Building bridges between Africa and the world: An exchange from families to families

Ibukun Awosika is an African entrepreneur, author, international leader, and global culture shaper. She is the Chairman and Founder of The Chair Centre Group, a leading furniture and security systems provider in Nigeria.

Ibukun has an undergraduate degree in chemistry from University of Ife and advanced degrees from various global institutions, including Lagos Business School, IESE Business School, Wharton, and China European International Business School (CEIBS).

She serves as Chairman or Board member on various corporate and non-profit boards around the world, cutting across education (IESE Business School, Imperial Gate Schools, Pan Atlantic University), Energy (D-Light Inc.), IT (Digital Jewels Limited), manufacturing (Cadbury Nigeria Plc), Retail (House of Tara International), Financial Services (Binance, Alitheia IDF Fund LP, Nigeria Advisory Board for Impact Investing), corporate governance (Convention on Business Integrity), and advocacy (Women in Management, Business and Public Service, IFVI International Foundation for Valuing Impacts.)

Ibukun Awosika is a woman of many firsts: she was the first female Chairperson of Nigeria’s Premier Bank, First Bank 2016 – 2021, the first Nigerian recipient of the prestigious International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) Award and the first African recipient of the International Friendship Award 2019 by the Queen of Spain.

She is happily married to Abiodun Awosika, and they are blessed with three wonderful sons.

In addition to being an Architect (MSc.) by profession, with more than 20 years of experience, Dania also comes from a Family Business background and has dedicated some of her time to her family and has initiated the Family Governance process in 2010.

As 3rd generation she has always been an active leader in her Family Business, having spearheaded the Governance structure and putting in place various committees, of some she is also a member.
Dania also holds an MBA for Families in Business from Kennesaw State University (class of 2017).
Currently, Dania is overseeing the generational transition in her family and heading the Besher Family Office.

She is a Board member of her family’s Holding Co. Mac Investments SAE, which is headquartered in Cairo/ Egypt.

In addition, she is also on the Board as well as a member of the Comp and Bens Committee of one of the subsidiaries, Middle East Glass Manufacturing Company.

Professor Olayinka David-West is the Dean of Lagos Business School and an esteemed academic and thought leader with expertise in the intersection of business management and technology. With an illustrious career spanning several decades in IT and financial services, she has made significant contributions to academia, research, and the advancement of business practices and policies through her insightful analyses and strategic thinking.

At LBS, she has served as a faculty member, faculty director, academic director, associate dean and accreditation lead, propelling the school to attain international accreditations and global rankings. Her research and practice engagements focus on the transformative impact of technology on business models, strategy, and organisational dynamics alongside policy interventions toward digitally transformed businesses and society.
Since 2015, she has led the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital and Financial Services (SIDFS) initiative, fostering research, advocacy, capacity building and stakeholder engagement in the digital and financial services ecosystems to improve financial access and digital transformation efforts, amongst others.

She is Certified in Cyber Risk Governance and in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). She is a member of the Fintech Association of Nigeria and is widely regarded as an expert in financial inclusion and digital innovation. Professor David-West also mentors young women in STEM and has been recognized as amongst the leading women in Nigeria’s financial technology industry.

Alexis is the CEO of The Family Business Network (FBN), the world’s leading network bringing together over 4,200 business owning families, 20,000 individual members in 32 chapters covering 65 countries. Prior to FBN, Alexis held senior positions, at Lhoist, Verlinvest, Armonea and IFC (World Bank Group). For 6 years, he was Chairman of ToolBox, supporting NGOs by offering professional consultancy.

A Belgian-Swiss citizen, Alexis holds a Master in Management Science (Solvay Business School), is an INSEAD IEP and IMD HPL Graduate.

Philippe Grodner holds a MBA from Essec in France. He has been CEO and President of Simone PERELE a leading upscaled French lingerie Brand since 1988.

During his time in the Company , the brand has known a large international expansion to become a worldwide leader in the upper segment of the lingerie market.

He has successfully transmitted his Company to the 3rd generation in 2016.

Since 2016, Philippe has been appointed as President of FBN France. In 2019, he joined the International Board of the Association in Lausanne and became Vice Chair for Europe.

He is also the President of the FBN-I Audit Committee.

Céline Haspeslagh brings a unique perspective as both a 4th generation member of the Ardo frozen foods business and founder of her own family venture. After obtaining a degree in Marketing, Céline built a career in HR in a 3D printing company. Simultaneously, she led the creation of Ardo Group’s family council following the 2014 merger. This merger united two companies founded separately by brothers Richard and Edouard Haspeslagh in 1975 and 1977, which had operated as friendly competitors in frozen vegetables for nearly four decades. Under Céline’s leadership of the family council, a new family constitution was developed and the bonds between the previously separate family branches were strengthened.

