Post-Conflict Economic Development
James Kimonyo, Rwandan Embassy, Ambassador
Margaret Kilo, African Development Bank, Head of Fragile States Unit
Professor Sipho Seepe, South African Institute of Race Relations, PresidentModerator: Jacqueline Musiitwa, Esq, Transitional Trade, Founder and Executive Director
James Kimonyo
Rwandan Embassy, Ambassador
Engineer James Kimonyo is the Ambassador Engineer James Kimonyo is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Rwanda to the United States of America and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Prior to his current position, Ambassador James Kimonyo was Rwanda’s Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa and non-Resident Ambassador to Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Kingdom of Swaziland and the Kingdom of Lesotho where he served for two years.
Ambassador James Kimonyo has been instrumental in the political and socio-economic reforms in Rwanda for the last thirteen years where he held several key positions in government.
Prior to his diplomatic career, Ambassador Kimonyo served as the Governor of the Eastern and Southern provinces respectively (Kibungo and Butare). As a governor he was directly involved in efforts to enhance good governance, justice, economic development and social progress. He has an outstanding record for his dedication to strengthening and fostering the unity and reconciliation process in Rwanda.
After the 1994 genocide, Ambassador Kimonyo was appointed to head the department of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction under several ministries including; Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Home Affairs, Communal Development and Resettlement as well as the ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Environmental Protection. Ambassador Kimonyo has also played a vital role in the repatriation, resettlement and reintegration programs of former Rwandan refugees.
Ambassador Kimonyo additionally has a wide range of experience with international organizations. He served as a national director and coordinator of several projects funded by different international organizations including UNHCR, UNDP and UN-HABITAT. Ambassador James Kimonyo has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and holds a Masters Degree in Engineering Project Management.
Margaret Kilo
African Development Bank, Head of Fragile States Unit
A Cameroonian national, Margaret Kilo holds a PhD in International Development Education from Stanford University and a Masters in Sociology of Education from the University of London Institute of Education. She has also earned various fellowships and awards during her academic career, and is fluent in French, English and Krio/Pidgin English. She served her country in various capacities for several years, prior to joining the Africa Region of the World Bank in 1994 as Education Specialist. While at the World Bank, she worked on Girls’ Education activities for several African countries, developed the Girl’s Education Component of the World Bank’s 1998 Education Sector Strategy Paper, and helped organized EDI (Economic Development Institute) training aimed at improving educational access for girls for many country clients of the Bank. She was also responsible for several Bank-financed education projects in Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, Togo and Burkina Faso.
In 1998, she joined the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and she continued to work for education on the continent. As a Senior Education Specialist in the Human Resources Division of the Country Department West Region (OCDW.5), she task-managed a portfolio of thirteen (13) Poverty Reduction, Education and Gender-related projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. She also contributed to the preparation of the Bank’s 2000 Education Sector Policy Paper (ESPP) as a member of the task team. In 2001, she was appointed as Principal Country Program Officer in the Nigeria Country Office (NGCO). She represented the Bank in various fora and was an active participant in the Education Sector Analysis (ESA) focus group, which included the World Bank, the EU, DFID, USAID, UNESCO, UNICEF, JICA and the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education. She helped with donor coordination between the Bank Group and development partners in Nigeria, and led the joint ADB-World Bank preparation and appraisal missions of the Rehabilitation of Basic Education Project also known as the Sababu Project in Post-Conflict Sierra-Leone.
In 2003, as a Chief Education Specialist in the Policy and Reviews Department (POPR) in the Bank’s Temporary Relocation Agency (TRA) in Tunis, Tunisia, she led the education sector network and undertook studies to improve the quality of Bank-funded education projects for which she produced a Toolkit for Quality of Education Projects. She co authored the Bank’s Guidelines on User Fees in Health and Education, initiated the Bank Group’s Higher Education, Science and Technology (HEST) Strategy and provided in-depth review of other Bank policy documents. She successfully mobilized bilateral resources to facilitate the Bank’s participation in the United Nation Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) and organized staff activities to promote Bank support for girls’ education. She was an active participant in the Bank’s 2005 Reform Program as a member of the Task Force on Institutional Reform (TFIR) and the Human Resources Working Group (HRWG).
In 2006, Margaret was appointed Sector Policy Division’s Acting Manager, where she provided leadership and strategic direction for the preparation of various Bank Group policy papers, strategies and operational guidelines for a diverse range of sectors, including infrastructure, agriculture and rural development, finance, governance, health and education, regional integration and trade. In 2007, she was appointed as the AfDB Resident Representative in charge of Sierra Leone and Liberia. As Resident Representative, she deepened country dialogue and aid coordination, intensified portfolio management, led economic and sector work, provided assistance to the private sector and undertook several development projects in both countries. Notably among her achievements while in Sierra Leone are her resource mobilization efforts locally towards the completion of the Bumbuna Hydro-electricity project.
At the end of September 2008, she took up her current position as Unit Head of the newly created Fragile States Unit (OSFU) in the Bank’s Temporary Relocation Agency in Tunis.
Professor Sipho Seepe
South African Institute of Race Relations, President
Professor Sipho Seepe is presently a Business and Higher Education Consultant. This follows a short stint at ABSA Head Office where he was Group Executive: Learning & Development. Prior to his appointment at ABSA he was the Director& Head of The Graduate Institute of Management & Technology. This followed a rewarding period as the Academic Director of Henley Management College, Southern Africa. Before jointing the private education sector he was the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Vista University. He was appointed in 2002 as Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Vista University.
He held teaching positions at a high school, a college and universities, both local and abroad. He has written extensively on matters of public interest, from politics, culture, affirmative action issues, education to matters relating to transformation of society and institutions.
He was a columnist and an associate political editor of the Mail & Guardian, a newspaper weekly catering for the predominantly middle class section of the South African readership. Among others, he is a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright South African Researcher Grant and Harvard South Africa Fellowship. He has held visiting professorships at a number of institutions abroad.
Professor Seepe is presently a columnist for Business Day, daily newspaper geared to professionals, managers, business and entrepreneurs.
Seepe was involved in a number of research capacity building initiatives among the historically disadvantaged institutions in South Africa. He served on several committees which include the Assessment Committee of the Foundation for Research Development in science education, was a member of Human Science Research Council (HSRC) research panel tasked with evaluation of team research between Historically Advantaged and Disadvantaged Institutions, and was also involved in a project on promoting African scholarship pioneered by the then South African Association for Academic Development.
Jacqueline Musiitwa, Esq,
Transitional Trade, Founder and Executive Director
Jacqueline Musiitwa, Esq, is the founder and executive director of Transitional Trade, a non-profit whose mission it is to promote social trade, investment and entrepreneurship in post-conflict countries and transitional communities. Additionally, she started and runs, Hoja Law Group, a New York based boutique law firm which represents start ups, non-profits and small businesses in corporate and intellectual property transactions both in the United States and Africa. Jacqueline began her career at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she focused on corporate and outsourcing matters.
She is an Adjunct Professor of International Law at Central Michigan University and Sociopolitics and Economics of Africa at Drexel. Her areas of research focus on the politics and socioeconomics of post-conflict countries, Sino-Africa relations, social entrepreneurship and South-South relations.
She earned her BA in Political Science and International Studies from Davidson College and her JD from the University of Melbourne, where she was a member of the Melbourne Journal of International Law.