Panel Members

Mr. Kofi Annan Former Secretary-General of the UN and Nobel Laureate

Kofi Annan served as United Nations Secretary General from 1997-2006. During his tenure, he made his mark as an advocate for human rights, the rule of law, and the revitalization of the United Nations. He has been a key player in the fight against HIV/AIDS and a leader of the multilateral response to the global terrorist threat.

When elected to the Secretary Generalship in 1997, Mr. Annan became the first Secretary General to come directly from the United Nations staff, and the first from a black African nation to hold the position.

In 1962, Annan took his first United Nations job with the World Health Organization in Geneva. Over his long career at the UN, Annan held a wide array of leadership posts, working in the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva and serving as the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping from 1992-1996, amongst other positions. Annan also worked on special assignments abroad, visiting global hotspots such as Yugoslavia and Iraq on behalf of the UN.

As Secretary General, Annan, worked to bolster the United Nation's relationship with businesses and civil society groups, sponsoring a Global Compact initiative to promote corporate social responsibility. He was instrumental in laying out the Millennium Development Goals, a strategy to meet the needs of the world's poorest by 2015. In 2005, Mr. Annan succeeded in persuading the United Nations to establish the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council, new intergovernmental bodies dedicated to global peace and welfare. Annan was also a chief proponent of the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. On 10 December 2001, Annan and the United Nations received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Born in Ghana in 1938, Annan studied in Kumasi, Minnesota and Geneva, before receiving a Master of Science in Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Tony Blair Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Tony Blair served as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from May of 1997 to June 2007. He was also the leader of Britain's Labour Party (1994 to 2007) and the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, England (1983 to 2007). He is currently serving as the Middle East Quartet Representative. The Quartet is made up of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.

During his ten years as Prime Minister, Tony Blair transformed Britain’s public services through a programme of investment and reform in schools and hospitals. More children achieving better school results, faster access to healthcare, improved survival rates for cancer and coronary heart disease.

Mr. Blair has always been a strong advocate of a values-based, activist and multilateralist foreign policy. That is, an agenda that combined tackling terrorism and intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, with action on issues like climate change, global poverty, Africa and the Middle East Peace Process.

On Africa, Mr. Blair pioneered a new model - one of partnership and support, not donor and debtor. This new partnership was based on aid, trade debt relief, governance and conflict prevention. Besides trebling aid to Africa and advocating unprecedented debt relief, Mr. Blair helped ensure that Africa has a voice and a place at the top of the international agenda. Africa is now a central feature of all international discussions – not least of the G8 plus 5. The developed world works in partnership with Africa. It is a continent which has more hope now than it did ten years ago, but also with big challenges.

Mr. Blair is widely recognised for his contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland Peace Process by helping jointly to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement and deliver power sharing government.

Mr. Peter Eigen Founder and Chair of the Advisory Council, Transparency International and Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Peter Eigen is founder and Chair of the Advisory Council of Transparency International (TI), a non-governmental organization promoting transparency and accountability in international development.

A lawyer by training, Eigen has worked in economic development for 25 years, mainly as a World Bank manager of programmes in Africa and Latin America. Under Ford Foundation sponsorship, he provided legal and technical assistance to the governments of Botswana and Namibia, and taught law at the universities of Frankfurt and Georgetown.

In September 2001, Eigen joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as Visiting Scholar while teaching at Johns Hopkins University/ SAIS. He became a member of the Board of The Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and since 2002, has been teaching as an Honorary Professor of Political Science of the Freie Universität, Berlin. In 2005, Eigen chaired the International Advisory Group of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and became Chair of EITI in 2006.

From 1988 to 1991 he was the Director of the Regional Mission for Eastern Africa of the World Bank, and from 1999 to 2001, Eigen was a faculty member of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In 2000, he received the award of Honorary Doctor of the Open University, UK and in 2004, received the Readers Digest Award 'European of the Year 2004' and in December 2007, he received the Gustav- Heinemann- Citizen Award.

Mr. Bob Geldof KBE Musician, Businessman, Founder and Chair of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live8, Co-founder of DATA

Bob Geldof was born in Dublin, Ireland. He has written and recorded 11 albums as the singer/songwriter with The Boomtown Rats and as a solo artist. He has received many music awards for his work.

In 1985, he established the Band Aid Trust to administer the $150,000,000 raised through his activities with the Band Aid recording ('84), the Live Aid concert ('85) and Sport Aid ('86). He remains chairman of the Trust which continues to operate in many African countries.