In 2021, she founded a winery in South Africa’s Hemel & Aarde Valley with her husband and uncle as co-investor, bridging her experience in established and emerging family enterprises.

Mehrad is a 3rd generation member of an Iranian enterprising family.

He is Global Impact Partnerships Manager at The Conduit – a collaborative community of people committed to creating a just, prosperous and sustainable future – where he spearheads initiatives to cultivate meaningful collaborations.

Mehrad’s purpose in life revolves around empowering units of positive change, or as he fondly calls them, ‘changemakers’. He finds joy in connecting people, setting them up for success, and identifying synergies between financial gain and social & environmental impact.

Mehrad is an avid snowboarder, and enjoys maintaining a balanced lifestyle via fitness, nutrition, meditation and an active social life. Most notably, he is an ardent dog-lover who enjoys parenting his 4-year old pup Meeko.

He holds an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics (LSE) and an International MBA from IE Business School in Madrid.

Roles within FBN-I:

• President, NextGen Community
• Member, Board of Directors
• Founder & Chair, Entrepreneurs Community (2018-2021)

Yih-Teen Lee is Professor in the Department of Managing People in Organizations and the academic director of the IESE Coaching Unit. He specializes in leadership, fit, and cultural bridging in his roles as educator, researcher, and consultant. At IESE, Yih-Teen teaches subjects such as leadership, leading global collaboration, self-leadership, leading multicultural teams, and strategic human resource management in the MBA and executive programs.

Yih-Teen has been living and working in Europe for almost 20 years, and identifies himself as a multicultural individual. He is fluent in Chinese, English, French, and Spanish, and has delivered training programs and seminars to senior executives in all four languages. This exposure, alongside his unyielding passion for various cultures, drives him to embrace diversity and devote his energy to the search of deep-level cultural knowledge and cultural competences, with the goal of contributing to the ability of managers and organizations to navigate global cultures effectively. He sees such development as a transformational journey of each individual and emphasizes the importance of anchoring cultural competences in one’s cultural identities and sense of self.

Yih-Teen earned his Ph.D. from HEC, University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from National Taiwan University.

Ms. Tihitina is the 3rd generation in business and 2nd generation leader to take on the Managing Director role at WARYT Mulutila International Plc, a leading Ethiopian furniture manufacturer. She took over from her Father 11 years ago as her father decided to step down while he still have the energy and as he decided to serve as the Chairman instead.

With a strong background in psychology and business and a passion for community development, she has driven sustainable growth and innovation at WARYT. She is committed to promoting local manufacturing engaging the differently abled and inclusive job creation, and implementing sustainable practices.

Tihitina is an active member of the Ethiopian business community, serving on various boards and associations. Currently, she is part of the Ethiopian Family Business Council after attending the FBF that was held in Munich in 2024. She is currently mentoring, coaching and grooming the next generation as a plan of succession.

Professor Liechtenstein holds a Ph.D. in Managerial Science and Applied Economics from The Economics School of Vienna, Austria, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from IESE Business School, and a BSc in Business Economics from the University of Graz.

Professor Liechtenstein specializes in entrepreneurial finance, management of wealth and governance of entrepreneurial families. He is co-author on several publications on private equity. His ongoing research in this field focuses on operational value creation in private equity, impact investing and governance of entrepreneurial families.

Professor Liechtenstein lectures in the MBA and Executive Programs.

As a consultant he collaborated with leading families and financial institutions and serves on the board of family controlled foundations.

Prior to his academic career, Professor Liechtenstein was engaged in the family owned Liechtenstein Global Trust (LGT) dealing with ultra high net worth individuals. He also advised families within the Boston Consulting Group and established and sold two successful businesses.

Itumeleng Manzini holds a Bachelor of Business Science in Finance and Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town. She is a Deloitte qualified Chartered Accountant (completed in 2013) and post her articles spent 3 months on secondment at Deloitte San Francisco.

After her time in audit, she spent two years at Deloitte Consulting in the Consumer Business division. Her tenure in consulting and audit exposed her to a diverse range of clients within the FMCG and retail industries.

In 2016, Itumeleng joined her family business-New Africa Petroleum Holdings (Pty) Ltd (NAP) which is an investment company incorporated in South Africa. NAP has interests in the retail sale of fuel and related services, the warehousing, distribution and retail of packaging materials and investment in properties. Itumeleng is currently the Group Financial Manager of the packaging group of the company, which consists of 4 packaging companies located across South Africa.

In 2021, Itumeleng completed the General Management Programme with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).

