Team

Professional Capacity and Areas of Specialty: Michael Sudarkasa is the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Business Group. A commercial attorney (intellectual property, broadcast media, and cross border transactions) and economic development practitioner, his areas of specialty include African private sector development, international trade and investment promotion and facilitation, corporate finance and private equity investment.

Project Management Coverage: Worldwide.

Experience and Sectoral Focus: With over 25 years of professional experience, Michael has expertise in the fields of corporate law (intellectual property, commercial, international transactions, banking and finance), corporate finance, private equity, development consulting, and project management. Having lived, worked, and travelled extensively across Africa (33 countries), Michael has worked on behalf of multilateral, bilateral, government, NGO/ CSO and corporate clients throughout his career. He has served as a consultant for a variety of clients and over the course of his career he has consistently worked in facilitating public private partnerships and has also served as a facilitator in a number of international, cross cultural, and trans-Atlantic business development roles. Strategy development, project and programme design and implementation, and cross cultural business development are also key areas in which Michael has successfully helped numerous clients. He has also served in a variety of roles as a conference, workshop, meeting and negotiation facilitator on behalf of clients in all of the abovementioned areas. Sectorally, Michael's work focuses on: agriculture, tourism, energy, broadcast media, manufacturing and infrastructure. He also has served as an adjunct professor on Africa business and investment at the McDonough Graduate School of Management at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Publications and Media Exposure: Selected works that Michael has authored, include: UNDP AFIM Agricultural Investor Opportunity Briefs for Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia; the UNDP AFIM Field Guide on Inclusive Business Finance; the African Business Handbook; the South African Exporter's Handbook, the Malawian Exporter's Handbook, and Investing in Africa: An Insider's Guide to the Ultimate Emerging Market (Wiley & Sons). Additionally, he has authored numerous articles on doing business in Africa and has been a contributor to numerous media outlets making more than 75 appearances on US and African television and radio.

Boards/ Associations: Michael is currently the International Trade and Infrastructure Chair of the Africa CSO Committee of the Africa-EU Partnership Forum and is a past Chair of the African Law Committee of the Section of International Law of the American Bar Association, and served on the Boards of the Calvert New Africa Fund.

Nationality and Languages: Of American and Nigerian heritage, Michael was born and raised in the United States and has been resident in South Africa since 1999. He is a native English speaker and is fluent in French.

Education and Professional Qualifications: Michael holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, a Bachelors of Arts degree in History (with High Honors) from the University of Michigan. He completed post-graduate studies in international law at the University of San Diego, Institute on International and Comparative Law, Paris, France; international trade training at the American Graduate school of International Management; and intermediate French studies at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes Francaise in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Michael has been admitted to the Bar of the State of Florida, the District of Columbia and United States court of International Trade.