Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie
Director, Up!-Africa Limited

Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie is Director of Up!-Africa Limited, a consultancy with the purpose of using jobs to drive Africa’s development through private sector development, talent mobility, diaspora entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, and public policy. Clients include governments, development finance institutions, and companies.

In 1994 he cofounded the London-based nonprofit, the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) and led the organization as Executive Director between 1998 and 2008, delivering major programs that mobilized and harnessed African diaspora resources for African development. He cofounded AFFORD Sierra Leone in 2008.

Chukwu-Emeka has served as a Senior Advisor to the governments of Mauritius (2012) and Mexico (2010) in their capacities as Chairs-in-Office of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). During GFMD 2012 he advised on the Chair’s flagship program combining public policy and public-private partnerships aimed at strengthening intra-African cooperation around talent mobility to enhance Africa's investment attractiveness, competitiveness, and productivity to accelerate jobs growth in Africa.

Between 2008 and 2010, Chukwu-Emeka coordinated a multimillion-pound program to help the government of Sierra Leone devise and implement a strategy to strengthen the country’s private sector. This program created the country’s first national business plan competition, an ongoing program within the country.

Prior to joining AFFORD, Chukwu-Emeka worked for a US-based strategy consulting firm where he focused on the commercial implications and opportunities at the science-technology-society interface, high-definition imaging systems, and scenario planning. He also taught media studies at a London university; trained and worked as a freelance print journalist; and started his career as an IT systems analyst developing software solutions for the financial services industry. He is of Sierra Leonean/Nigerian parentage.