Ruby Amegah leads food product development and innovation at Starbucks, based in Seattle. In her 17.5 years at Starbucks, her R&D leadership has spanned across the Global Consumer Products Goods division — from its partnership with Pepsi, Suntory, Nestlé, Arla Foods and Dong Suh Foods to establishing the ready-to-drink coffee business in China with Master Kong.

She also led the R&D team on product development across Starbucks At-Home Coffee and Evolution Fresh Juices.

Prior to joining Starbucks, she held research and product development roles at global food and beverage companies including Nestlé, Pillsbury and ConAgra foods.

Dr Chibuzo Opara is the co-founder and CEO of DrugStoc, a Pharmatech platform that provides access to verified quality pharmaceutical and healthcare products for healthcare facilities and pharmacies. DrugStoc is focused on eliminating counterfeit and substandard drugs, expanding access to pharmaceutical products for healthcare providers, and improving transparency in pricing for the healthcare product supply chain at the last mile.

Chibuzo is a health economist with a clinical background and over 20 years of experience in the health sector. He has worked with the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, the European Development Fund, and the Sovereign Wealth Fund among other institutions in the fields of healthcare finance and supply chain management. His work experience spans across different aspects of the healthcare system and several countries including the Netherlands, Nigeria, Belgium, Switzerland, Cameroun, Liberia, Kenya, and Vietnam.

In the last few years, he has focused his energy, time, and passion on expanding access to good quality pharmaceutical and healthcare products leveraging the DrugStoc platform, which he cofounded, to leapfrog infrastructure challenges within the healthcare system. He holds degrees in medicine & surgery and economics, policy, and management from the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Mrs Patricia Poku Diaby, is a Ghanaian national with over 29 years’ experience as an entrepreneur, innovator and business leader

Mrs Poku Diaby, is founder and CEO of Plot Enterprise (Gh) Ltd, a modern state of the art cocoa processing Facility based in Takoradi. The Company was born out of her desire to add value to the raw material, thus making a significant contribution to national development.

Plot Enterprise gained international recognition within a relatively short period and is ranked amongst the highest in the application of Food Safety Management Systems.

Mrs Poku Diaby’s current business portfolio includes another cocoa grinding Facility in Côte d’Ivoire and two cocoa sourcing companies located in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire of which she is Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors.

Mrs Poku Diaby is to date, the only woman in Africa to establish a large sized cocoa processing Facility.