Africa- Promoting Investment and Extending America’s Security: Panel Three
How to Invest and Manage Risk for US Companies
Join ASP on October 2nd for a half-day event bringing together experts from the public and private sector, as well as policy makers and members of the media to discuss the mutually beneficial impacts of US private investment on the African continent, opportunities for practical investment, and how to effectively manage the accompanying risk.
Our third panel, How to Invest and Manage Risk for US Companies, will take place from 3:30pm – 4:30pm. The panel will examine mechanisms for investment and how to most effectively manage the accompanying risk. As the capstone discussion, topics will include how to secure capital, navigating various regulatory environments, managing risk insurance, preferred financial centers, and how to best secure shareholder return.
Chair:
Mr. Fadi Elsalameen, Principal- YCF Group
Fadi Elsalameen is a Principal of YCF Group LLC, a private international investment firm. The firm owns and operates a variety of companies across the shipping, agriculture, telecommuncations, education and man power development sectors. He is actively involved in several of YCF Group’s portfolio investments including YCF Maritime, a leading global shipping services company and YCF Agriculture, a large-scale international agribusiness company. At YCF Maritime, Elsalameen serves as Senior Vice President-Government Relations for LISCR, the management company of the Liberian Registry. The Liberian Registry is the world’s largest white-listed ship registry and a leading corporate jurisdiction. With nearly 4000 vessels of an aggregate carriage capacity of exceeding 150 million deadweight tons, the Liberian Registry represents 12.5% of the worldwide ocean going fleet.Previously, Elsalameen served as the Director General of two internet newspapers in English and Arabic covering the United States and the Middle East. He holds a BS in Biochemistry from Earlham College and a Master’s degree in International Relations and Economics from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Panelists:
Mr. Dante Disparte, Managing Director – Clements Worldwide
Dante Disparte is the U.S. Managing Director for Clements Worldwide, a leading risk management firm and insurance brokerage serving customers in more than 180 countries. Mr. Disparte is a specialist in risk reduction through the design and delivery of comprehensive risk solutions of worldwide scope. He is credited with designing the world’s first card-based life insurance program for the United Nations, a plan that has placed more than a half billion USD of risk with the markets in more than 150 countries. Mr. Disparte serves as the Chairman of the board of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington, D.C., where he provides strategic oversight delivering value to more than 3,500 HBS alumni in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. He served on the board of directors of Kjaer Group A/S, one of the top 10 workplaces in Europe and the top workplace in Denmark for 4 years and currently serves on the board of Communities in Schools Nation’s Capital. He is conversant in 6 languages and has published numerous articles on the subject of risk, strategy and business effectiveness. A graduate of Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development, Mr. Disparte holds a degree in International and Intercultural Studies from Goucher College and a MSc. in risk Management from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Dr. Barbara Samuels, Executive Director – Global Clearing House for Development Finance; UN FfD Business Steering Committee
Dr. Barbara Samuels heads the non-profit Global Clearinghouse for Development Finance (GlobalDF) aimed at advancing the mobilization of the private sector for development. Prior positions with over 30 years of finance, credit, and policy experience related to developing countries include: Chase Manhattan Bank’s Director of Country Assessment, where she was responsible for managing US$50 billion of country risk exposure worldwide; Managing Director of Moody’s Emerging Markets Service (developing a joint venture with the IFC); Project Director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Roundtable on “Country Risk in the Post Asia Crisis: Identifying Risks, Strategies, and Policy Implications;” and President of the Association of Political Risk Analysts. Dr. Samuels has a Ph.D. in Management and Political Science from MIT, an M.B.A. from the Sloan School of Management, and an M.S. in Political Science from MIT.
Mr. Andrew Herscowitz, Coordinator of Power Africa and Trade Africa – USAID
Andrew M. Herscowitz is the coordinator for President Barack Obama’s Power Africa and Trade Africa initiatives. Prior to this appointment, he served as USAID’s mission director in Ecuador from 2011 to 2013, and as deputy mission director in Peru from 2009 to 2011. He has also served as USAID’s supervisory regional legal adviser for Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. From 2002 to 2007, he was regional legal adviser for the Caribbean, providing services to Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti and Jamaica. Following graduation from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Herscowitz spent a year as a Georgetown volunteer in Nicaragua. After earning a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, he worked for the law firms of Piper & Marbury (now DLA Piper) and Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in Washington, D.C.
Mr. John Moran, VP of Insurance – OPIC
John Moran is Vice President of Insurance at OPIC. Prior to assuming his current role at OPIC, John Moran served both as the agency’s Managing Director in charge of Development and Coordination, and Director of Investment Development for Central and Eastern Europe, and served as OPIC’s regional representative for Southeast Europe, based in Zagreb from 2000 to 2003. He also served in OPIC’s Insurance Department as a Director and as an Investment Manager. He received a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of Michigan and holds law degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the George Washington University.
