Experience

Food Enterprise Solutions

• United States
• International Trade and Development
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Technical Advisor

  • Apr 2021 - Present

  Food safety and certification. Training and technical assistance. Food lost reduction. Improvement of food cooling systems and facilitating the availability of agri-business affordable technologies. Promotion of a sustainable financing systems, investment and entrepreneurship in agribusiness. Value chain analysis. Improvement of business environment.Innovation. Public-private dialogue to improve food safety and food regulations. Promotion of gender / youth / disabled person inclusive approach. Communication to raise awareness on food safety issues. Show less



TRADE UP AFRICA

• Chief Executive Officer

  • Apr 2013 - Jun 2022

  Key Qualifications: Sustainable Development, Fisheries and Sustainable Agriculture (labeling and certification), Trade (development, investment and promotion), Technical Training (HACCP, FDA), Market Access, Value Chains Analysis, Social Change and Project Management. I have over 30 years of experience in the private sector of fisheries and processed agricultural products as well as in the supervision of donor programs in Senegal and West Africa. I run a development consulting and advisory firm that I founded. I work in partnership with companies along the seafood and agricultural value chains as well as governments and projects (Dutch, Japanese, American, European, etc.) to improve the commercial, technical and social performance of African companies and their export strategies and the conquest of new markets. I also advise African governments on their policies in the field of maritime economy and agricultural products as well as in financing. I collaborate with the CBI, of the Dutch government, in the preparation and implementation of their 4-year project (2019-2023) in Senegal called "Fish and Seafood Programme Senegal" in which I participated in the preliminary study of the seafood value chain "Senegal Value chain Analysis". I accompany companies to remove technical and commercial barriers to develop new markets, especially in the United States with the Federal Drug Administration, but also organizing trade shows and business development missions abroad. I provide training and technical assistance to food enterprises, and I support them in registering with the FDA to export to the United States as well as connecting them with customers and the diaspora in these countries. I accompany and advise investors in their investment projects and installation in Senegal as well as identifying and facilitating their meetings with the most appropriate contacts. I work closely with Business schools and think tanks to share my experience and to advise policy makers. Show less



Carana Corporation (USAID Market Linkages Initiative) / West Africa Trade Hub - WATH)

• Dakar Hub Director

  • Aug 2007 - Mar 2013

  As Director of the Dakar Office and food & seafood Specialist of the Feed The Future USAID West Africa Trade Hub (WATH), which was implemented by CARANA Corporation (Palladium now) and which covered 21 countries in West Africa, I provided training and technical assistance to a wide range of export-ready companies. Also, I was in charge of the management and supervision of the Dakar Office which covered the French and Portuguese speaking countries of West Africa, as well as Cameroon , Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and as such, I had to coordinate and impulse the work of the whole office team. I planned and implemented training and technical assistance activities for a wide range of food export-ready companies in 6 sectors (Processing food and seafood, cashew, shea butter, handicraft, apparel). I assisted export sub-regional promote agencies to better take advantage of export opportunities offered by the American Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) which allowed free tax for 7000 products. I regularly participated to and organized the public publication of the quarterly reports of the Observatory of Abnormal Practices (OPA) on corruption along the Dakar-Bamako corridor with the presence of authorities. I represented the WATH/ USAID with the governments of the countries in the region, including Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Conakry, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone, but also with the office of the American Embassy, USAID in Dakar, and the Peace Corps. I also accompanied the companies in setting up collaborative alliances within the value chains ( African Cashew Alliance, Global shea butter Alliance) and invited them to participate in various international trade shows and conference. I have thus greatly contributed to the achievement of the objectives assigned to the project, in terms of export trade value, job creation, women's involvement, etc. I could nominate Senegalese Women Entrepreneur to participate to the African Women Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP). Show less