Sam is a trained economist specialising in understanding the complexities of the South African economy. Prior to joining the EICN, Sam spent time in both the public and private sector, first as an economist within the Economic Policy division of the National Treasury, and then as a consulting economist at Econometrix, and Deloitte. During his time in private sector, Sam specialised in analysing events and government policies to dilute these into constructing business strategies. Sam also spent time in Switzerland as an economist for airline industry body IATA. Sam holds a masters degree in economics from Stellenbosch University, and has studied further at the Insitute for Social Studies in The Hague, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Levy Economics Insitute of Bard College in New York State.

Robert is the Director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network based in Dubai and covering the MENA region. Robert works closely with network members to help inform their business strategies through political, economic and operational insight and to connect them with their senior leadership peers.
Robert is a business journalist, editor and publisher with nearly 25 years of experience covering a wide variety of sectors, including hospitality, retail, construction, energy and transport, and a particular interest in human capital management.
He is an accomplished event chairman, moderator and speaker.
Robert completed an MBA at the University of Leicester School of Business in 2012 and holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Nottingham.

Benedict is Principal Economist for the Middle East and Africa team and also the Country Risk manager for Sub-Saharan Africa. Benedict specialises in coverage for Nigeria and Kenya, but has expertise in the major economies across both regions. Topics of particular interest include debt sustainability, politics versus viability when it comes to fixed currency regimes and the potential for Africa as an investment destination.

Benedict holds a master's degree in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London, where he specialised in the resource curse, a Grad. Dip in economics and a BA in history, specialising in Africa and the Middle East.

With over 20 years’ experience in the healthcare sector, John Jutzen’s career dates back to 1998, when he founded Aurora – a financial services intermediary aimed at providing suitable insurance and asset-based solutions to healthcare professionals in private practice. He subsequently sold his equity share in 2005. During this period, and driven by his passion for healthcare, John built a white labelled medical malpractice insurance business that focused on health professional associations under the Aurora umbrella.

Driven by his passion for sport, John was appointed Chief Medical Officer for the South African Men’s Hockey team between 1999 and 2006. During this same period, in 2001, he identified a gap in the market for clinical solutions targeted at corporates and insurers, which resulted in the establishment of his “Pink Wellness” business, focused on servicing this sector of the market.

In 2006, John was seconded as a contractor to work at Discovery Health (Pty) Ltd. He occupied various consulting roles during this time, building products for the administrator as well as Vitality until 2010. In 2010, Pink Wellness merged with Kaelo to expand its service offerings, and John was appointed as Chief Strategic Officer for the Kaelo group.

In September 2019, John was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of Kaelo, a position he still holds today.

Olivier George Serrão is currently the Executive responsible for Strategy at Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), where he develops strategies and works with senior business leaders, Organised Business structures, government, and a range of stakeholders including think tanks, NGOs and international partners in advancing a conducive environment for South Africa’s socio-economic development. Olivier has worked in Organised Business structures for several years, previously occupying the role of Executive Director: Economic Policy at Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), South Africa’s apex representative of Organised Business at domestic and international level.


Passionate about South Africa’s potential on the back of social partnering, Olivier has also worked in National Government (the former Economic Development Department [EDD], where he served as Director and Acting Chief Director of Social Partnering and National Social Dialogue), participating in a number of high-level initiatives including social dialogue process that culminated in the introduction of a National Minimum Wage in South Africa.

Olivier also has prior experience in managing social dialogue and negotiation processes having worked at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) early in his career, as well as programme and project management experience at the Johannesburg office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.


Although fundamentally a generalist, Olivier has published articles on specific topics including public finance and fiscal policy (in the media), South African politics and foreign policy (in accredited academic journals) and represented the Organised Business position on a wide range of issues such as trade, fiscal and competition policy, and company law, in various print and radio interviews over the years.


From an academic perspective, Olivier holds a B.A., B.A. (Hons.) and M.A. from Rhodes University, where he was a recipient of several scholarships and prizes for academic achievement, including most proudly the inaugural Terence Beard Award for top student in politics, as well as a DAAD Scholarship and a number of scholarships from Rhodes University itself.


Olivier’s greatest source of pride and joy is his family: he is married with two young sons. Although his main focus and investment of time invariably resides in his family and BLSA responsibilities, he maintains an interest in politics, economics, philosophy, language and literature. His hobbies include chess, a sport in which he previously competed at provincial level, history (particularly ancient history), hiking, martial arts, and reading.

Dr Kuku Appiah is the Director, Medical & Scientific Affairs- Africa for Abbott Rapid Diagnostics responsible for Africa, since November 2016. Abbott is the global leader in the Point of Care Rapid Diagnostics market. She is responsible for providing scientific and medical expertise both within the organisation and externally. She works within a network of key opinion leaders, Ministries of Health and large implementing organisations across the African continent.
Prior to joining Abbott, Dr Appiah was the Medical Director for Pfizer in Southern Africa between 2011 and 2016. She has extensive expertise in the management of large HIV programmes having worked as Country Director for EGPAF (2009-2011), Medical Director for The Aurum Institute (2007-2009) and Executive Director for Right to Care (2003-2006).
Dr Appiah graduated with MB ChB in 1990 from the University of Zimbabwe. She is a college-certified Specialist Physician having received her FCP(SA) in 1997. She worked as a Consultant Physician within the South African public health system and ran a private Specialist practice between 1998 and 2002.