Eleni Giokos is the CNN Business Africa Correspondent, based in the network's Johannesburg bureau. Born in Greece and raised in South Africa, Giokos has a decade's experience working across TV, radio, print and online media. As a broadcaster she has interviewed a range of heads of state and business leaders, including South African President Jacob Zuma, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Virgin founder Richard Branson, and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, amongst others. She has reported from key global events such as the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations General Assembly. She has chaired debates at the World Economic Forum, International Monetary Fund, African Finance Corporation and the Africa CEO Forum. Giokos has an Honors Degree in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Witwatersrand and is an International Monetary Fund Fellow—selected to join the programme in 2014.

Carla Grasso, a dual national of Brazil and Italy, became Deputy Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Fund in 2015. Ms. Grasso oversees all the Fund’s administrative functions, coordinates the budget, human resources, technology, general services, and internal audit. She also oversees the IMF’s capacity-building and training work. Before coming to the Fund, Ms. Grasso worked at Vale S.A., one of the world’s largest mining companies, serving as Vice President for Human Resources and Corporate Services. Before joining Vale S.A., Ms. Grasso served as Secretary of the Brazilian Supplementary Social Security Office, and also held several positions as Advisor and Coordinator in the Ministries of Social Security, Finance, and Planning, as well as in the Office of the President of Brazil. She was also Professor of International Economics and Monetary Economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Brasília, of Economy Mathematics at the Centro Universitário do Distrito Federal, and of Business Education at Insper (Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa) in Sao Paulo. Ms. Grasso holds a Masters degree in Economic Policy from Universidade de Brasília.

Diwa C. Guinigundo has been Deputy Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas since 2005. He was previously Assistant Governor in charge of monetary policy and international operations. During 2001–2003, Mr. Guinigundo served as Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He was also Head of Research at The SEACEN (Southeast Asian Central Banks) Centre (1992–1994).

Mr. Guinigundo chaired and co-chaired various committees and groups, including the SEACEN Experts Group on Capital Flows, the ASEAN Senior Level Committee on Financial Integration, and the EMEAP’s (Executive Meeting of East Asia and the Pacific) Monetary and Financial Stability Committee of central bank deputies. He graduated, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines and holds a M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Steven Radelet is the Director of the Global Human Development Program at Georgetown University. His work focuses on economic growth, foreign aid, debt, and financial crises, primarily in Africa and Asia. Professor Radelet joined the Georgetown faculty in 2012 after serving as Chief Economist of USAID and Senior Adviser for Development for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (1999-2002). He spent twelve years with the Harvard Institute for International Development, while teaching in both the Harvard economics department and Kennedy School of Government. He served as advisor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and was also a resident advisor to the Ministry of Finance in Indonesia and the Ministry of Finance and Trade in The Gambia. Dr. Radelet is the author or coauthor of several books and dozens of academic articles, including The Great Surge: The Ascent of the Developing World(Simon & Schuster, 2015). He holds Ph.D. and master's degrees in public policy from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Central Michigan University.

Alain Hervé Rasolofondraibe has been appointed as Governor of the Madagascar Central Bank (Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara, BFM) in October 2014. Previously, he was Presidential Advisor on economic policy and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the local branch of Bank of Africa. He also was the Chief Executive Officer of an important company in the agri-food sector. Asthe head of the BFM, Rasolofondraibe launched an impressive reform agenda, starting with the adoption of the Central Bank Act in 2016, theimprovement of internal audit of BFM, the strengthening of the monetary policy framework, and the improvement of the financial sector regulation and supervision. Further progress is expected this year with a new banking law, and a law on financial stability.

Cecilia Scharp is currently Assistant Director General at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) heading the Department for International Organisations and Policy Support since mid-August 2017. She left UNICEF New York in 2017 after five years at the WASH section where she was leading UNICEFs work on water and environment issues. Cecilia led the global consultation to develop SDG 6 on water and sanitation for UN-Water and was engaged throughout the process. Before leaving for UNICEF she held various positions at Sida and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs most recent as Assistant Director at Sida’s department for countries where Sweden is engaged in long term collaboration (PROGSAM) and as Head for Sweden’s development collaboration in Liberia. Cecilia has a MSc in civil engineering and holds a PhD in Land and Water Management from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.