Introducing ITFA’s New Chief of Staff – Dr. Tedd George

ITFA is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Tedd George as Chief of Staff of the association. In this newly created role, Tedd will work closely with the ITFA Board, the Secretariat and the association’s many working groups, regional committees and stakeholders, to help coordinate ITFA’s strategy and deliver its ambitious programme of events. Tedd is well known to ITFA, having worked as the Secretariat of the African Regional Committee (ARC) since March 2023.
 
Tedd brings a wealth of experience to ITFA, having worked for over 20 years as an economist and advisor on African markets, soft commodities and trade finance. Following a PhD in political science at the University of Bristol in 2001, Tedd worked for six years as a Senior Economist in the Africa and Commodities Departments of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), focusing on Francophone and Lusophone markets in Africa and editing reports on 25 commodities. This was followed by eight years at the pan-African bank, Ecobank, where he was Head of Group Research, managing a team of nine analysts, based in the UK, Nigeria & Kenya, producing research & business advisory on the FICC and trade space in Sub-Saharan Africa. He was also Country Head of Ecobank’s UK Representative Office in London.
 
Since 2019, Tedd has worked as Chief Narrative Officer of Kleos Advisory Ltd, providing thought leadership, strategic advisory and professional training on African markets, fintech and sustainable finance. He advises banks, fintechs & agribusinesses across Sub-Saharan Africa, and trains financial professionals on trade finance, sustainability and fintech. Tedd is a regular speaker at conferences, notably with ITFA’s media partner, GTR, and is a creator of webinars and podcasts and regular commentator in the media (see www.kleosadvisory.uk for details). Over the years Tedd has developed a number of specialities, including African markets, trade and trade finance, agribusiness, commodity value chains, disruptive technology (fintech & AI), and ESG. He is fluent in French, Spanish and Portuguese and regularly works, presents and trains in these languages.

In his new role, Tedd will build on his work as Secretariat of the African Regional Committee (ARC) where over the past years he has helped build its outreach, with workshops in Cape Town and Nairobi, ARC panels at conferences, and a series of educational webinars and podcasts. Tedd’s work will focus on supporting the ITFA Board in the development and implementation of strategy, speaking & producing thought leadership material on their behalf, planning & executing in-person and virtual events, and accelerating efforts to drive new member acquisition and engagement.
 
Speaking of his plans to take up the new role, Tedd said:
 
“I’m excited by what I can do in this role for ITFA. Over the past three years I’ve got to know a lot about the association’s members and their ambitions, and the growth in membership and events has been extraordinary. I plan to work closely with the Board, the Secretariat, the working groups, all the members and stakeholders, drawing together the many strands of ITFA’s work to ensure we are aligned and impactful in what we do. ITFA’s focus is on delivering practical, useful solutions to the market practitioners who need it. I very much want to help drive that agenda.”

Speaking of the appointment, ITFA Chair, Sean Edwards, said:
 
“I’m delighted to have Tedd bring his diverse experience to our growing association, This marks another step in the professionalisation of ITFA which is covering ever more geographies and business lines and tackling new, complex and sometimes controversial subjects, His appointment  will allow us to meet our members’ expectations more effectively and I look forward to the contribution he will make to ITFA and the industry.”