In more than twenty years of involvement with Africa, Geldof has been an advisor and vocal supporter to the Jubilee 2000 anti-debt campaign and advisor and co-founder of DATA, the powerful lobby group focussed on better policy for and within Africa. The UK Prime Minister appointed him a Commissioner on the Commission for Africa, which released its report in March 2005, recommending action to be taken by the G8 to remedy the ongoing economic decline of the African continent.

He then organised Live8 - ten landmark worldwide concerts on July 2nd 2005, timed to put pressure on the G8 leaders at their annual summit. The estimated global audience of 3 billion people had the desired effect. The G8 promised to double aid to Africa by 2010 and cancel the unpayable debt of many of the poorest countries, among other significant poverty reducing pledges.

He has a number of media and technology business interests. He is currently founder and director of Ten Alps, the UK's largest independent factual television production company. He has received numerous awards for his TV work.

Amongst other international honours, in 1986 he was awarded a knighthood for his work on Africa and has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize 5 times.

Mrs. Graça Machel Women and Children's Rights Activist, President of the Foundation for Community Development

Graça Machel is a renowned international advocate for women and children's rights and has been a social and political activist over many decades. She is President of the Foundation for Community Development (FDC), a not for profit Mozambican organisation she founded in 1994. FDC makes grants to civil society organisations to strengthen communities, facilitate social and economic justice and assist in the reconstruction and development of post war Mozambique.

In 1994, the Secretary General of the United Nations appointed Graça Machel as an independent expert to carry out an assessment of the impact of armed conflict on children. Her groundbreaking report was presented in 1996 and established a new and innovative agenda for the comprehensive protection of children caught up in war, changing the policy and practice of governments, UN agencies, and international and national civil society.

Over the years, Graça Machel has gained international recognition for her achievements. Her many awards include the Laureate of Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger from the Hunger Project in 1992 and the Nansen Medal in recognition of her contribution to the welfare of refugee children in 1995. She has received the Inter Press Service's (IPS) International Achievement Award for her work on behalf of children internationally, the Africare Distingusihed Humanitarian Service Award amd the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe, amongst others.

Amongst her many current commitments, she is a Board member of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization Fund (GAVI Fund), Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Member of The Elders, Member of the High Level Task Force on Innovative Finance for Health Systems and Panel Member of the African Peer Review Mechanism.

Mrs. Linah Kelebogile Mohohlo Governor, Bank of Botswana

Linah Mohohlo was appointed Governor of the Bank of Botswana in 1999, following a 23-year career with the Bank. She has also worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, in her capacity as Governor of the IMF for Botswana, she has been a member of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), representing the Africa Group 1 Constituency comprising more than 20 English speaking sub-Saharan African countries.

Linah serves in Boards of major corporations in Botswana and abroad. Among her international engagements, she was appointed Eminent Person in 2001 by the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, to oversee the evaluation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa. She was later appointed by the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, to the Commission for Africa, which addressed Africa’s poverty and stagnation problems. She is also a member of the Africa Emerging Markets Forum.

She is a recipient of several awards, among which are: The Banker Magazine’s Central Bank Governor of the Year (2001) for Africa and the Middle East, Euromoney’s Emerging Markets Central Bank Governor of the Year for Sub-Saharan Africa (2003), Presidential Order of Honour - 2004 (Botswana’s highest public service award), African Times Africa Leadership Award (2007) and African Banker’s Banking Regulator of the Year (2007).

Linah Mohohlo was born and raised in Botswana in a village called Ramotswa. Linah has read accounting and business, economics, finance and investments at the University of Botswana, The George Washington University (Washington DC) and University of Exeter (UK), and has undertaken an Executive Management study programme at Yale University. She has authored, presented and/or published several papers/book chapters mainly in economics, finance, reserves management and governance.

General Olusegun Obasanjo Former President of Nigeria

Olusegun Obasanjo was President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1999 until 2007. Upon leaving office, he oversaw the first civilian handover of power in Nigeria from one democratically elected leader to another.

Obasanjo has played a pivotal role in the regeneration and repositioning of the African Union – with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) designed to engender and promote the ideals of democracy and good governance, and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). He has consistently supported the deepening and widening of regional cooperation through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Co-prosperity Alliance Zone incorporating Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. He has at different times served as Chairman of the Group of 77, Chairman of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Chairman of the African Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee on NEPAD.

