Meet our speakers

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  Mr. Fadl Al Tarzi

  Chief Executive Officer

  Fadl founded Nexford University in 2018, with a vision to enable greater social and economic mobility through high-quality, affordable education. His vision stemmed from having built four startups employing over 500 people across 10 emerging markets. Throughout his entrepreneurial journey he witnessed how lack of access to affordable, high-quality education impacts societies across the world.

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  Fadl became an entrepreneur at 18, and has accumulated 17 years’ experience founding digital marketing and SaaS startups, leading award winning digital engagement and digital transformation projects. Cumulatively, his startups have raised over $15 million in growth capital and employ more than 500 people globally. Under News Group International, he launched and grew SOCIALEYEZ from two to more than 120 people globally. He has worked with Fortune 500s, global consumer brands such as Starbucks, and governments in the US, Europe and MENA regions. Fadl has lived in Cairo, Paris, Washington DC, Dubai and London. He holds a BBA from the American University in Cairo and management degrees from George Washington and Middlesex Universities.

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  Dr. Cathy Plunkett

  Chief Academic Officer

  Dr. Cathy Plunkett serves as Nexford’s Chief Academic Officer. She has more than three decades of experience in education, starting as a teacher and principal in K-12 and moving to post-secondary education over 15 years ago.

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  Dr. Plunkett has had leadership positions in both the academic and business sides of an institution, serving as a Campus Director, Regional Director, Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Director of Regulatory Compliance. The knowledge and experience gained in all of these positions provide solid platform to provide support and guidance to all all departments of the university to ensure compliance with accreditation and state licensing standards. She is passionate about learning and providing students with a positive educational environment for them to meet their educational goals and ultimately succeed in their chosen career.

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  Dr. Joe Abah

  Country Director, DAI

  Dr Joe Abah is an experienced International Development professional with a demonstrated history of working in difficult institutional environments.

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  Skilled in Governance Reform, Institutional Change, Business Development, Organizational Performance, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Economic Development, and Political Economy. Strong professional with theoretical grounding as a postgraduate lecturer. Background in Law and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused on Governance from Maastricht University.

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  Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili

  CEO, Human Capital Africa

  Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili is a former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa, a former Nigerian Education Minister and co-founder of Transparency International.

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  A chartered accountant by profession, ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili first served the Nigerian government as Head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit, where she led reforms to public procurement. She was appointed Minister of Solid Minerals in 2005 and chaired the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. In 2006 she became Minister of Education, until taking up her World Bank post in 2007. Prior to working for the Government of Nigeria, Dr Ezekwesili was at the Center for International Development at Harvard University. Having co-founded the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International, she directed its work in Africa. She is also a Senior Economic Advisor to Open Society, which aims to build vibrant and tolerant societies with democratically accountable governments. Dr Ezekwesili holds a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Agriculture in Abeokuta in 2012.

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  Adetayo Bamiduro

  CEO and Cofounder of MAX

  Adetayo is a mobility-technology pioneer, social entrepreneur and co-founder at MAX, a platform which provides Africans access to income-generating vehicle subscriptions and zero emission vehicles. He seeks to build labor justice, provide sustainable living wages, and fight unemployment throughout Africa by enabling commercial drivers to finance their own motorcycles, tuk-tuks, cars and minibuses.

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  Adetayo is a TED Fellow, Endeavor Entrepreneur, Techstars Founder, MIT Alum, Harambe Entrepreneur, Harambe Gold Award Recipient, Alibaba eFounder Fellow, MIT Legatum Fellow, and Mastercard Foundation Fellow at MIT (2014). Before co-founding MAX, Adetayo built a career in software engineering, product management, and management consulting at UACN, PwC, Dalberg, Konga, and NLNG - a Shell subsidiary operating in Africa.

  Adetayo cofounded MAX to deliver financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth in Africa’s underfunded transportation sector. With better access to credit, mobility entrepreneurs can leverage improved earnings to attain wealth through increased productivity. In developing countries, lack of access to finance is pervasive due to highly informal and opaque markets. In an increasingly urbanized world, strong barriers to formalization and access to capital persist.

  Powered by innovation, technology, and eco-friendly infrastructure, MAX makes safer, cleaner vehicles affordable and accessible to independent commercial mobility entrepreneurs to enable them achieve economic independence and prosperity.

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  Abubakar Suleiman

  CEO, Sterling Bank Plc Nigeria

  Abubakar Suleiman is a Nigerian banking and economics professional and the current Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, a leading nationally licensed commercial bank in Nigeria.

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  Abu holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Abuja and M.Sc. in Major Programmes Management from the University of Oxford. Abu is an alumnus of Arthur Andersen (KPMG Nigeria), Wharton School and INSEAD Business School in addition to executive education from Harvard and Saïd Business Schools.