RCP: Africa

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed was Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from November 2015 to December 2016, where she steered the country’s efforts on climate action, protecting the natural environment and conserving resources for sustainable development. 

Prior to this, she served as Special Adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Post-2015 Development Planning, where she was instrumental in bringing about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Before joining the UN, Ms. Mohammed worked for three successive administrations in Nigeria, serving as Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals, providing advice on issues including poverty, public sector reform and sustainable development, and coordinating programmes worth $1 billion annually for MDG-related interventions. 

She is also an Adjunct Professor in Development Practice at Columbia University, and served on numerous international advisory boards and panels, including the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, the Global Development Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Women’s Millennium Initiative, Girl Effect, 2016 African Union Reform and the ActionAid International Right to Education Project.

Ms. Mohammed began her 35-year career in the private sector with architects and engineers responsible for the project management of health, education and public sector buildings.

Antonio M.A. Pedro is a mineral exploration geologist with more than 40 years of broad experience of and exposure to development issues and management at national, sub-regional, and continental levels. He joined the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in 2001, where he was (2016-2021) the Director of ECA’s Sub-regional Office for Central Africa (SRO-CA), based in Yaounde, Cameroon, until his appointment as Deputy Executive Secretary (Programme Support) of ECA in October 2021. For 7 years (2009-2016), he occupied the position of Director of the ECA Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa (SRO-EA), in Kigali, Rwanda. Prior to joining ECA, he was the Director General of the Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC), in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Managing Director of several companies in Mozambique and Deputy National Director of the country’s Geological Survey. Since 1 September 2022, he is the Acting Executive Secretary of ECA.

Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa officially began her role as UNDP’s Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa on August 15th, 2018. In this role she leads UNDP’s work supporting 46 countries in Africa to achieve Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to taking up this post, Ms. Eziakonwa-Onochie was UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia (2015-2018), UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Uganda (2012-2015), and before that held the same position in Lesotho (2008-2012). She has also worked as Chief of the Africa Section for Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) where she managed over 15 country operations in Africa. Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Eziakonwa held a series of senior positions with civil society organisations in Africa. She holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, with a focus on Economic and Political Development, as well as a Bachelor’s of Education degree, English and Literary studies from the University of Benin, Nigeria.