Strengthening state capacity: connectivity to boost growth

As Regional Manager, John Makoha oversees the AVSI Foundation’s programme portfolio in all of Uganda’s 80 districts, covering all sectors, including education, health and nutrition, agriculture and food security, child protection, energy, environment, economic inclusion and livelihood, water, and sanitation and hygiene. Makoha previously also served the AVSI Foundation in Nairobi, as well as in Brussels as the foundation’s policy and advocacy liaison officer. Over the course of his various appointments, he has undertaken a number of short missions to other countries in Africa and eastern Europe where the AVSI Foundation is present.

Fadimatou Noutchemo Simo is the founder of YAAPA and of the aviation consultancy, the HEFA Group. She is the winner of the 2019 IATA High Flyer Award, the 2019 Commonwealth Point of Light and has been the African Civil Aviation Commission recognition certificate for promoting the industry to the next generation. Simo is active in diverse sectors in order to facilitate cooperation across borders. She is also ambassador of Cameroon for the Next Einstein Forum and for the World Union of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.

Tommaso Spanevello is in charge of innovation policy, digitalisation and environmental matters, coordinating the activities of UNIFE’s digitalisation platform, research and innovation committee and sustainable transport committees. On behalf of UNIFE, Spanevello is the Executive Secretary of Rail Forum Europe, the association of European Parliament’s members dedicated to rail transport. Prior to joining UNIFE, Spanevello led the policy department of the Association of the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) in Brussels.

Armin Wagner has more than 18 years of experience in designing, implementing and evaluating projects in the field of sustainable transport. Wagner’s areas of specialisation are urban mobility, financing of infrastructure and international fuel prices. He has an insight on recent developments in areas such as road safety, road management and energy-related issues, gaining first-hand experience by working in rapidly advancing countries such as Ukraine, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Syria. Since 2013, he is heading GIZ’s sector project ‘Sustainable Mobility’, providing advisory services both to the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as to decision-makers and planners worldwide.

Pronouns: she/her
Amanda Rohde-Stadler is responsible for big picture programming coherence across Friends of Europe’s areas of expertise, as well as monitoring & evaluation. Through her previous roles in the organisation, she oversaw programme delivery across all areas of expertise, and carried out the production and delivery of activities and publications across a wide range of themes, including: digital & data governance; peace, security & defence; EU-Asia relations; and migration & inclusion. She was also involved in the inception phase of the Africa-Europe Foundation, with a focus on policy and partnerships. Prior to joining Friends of Europe in 2016, she worked in the Research Unit of International Crisis Group – tracking conflicts across Africa and Asia – and as a teacher in South Korea. Amanda holds a Master of Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, where she focused her studies on conflict and crisis analysis, and a BA in linguistics from the University of Florida with a special focus on African languages and literature.