL, ETOM and other commercial business framework strategies. Paul Williams has been employed by for some recognized large international companies like Altech, IBM SA, BCX, Dimension Data, Cisco South Africa, Openet and Allot Communications. Paul acts in a Sales, Commercial and support role for all the Fortinet Customer, Partners and MSSP’s, who are making use of this Network Security Solution and Fortinet Security Fabric today.

Johnny Chabalala (Panel Chair)
Director of Marketing
Bruisertech

Johnny Chabalala joined the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in January 1995 where he started his training at the School of Armour. After completing basic training and Corps training, he served in the E Squadron within the Armoured Corps. In 1998 Johnny completed his Junior Leader training at the South African Army Gymnasium. Upon returning to the home unit, Johnny had several tours to the SA Army Training Centres. Within the Armoured Corps, he served in a number of positions including Officer Instructor, Branch Commander, Communications Officer, Research Officer, Occupational Health and Safety Officer, Squadron Commander and Unit Commander.

In July 2007, Johnny left the regular employment of the SANDF to join the South African Defence Industry and Technologies. On 01 July 2007 he joined Saab Avitronics (a division of Saab Grintek Defence) as a Marketer for Electronic Warfare and self-protection systems - responsible for the South African market, Middle East and Asia. He was later promoted to Marketing Manager within the Business Development and Marketing department. In 2010 Johnny moved to Saab Grintek Systems where he was Marketing Manager for Command and Control and Training and Simulations marketing. He was later appointed as an Executive Business Development within the Market Area Middle East and Africa. Johnny was tasked with the responsibility of Business Development in the Sub-Sahara markets including the local market. In October 2012, he left Saab group to join Denel group as a Senior Executive Business Development. In this position, he was responsible for Denel group Business Development (BD) in the African continent. May 2021, Johnny left the employment of Denel and joined the Bruisertech group.

Edward Meck
Team Leader - Freight Forwarding Team
UNPD - UN Secretariat Procurement Division

Edward Meck is a Zimbabwean national and is the Team Leader of the Freight Forwarding Team at the United Nations Procurement Division, New York. He has 34 years of Procurement experience in both the private and public Sectors. He has worked for the UN Common System for a total period 20 years at the UNHQ, New York and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria. Edward has also been a Senior Buyer at Anglo American Zimbabwe. He has an MBA (Strategic Procurement Management) from the University of Birmingham, UK, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa with a major in Transport Economics & Logistics management and Business Management. Edward also has a graduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), UK and earned the SCOR-P endorsement from the Association for Supply Chain Management (USA).

Col. Rustem Yigit Sengul
J4 Logistics Strategic Plan / Section Head
NATO SHAPE Allied Command Operations

Colonel Rustem Yigit SENGUL born on 18th May 1976, in Erzincan/Turkey. Following graduation from Military High School, Col. SENGUL gained admission into the Land Warfare Academy in 1994 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1998. He assigned as a platoon leader in the Logistics Corps. Until his appointment in his current mission in SHAPE/Belgium, he has been assigned to numerous instructional, staff and command appointments in Turkish Army. He has served as a Company commander and Battalion commander, as well as supply system instructor and logistics plan officer throughout 23 years career in the army. Col. SENGUL has participated in international missions as a Supply Platoon Leader in KFOR, as a Logistics Plan Officer in Regional Command Capital, Kabul /Afghanistan and as a Logistics Advisor to Kosovo Security Forces. He earned his master degree in International Relations from Hacettepe University/ Ankara.

Captain John M. Tully
Director - Africa Regional Engagement Group (N52)
U.S. Naval Forces Europe & Africa and U.S. SIXTH Fleet

Captain John Tully is a U.S. Navy Foreign Area Officer. He was raised in St. James, New York and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1995 earning a Bachelor’s of Science in History. He earned a Master of Arts in National Security Affairs from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 2001. Following commissioning, Captain Tully entered the submarine service and served at sea aboard USS TUCSON (SSN 770), USS PITTSBURGH (SSN 720), and USS SPRINGFIELD (SSN 761). He deployed throughout the Pacific, to the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility, and to South America. These tours included combat operations in support of OPERATIONS ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. In 2006, while serving as submarine operations and Tomahawk missile strike officer on the staff of the Commander, U.K. Maritime Forces, Captain Tully lateral transferred to the Foreign Area Officer (FAO) Community. Captain Tully’s most recent assignment (2015-2018) was as Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché (SDO/DATT) at U.S. Embassy Djibouti witnessing first-hand the establishment of China’s first overseas base. His past FAO assignments include U.S. Africa Command (where he is a Plankowner), and in the field as the Africa Command Liaison Officer to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, and as SDO/DATT at U.S. Embassy Yaoundé, Cameroon with additional accreditation to Equatorial Guinea. Captain Tully’s awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and additional unit awards.

