Sir Stewart Eldon KCMG OBE (also Defence and Security) is an adviser and commentator on international defence and security issues. He served as UK Permanent Representative to NATO; Ambassador to Ireland; and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York. He works with private and public sector clients in Africa and has led executive workshops in negotiation and diplomatic skills.
Patrick Hayford led the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa and was director for African Affairs in the Office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Before joining the UN he served with Ghana’s Foreign Service, including as High Commissioner to South Africa, Acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Deputy Chief of Mission in Cairo.
Abhimanu Mahendra Kundasamy was High Commissioner of Mauritius to the UK from 2005 to 2015 and prior thereto High Commissioner of Mauritius to South Africa. Currently living in London, Mahen was Director for Government Affairs for Sub-Saharan Africa at Citigroup for one year from 2015 - 2016, following which from 2016 to 2018 he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy at the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) for the implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. During his extensive career of over 25 years, he has built a formidable senior African-relations track record within both the public and private sectors.
Tony Leon served as South Africa’s Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay from 2009 – 2012. For nearly 20 years Tony had been a Member of Parliament in South Africa, leading the Democratic Alliance for 13 years until 2007. Nelson Mandela said of Tony on his retirement from political leadership in 2007 “Your contribution to democracy is enormous, you have more support for all you have done than you might ever read about.” Tony then held a Fellowship at the Institute of Politics, John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, following which he was visiting professor of political practice at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, IDC, Herzliya, Israel. He is currently Chairman of Resolve Communications and consults to business in South America and South Africa.
Tim Morris was British Ambassador to Morocco, Mauritania, South Sudan and Head of Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo. His last posting was as Senior Trade Advisor for Africa in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where he built links between the private sector and Government development policy. His earlier career was spent largely in Western Europe and on international organisations, and eleven years on Japan, one task of which was running the UK’s inward investment programme from Japan. Tim is now a private sector consultant specializing in investment in Africa.
Douglas Scott Proudfoot (also North America) is a former Canadian Ambassador who served as head of mission in Bamako, Juba and Ramallah. He was previously posted in Vienna (where he represented Canada at the IAEA, CTBTO and UNODC), London, Delhi and Nairobi. At headquarters he headed the Afghanistan and Sudan Task Forces. Most recently he headed the Canadian mission to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). He is currently based in Ottawa. Areas of expertise include Africa; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; fragile states & post-conflict situations; non-proliferation, arms control & disarmament; aviation; and, of course, Canada.