Dr. Caesar Mwangi is the Executive Dean of Strathmore University Business School. Prior to his appointments as the Executive Dean, he was the Group Chief Executive Officer for ICEA LION Insurance Holdings Ltd. He has also been an Adjunct Faculty Member of SBS since the commencement of the first MBA program in 2006.
He holds a PhD in Organizational Performance and Change Management from the University of Johannesburg, MBA in Strategy and Corporate Finance from Wits Business School and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Nairobi University. He also holds various Professional qualifications including: Certified Public Accountant (CPA (K)) Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Executive Leadership Coach from Coach Development Institute (CDI Africa). He is a Trained Facilitator for the use of Organization Culture Transformation Tools developed by Barrett Values Centre, (London, UK) and Leadership Challenge Methodology developed by Wiley & Sons, UK.

Dr. Mwangi has over 25 years of experience in various Management and Leadership roles. His previous professional experience includes stints as Management Consultant with Deloitte Touché (Nairobi and Johannesburg); Finance and Corporate Services Director with Independent Mediation Service of South Africa; Managing Director with Maisha Consulting (Johannesburg); Associate Director responsible for Risk Management and Internal Audit for Africa and Europe Region in the Consultative Group in International Agricultural Research (CGIAR); Managing Director with Sasini PLC; Africa Regional Director with Global Village Energy Partnership; Turnaround Consultant and Chief Executive Officer with Sunnymoney; Principal Consultant and CEO for Centre for Personal Leadership.

Dr Mwangi has Chaired a number of Boards including Chairman, Kenya Markets Trust; Chairman of the Investments Committee of the South African Council of Churches, Chairman of the Kianda School Board and Chairman of the Strathmore Education Registered Trust with Fiduciary responsibilities for the Strathmore University, Strathmore School, and the Eastland’s College of Technology.

He has also been the Vice Chairman of the Strathmore University Council and Chair of the Audit Committee, Interim Director on the inception of the Strathmore Governance Centre (SGC) 2008, Vice Chair of KEPSA Agriculture Sector Board, member of Kenya Climate Innovation Centre Board, member of the Kenya Climate Ventures Investment Committee, member of the Board of the Sandford International School in Addis Ababa and the Roosevelt Park School in Johannesburg. He is also the Founding Director of the Centre for Personal Leadership. He currently serves on the Boards of Mitchell Cotts Freight forwarders Ltd and the Karirana Tea Estates Ltd.

Dr Mwangi is an ardent hiking enthusiast and also a Facilitator on the Program for Family Development at SBS. He is married to Anne Wangui and the father of boys and girls who motivate him to be the best possible version of himself so as to contribute to a better future for the sake of the next generation.

Marc is the Executive Director of the Learning Innovation Unit at IESE Business School, I and our team & faculty continuously strive to push the boundaries of how top-executives learn best. Exploring, conceptualizing, designing, and executing learning experiences that have the highest possible impact for leaders in a globalized world. Special focus on Action Learning, Experiential Learning, Blended Learning, Online Learning, among others.

Experienced project manager and consultant for several international corporations and institutions, including projects for/in partnership with the World Bank, the EBRD, the Batten Institute at Darden/University of Virginia, the CEO-Collaborative Forum, or EFER, the European Forum for Entrepreneurship Research.

Involved in research, consulting, and various international executive education and in-company programs across five continents.

Co-author of the book “Entrepreneurial Icebreakers” (2015), published by Palgrave Macmillan, as well as academic and practitioner articles in leading strategy journals, teaching cases, book chapters, and course materials.

Strong focus on entrepreneurship and strategy – specifically business models, growth and turnaround strategies. PhD research focus: Unleashing growth through business model innovation (Department of Strategic Leadership & Global Management, Technical University Berlin).

Studied/worked/lived on four different continents (Europe, US, Africa, Asia).

Mr. Ethiopis Tafara is the incoming Regional Vice President for Africa at the International Finance Corporation, starting from April 1, 2025. He was previously the Vice President & Chief Finance, Risk, Legal and Sustainability Officer for the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Prior to joining MIGA, Mr. Tafara served as Vice President and General Counsel for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he was responsible for IFC’s non-financial risk management, including the Legal, Compliance and ESG functions. He joined IFC in 2013 from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served as Director of the Office of International Affairs.

Mr. Tafara is a recognized thought leader on the regulatory and governance standards underpinning global securities markets. In addition to having practiced as a regulatory lawyer for close to 20 years, he has also advised developing countries on legal and regulatory reform, held positions in international bodies, and adjunct professorship at Georgetown University, and published in leading publications such as the Harvard Law Review.