4th Canada-Africa Business Conference, Lusaka

Sebastian SPIO Garbrah is Head of the AfCFTA Unit for Free Trade at The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business, and the former Chair of the organization's board. He is the Global Managing Director & Chief Frontier Markets Analyst at DaMina Advisors. He has been recognized as one of the world’s leading frontier markets analysts, was voted among the ‘Top 30 under 30 Analysts’ by New York’s Institutional Investor Magazine in 2006. Sebastian helped establish the Africa risk research practice at leading global political risk consultancy firm, Eurasia Group LLC in New York, London (UK) and Tokyo, and concurrently served as a sovereign risk analyst on Sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies, Nigeria and South Africa for a novel global stability index developed by Eurasia Group with Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, and subsequently, with Citigroup between 2005 and 2010. Since 2010, Sebastian has been Global Managing Director & Chief Frontier Markets Analyst at DaMina Advisors where he advises the boards, CEOs and portfolio managers of many of the world’s leading multinationals and largest institutional investors on Africa. A prolific writer and an ambidextrous thinker, Sebastian also advised former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission on Africa. Sebastian sits on several boards. He holds a B.A (double) in Economics and Political Science from Middlebury College, Vermont and a Juris Doctor (J.D) in law from Rutgers University, New Jersey.

Harriet has extensive experience in corporate and commercial law in Zambia, particularly in the energy, infrastructure, and extractive sectors. Harriet offers strategic guidance on regulatory compliance, projects, and contracts in the energy and infrastructure sectors, drawing on her deep understanding of Zambia’s extractive industry to help clients optimize their operations within the Zambian context. She also serves as the key relationship partner for the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) and is the President of the French Business Circle.

Hakainde Hichilema, a self-made successful businessman, was the energetic leader of the major opposition political party in Zambia the United Party for National Development (UPND), which won the elections held on 12th August, 2021. Hichilema was born on June 4 1962 in the southern district of Monze. After attending primary school, he went to Kalomo Secondary School before being admitted to the University of Zambia on a government bursary where he studied and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics and Business Administration. He later obtained an MBA degree in Finance and Business Strategy from the University of Birmingham, UK. Since then, Hichilema, affectionately known as HH, has carved out an impressive track record in business, both locally and internationally. A large commercial famer, Hichilema is now the second biggest cattle rancher in Zambia on four ranches, and is one of the biggest suppliers of meat to the local Zambian market, as well as one of Zambia’s biggest exporter of hard-currency-earning beef products. He also holds substantial investments in Zambia’s tourism sector. Following his university education Hichilema ascended to top positions in Zambia’s corporate world, landing such prestigious jobs as CEO of Coopers and Lybrand at the tender age of 32 years old, from 1994 to 1998, and later as CEO of Cooper’s successor, Grant Thornton, from 1998 to 2006. He was the biggest local shareholder in two foreign-owned companies; including Barclays Bank Zambia Plc. Hichilema is also a trained Business Negotiator, a qualified Change Management Practitioner and is a member of the Zambia Institute of Directors. HH won the presidency of the UPND in 2006 following the death of its leader, Anderson Mazoka, his business mentor and close friend. Since then ruling party politicians have, unsuccessfully, poured their energy into trying to keep him tied up in legal cases which he has refused to let stand in his way. This approach to keeping HH, as he is popularly known, off the ballot led to his incarceration on trumped up treason charges over traffic incident where his convoy was forced off the road but would later be lumped as treason charges. He was detained for 127 days from 17th April 2017. From the moment on, HH would gain more popularity, as it became apparent that the fight was no longer political but personal. In January 2015 presidential by-election Hichilema came second in the race to Edgar Lungu, the candidate of the incumbent PF, falling short by just 27,000 votes (1%). He would repeat this feat in 2016 where again he failed to make it past the 50%+1 threshold with less than 2% of the majority vote. However, Hichilema began to show signs of gaining popularity by increasing his tally of actual votes in areas traditionally considered PF strongholds. He has run his campaigns throughout, on a strong economic platform, arguing that Zambia needs a leader who understands business and can turn around the economy in order to unlock developmental benefits in health, education and elsewhere. This was buttressed by the fact that the country’s economy started faltering such that by the time the 2021 elections were being held, the kwacha had depreciated by over 100% in the life of the PF, against the US dollar. In an import dependent economy, this gave rise to the cost of living, lack of jobs, lack of basic health care and quality education. The factors coalesced into a cocktail that resonated with the youth and the general population. His strategy of reaching out to the young voters who in most cases were first time voters, worked very well in the run up to the 2021 elections. He eventually earned his now famous moniker of “Bally” which further endeared him to majority youthful voters. He is passionate about delivering improvements in Zambia’s education system so that every young Zambian has that same opportunity he had to receive government support that can empower youths to launch a successful career in which they can earn a decent wage, provide for their family and help grow the Zambian economy. Finally, Hichilema is not just a politician and a businessman, he is also a philanthropist, donating to community activities and projects such as clinics, schools, sinking boreholes and building dams to enhance agriculture activities. He is married to Mutinta and together they have three children.