Tigist Hailu Asfawossen
Public Relations & Communications Officer
IGAD's Conflict Early Warning & Response Mechanism (CEWARN)

Tigist Hailu is a peace and security practitioner with over 15 years of experience combining the fields of Peace and security, multilateral diplomacy and communications. Her areas of specific focus have been conflict early warning, mediation processes, corporate communications and international election observation. She currently serves as Public Relation and Communications Officer at IGAD’ Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN).

Nurudeen Azeez (Panel Chair)
Chief of Operational Planning & Advisory Section
United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU)

Azeez Nurudeen Kolawole is the Chief of the Operational Planning and Advisory Section of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) in Addis Ababa. Prior to his current appointment, he was the Training Officer at UNOAU. He has extensive experience in peacekeeping operations and African Union peace and security matters. He had a successful military career that spans over 26 years, before he voluntarily retired from the Nigerian Army in September 2011. While in the army, he served in various capacities both at home and abroad.

He was a member of the Darfur Planning Team that was responsible for the transition planning of AMIS to UNAMID. He has worked extensively on the development and operationalization of the African Standby Force. He has supported the African Union in the planning and management of its missions in Mali, Central African Republic, the AU Regional Initiative on the Eradication of the Lord’s Resistance Army (AU-RCL LRA), African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and currently the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) on Boko Haram. He is also involved in several capacity building initiatives both at the AUC and regional levels towards operationalizing the ASF. He has served as facilitator/mentor on several ASF training programmes, exercises and AU Senior Mission Leaders Courses.

Dr. Omar Alasow
Senior International Humanitarian Law & International Human Rights Law to the SRCC
AMISOM - African Union Mission in Somalia

Dr. Omar Abdulle Alasow is currently the Senior International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law Advisor to Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission to Somalia (SRCC) and Head of AMISOM where he provides high-level expert advice to the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission for Somalia (SRCC), AMISOM Force Commander and other senior officials on all matters relating to international humanitarian law and human rights law governing the conduct of AMISOM military operations in Somalia, with a special focus on compliance with the United National Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP). He previously served as an expert consultant in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law seconded to AMISOM at the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS). Dr. Alasow holds a PHD from the University of Essex, a LLM from the University of Helsinki, and currently delivers lecture on Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law at regional and international peacekeeping training institutions (PKTIs) and various military academies and International Peace Support Training Institutes in Africa and Europe. Dr. Alasow is also a published author of the book “Violations of the Rules Applicable in Non-International Armed Conflicts and Their Possible Causes: The Case of Somalia” (2010) and is fluent in English, Swedish, and Somali.

Col. Wolfgang Koehler
Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)

Colonel Köhler joined the German Army in an armour battalion on 1 July 1976. After basic training and officer’s course, he studied economics at the Bundeswehr University in Munich from 1977 to 1980 and graduated with an M.A. From 1981 to 1985 he served as platoon leader and S3 officer in armour battalions (Koblenz, Munster), to be followed by company command (Koblenz) until 1988. He then attended the General Staff Course at the Führungsakademie (Hamburg) from 1988 to 1990. Subsequently, he served as G4, G3 and Chief of Staff at armour brigade and mechanized brigade level (Hamburg, Schwerin). From 1994 to 1997 he belonged to Plans and Policy Branch, Operations Division, HQ LANDSOUTH in Verona, Italy. Following two appointments (training, G2 requirements) in the German Army Office (Köln), he joined the Ministry of Defence (Bonn) in 1999 and served as desk officer for Army organization in the Army Staff until 2005. As branch chief in the German Armed Forces Office (Bonn), he was then responsible within the G2 sector for ISTAR requirements oft he German Forces. Following two subsequent appointments (G2, Force planning) in the MoD again, he served as branch chief for basing and infrastructure in the German Army Command (Strausberg) from 2012 to 2016. After an intermediate CJ3 task in Multinational Joint Headquarters (Ulm), he served in the Operations Division oft he German Cyber Command (Bonn) until 2019. Since 2019, Colonel Köhler has been serving at the German Joint Forces Operations Command (Potsdam) in the CJ 3/5 branch.

Lt Gen Sidiki Daniel Traore
Force Commander
UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)

Lieutenant General Daniel Sidiki Traoré (Burkina Faso) was appointed on 21 January 2020 as MINUSCA Force Commander. As the current Military Adviser to the Chief of General Defence Staff of Burkina Faso, Lieutenant General Traoré has had a distinguished career since joining the Army of Burkina Faso in 1977. He also has extensive Peacekeeping experience, having recently served as Deputy Force Commander in MINUSCA in 2018, and as the Sector West Commander in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) from 2014 to 2016. He also previously served as Sector Commander in the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in Western Darfur from 2012-2014. Lieutenant General Traoré holds master’s degrees in Sociology and Human Resources from the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as well as a master’s degree in History and Archaeology from the University of Sorbonne, Paris. He is fluent in English and French.

MG (R) Hugh Van Roosen
Former Deputy Military Adviser
UN Peacekeeping Department