Speakers

Prof Carlos Lopes is an Honorary Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris, and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, London. He has been associated with several high-level boards, including the Global Commission for Economy and Climate, Global Commission for the Future of Work, Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation and the Commission on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa. He is a current member of the boards of Jakaya Kikwete Foundation, Hailemariam and Roman Foundation, the Graça Machel Trust, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, the Global Advisory Board of the African Leadership Institute, Waterloo University International Advisory Board,  Board member of Invest Africa, African Center for Cities Advisory Board, the Board of Directors of the World Resource Institute, Advisory Council of the African Climate Foundation, as well as Honorary Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and Lifetime Member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences.

Professor Lopes is past chair of the Lisbon University Institute (2009 to 2017) and past head of several institutions at the United Nations, including the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UN System Staff College and UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa, (2012-2016). He has occupied prominent positions such as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Political Director for Secretary-General Kofi Annan and was appointed as African Union High Representative for Partnerships with Europe in 2018 and as a member of the African Union Reform Team led by President Paul Kagame in 2017.