Speakers

Svetlana Malysh, Black Sea Agriculture Market Analyst, Refinitiv


Svetlana is based in Kyiv, Ukraine and joined Refinitiv/Thomson Reuters in 2016 as a leading Black Sea Agriculture Markets Analyst. 
Earlier she had been working for one of the leading Ukrainian local agriculture analytic company for 10+ years. She also has experience in Ukrainian grain trading companies.


​Worship Mugido, Market Analyst, Agriculture Research MEA, Refinitiv


Worship Mugido is a Market Analyst responsible for market research and analysis of agricultural flows into the Middle East and Africa. He holds a PhD degree in Environmental Science from Rhodes University and has more than 10 years of experience in the agricultural and environmental economics sectors. Prior to joining Refinitiv, Worship worked as an Agricultural Specialist at the U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Africa. 


Jose Clavijo, Agriculture Data Scientist, Refinitiv


Jose (Pepe) Clavijo Jose is an agricultural data scientist at Refinitiv, developing forecasts and analysis of world crop production. Originally from Venezuela, Pepe obtained his MSc (2009) and PhD (2014) in Agronomy from the University of Florida.
Prior to joining Refinitiv, Pepe worked as a Research Scientist at North Carolina State University.


Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa


Wandile Sihlobo, an agricultural economist by training, is Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz).  
Sihlobo was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa's Presidential Economic Advisory Council in 2019 after serving on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture between 2018 and 2019. 
 
Sihlobo is also a member of the Council of Statistics of South Africa (Stats SA). He is a Commissioner at the International Trade Commission of South Africa (ITAC). 
 
Sihlobo is a columnist for Business Day and Farmers Weekly magazine. He is a member of the Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA).  
 
Sihlobo is an author of “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity and Agriculture” published by Pan Macmillan in March 2020. 
 
Sihlobo holds a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University. 


Michel Arrion, Executive Director of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)


Mr. Michel ARRION is the Executive Director of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), based in Abidjan, since January 2019. A lawyer by training, he has been an EU civil servant for thirty years, serving as Ambassador of the European Union in various African countries such as Nigeria, Rwanda, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. 


Amandus van den Berg, Senior Relationship Manager, Rand Merchant Bank


Amandus van den Berg is currently a Senior Relationship Manager at RMB focusing on the Agriculture sector, Global Commodity Traders and Renewable Energy. Amandus was previously a Transactor for RMB’s Trade and Short Term Lending business focusing specifically on the Agriculture sector. Focus areas included Grain, Sugar, Fertiliser, Soft Commodity Traders, Livestock and Timber. A Chartered Accountant by profession, he has five years Africa finance experience as part of FirstRand’s Africa expansion strategy including a fifteen month secondment to Zambia where he was part of a forum to help develop Zamace, the Zambian agricultural exchange. He is currently serving on the JSE’s Agricultural Advisory Committee. He has a passion for disruptive technologies and emerging agriculture; the building blocks that will shape the Agriculture industry of the future.

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