Joe is one of the world's foremost authorities on the design, construction, and operation of aluminum smelters, with more than 35 years of experience in the development and expansion of metallurgical facilities across the globe. As Board Member and Vice-Chair, Joe focuses on enhancing client relationships, particularly in the Metals sector where he served as a Global Managing Director from 2012 to January 2024. Additionally, he acts as a director at large, taking on specific initiatives and supporting company-wide organizational development. Joe’s extensive smelter project and operating experience has been central in directing and managing project teams. He has authored several technical papers related to best practices in smelter design and construction. Joe was previously President and CEO of Aluminerie Alouette, the largest aluminum smelter in the Americas. At Aluminerie Alouette, Joe was responsible for the very successful multibillion-dollar expansion of its facility in Sept-Îles, Québec. Joe is a graduate of the University of Pretoria, where he earned a BEng in Mechanical Engineering as well as a BComm Hons from the University of South Africa. Outside of work, Joe serves as a board member on the Canada-UAE Business Council (CUBC) and First Robotics and is an avid scuba diver and passionate photographer.

The opportunity to engage with some of the best global minds and endless opportunities for development are what drove Welekazi to join the Hatch team. Over the course of Welekazi’s career with Hatch, she has held a variety of roles from pure process engineering discipline-focused roles spanning various commodities, to project management focused on demonstrating the value the engineering profession can add to solve real-world problems. Today, Welekazi is the regional director of Iron Ore in the Africa, Europe, Middle East (AEM) region and a key account manager for one of our top clients at Hatch, acting as a key contact for clients, listening and understanding their needs, and partnering with them to successfully deliver the most innovative solutions to tackle their toughest challenges. When not in the office, Welekazi enjoys interior decorating and is always on the hunt for unique pieces to add to her home, often incorporating pieces from her travels. During a trip to Turkey she was amazed by the beautiful art and architectural design of different mosques and was sure to grab a piece of art!

Mark Haselau is a professionally-qualified Quantity Surveyor with a BSc degree in Quantity Surveying and more than 24 years’ experience across 27 African countries. He has expert and deep technical capabilities in the specialised fields of infrastructure, energy, resources, healthcare, agriculture and real estate developing and delivering complex infrastructure projects. Mark is responsible for the early stakeholder engagements to develop the project technical baseline/scope of works and supporting early design/concept development, estimating, procurement strategy and packaging the projects for contract signature.

Alison Chikova is Chief Engineer of the Southern African Power Pool. He holds a Master of Science Degree from Kharkov Polytechnic Institute, in Ukraine, having specialised in Electrical Power Networks and Systems. He graduated in 1992. He worked for the Ministry of Energy as an Energy Research and Development Officer. In 1995 he moved to the power utility in Zimbabwe where he was heading the Generation Planning Unit.,In 2001 he joined the Southern African Power Pool where he is responsible for technical issues including System Studies for the Interconnected SAPP Grid. He is also taking part in the development of a competitive and ancillary services market in SAPP. He has made significant contributions in transmission pricing arrangements for the Power Pool.,He is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of IEEE (USA) and IET (UK).