He was also involved in international mediation efforts in Namibia, Angola, South Africa, Mozambique and Burundi. In 2008, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Obasanjo (GCFR) as his Special Envoy on the Great Lakes region, and is integral in the ongoing mediation efforts in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Obasanjo was born on March 5, 1937 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, South Western Nigeria. He attended Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta after which he worked as a teacher for a while before enlisting in the Nigerian Army in 1958.

Mr. Robert E Rubin Former Secretary of the United States Treasury

Robert E. Rubin became Secretary of the Treasury to President Clinton in 1995, during which he played a leading role in many of the most important US policy debates. He was involved in balancing the federal budget; opening trade policy to further globalization; and acting to stem financial crises in Mexico, Asia and Russia. He left Treasury in 1999.

Mr. Rubin, long active in national and New York City´s public affairs, left the private sector in 1993 to join the Clinton Administration. Beginning with the President´s Inauguration, Mr. Rubin served in the White House as Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. Directing the activities of the National Economic Council, Mr. Rubin guided the newly created NEC as it oversaw the Administration´s domestic and international economic policymaking process, coordinated economic policy recommendations to the President, and monitored the implementation of the President´s economic policy goals.

Mr. Rubin began his career in finance at Goldman, Sachs & Company in New York City in 1966. He became a general partner in 1971 and joined the management committee in 1980. Mr. Rubin was Vice-Chairman and Co-Chief Operating Officer from 1987 to 1990 and served as Co-Senior Partner and Co-Chairman from 1990 to 1992. Before joining Goldman, he was an attorney at the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York City. After leaving the public sector, Mr. Rubin joined Citigroup on October 26, 1999, where he participated in the strategic, managerial and operational matters of the Company. He rose to Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Citigroup Inc. Mr. Rubin left Citigroup in January 2009. Mr. Rubin is co-chair of board of directors of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Robert Rubin was born in New York City on August 29, 1938. He is married and has two adult sons. Rubin graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1960 with an A.B. in economics. He received a L.L.B. from Yale Law School in 1964 and attended the London School of Economics.

Mr. Tidjane Thiam Chief Executive Officer (designate), Prudential Plc

Tidjane Thiam has been an executive director of Prudential and Group Chief Financial Officer since March 2008. He was appointed CEO designate on the 19th March 2009 and will become CEO on 30th September 2009.

He was previously Chief Executive Officer, Europ at Aviva, where he also held successively the positions of Group Strategy and Development Director and Managing Director, Aviva International.

Prior to that, Tidjane was a partner with McKinsey & Company in France and one of the leaders of their Finanicial Instiutions practice, focusing on insurance companies and banks.

Earlier in his career, he spent a number of years in Africa where he was Chief Executive and then Chairman of the National Bureau for Technical Studies and Development in Cote d'Ivoire and a cabinet member as Minister of Planning and Development.

He is a non-executive director of Arkema in France, a member of the Council of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London and a sponsor of Opportunity International, a charity focusing on microfinance in developing countries.

Tidjane was born in July 1962 and holds engineering degrees from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (top of his class), and an MBA from INSEAD

Professor Muhammad Yunus Economist, Founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate

Professor Muhammad Yunus is the founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank which currently operates 2,283 branches providing credit to 6.83 million poor people residing in 73,609 villages in Bangladesh. He originated the concept of Grameen Bank, i.e. banking without collateral for the poorest of the poor, especially poor women. Professor Yunus started the Bank as a project in 1976 when he was Head of Economics at the University of Chittagong; it became a formal bank in 1983.

As well as receiving the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Yunus has received the highest honours from countries as diverse as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the U.S.A, Venezuela, Japan, India and the Netherlands. He was also the first chair of the Policy Advisory Group of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest) and has been appointed as an International Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS by the United Nations.

Besides the Bank, other Bangladesh-based Grameen companies are active in addressing issues of poverty and development across sectors including mobile communications, rural internet provision, computer software, investment banking, textiles, health, education, public relations and renewable energy.

Grameen methods are applied in projects in 58 countries, including the US, Canada, France, the Netherlands and Norway.

Born in 1940 in what was then Eastern Bengal, Professor Yunus received his Ph.D in economics from Vanderbilt University. He has since been awarded honorary degrees from universities across the world including Yale (USA), Warwick (UK), University of Natal (South Africa) and the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand).