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Mr Richard Hess, the Group Chairman and Managing Director of Imani Development (International) Ltd, is the founder of the group. He started Imani Development in Zimbabwe in 1982 after ten years experience of working in trade and enterprise development in various African countries. He was born and educated in the UK and has subsequently lived and worked in Kenya, Uganda, Lesotho, Mauritius and Zimbabwe before moving to South Africa in 2003. He is now based in Pretoria and is responsible for co-ordinating the international activities of the group and for multi-country projects. He is a recognised expert on regional economic integration issues. Apart from regional integration, his other specialisations include trade policy, trade development and small and medium enterprise development. He has extensive experience in consulting and project management, and has delivered papers at many conferences, both national and international.

Mr Keith Atkinson is a Director of Imani Development International and Managing Director of the Australian company. He joined the group in 1986 in Zimbabwe after having started and developed the Trade Promotion Department for the Confederation of Zimbabwean Industries. Keith was responsible for the Imani Zimbabwe office before moving to Australia in 2003 to open the new group office in Perth to serve the Asia-Pacific region. He has extensive experience in trade and enterprise development as well as in all aspects of Project Cycle Management, including project design, monitoring and evaluation.

Professor Gavin Maasdorp is a Director of the South African company, responsible for the Durban office. He is well known nationally, regionally and internationally for his work on economic integration in Africa. His main fields are trade, transport, economic development, and appraisal of infrastructure and sectoral projects. After six years in the shipping and oil industries, he joined the Economic Research Unit of the University of Natal in Durban in 1964, and retired as the Director of the ERU in 1997, at which time he joined the Imani group on a full time basis. He is Emeritus Professor at the University of Natal and has been Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Pretoria. He has delivered papers at major conferences in South Africa and neighbouring countries as well as in the Europe, Australia , India and the USA , and has authored or co-authored five books as well as contributing to various books and journals.

Mr John McGrath is the Managing Director of the Malawi office, based in Blantyre, having joined the group in 1996. He had been running his own business development and finance consultancy companies previously in both Malawi and Zambia, having moved to Malawi in 1988. He has been involved in a wide range of private sector and public sector projects in Malawi. He has been actively involved in development of trade policy and private sector issues, being an advisor to the Trade Policy National Working Group and being part of the joint secretariat for the National Action Group - a Private Sector / Donor / Government partnership dialogue group at the most senior level, dealing with all the development issues that impact Private Sector in Malawi.

Mr Veepin Bhowon is Director responsible for the Mauritius office. He joined the Imani group in 1994 having worked previously in another economic consultancy firm in Mauritius. He has specialised in export market development, economic studies and regional integration. He has extensive experience of working in the Indian Ocean Commission countries, as well as having undertaken assignments in several other countries in Africa and Asia. He has in-depth knowledge of the Mauritian economy and regional integration issues and has good working relations with both the private and public sectors in Mauritius.

Mr Murdoch Gatward is Managing Director of Imani Enterprise Ltd, based in Scotland, having joined the Imani Group in 2003. Following an Electrical and Agricultural Engineering training he worked in industry until moving to Southern Sudan to manage a development project. This led to over 27 years of development experience, including living and working in Tanzania, South Africa and Malawi as well as Sudan, plus undertaking short assignments in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and North Yemen. For the last 14 years before joining Imani, Murdoch worked as Programme Manager Africa for Traidcraft Exchange where he gained extensive experience of trade facilitation work, specifically related to Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development as part of the poverty eradication process. Murdoch also has considerable experience in, and is qualified to undertake social audit work, both with the private and community sectors. He is a member of the Social Audit Network and a full member of AccountAbility. This social audit work linked to trade facilitation with Traidcraft and the fair trade movement gives a unique blend of understanding of trade as part of the development process as well as Corporate Social Responsibility experience with the private sector.

Mr Sanjay Kumar is the Imani Director based in our office in Kampala, Uganda with Richard Hess as non-executive Director.  Imani Development (East Africa) Limited was established in January 2006 in partnership with Imani Development International.   Imani’s East African office is located in Kampala, Uganda, with the ability to provide services in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Sudan.  Imani Development (EA) is a new business with a rapidly expanding portfolio of clients. Sanjay Kumar has extensive experience in Private Sector Development, particularly in Micro and Small Enterprise development. His work has included a focus on product development and market research (particularly related to agricultural commodities), producer support programmes, quality and food safety management systems and supply chain development. Imani Development (EA) can therefore offer a range of services related to the promotion of a dynamic private sector and local economy. Through its association with the Imani Group, Imani Development (EA) is also able to provide a wider range of services, including those related to Trade and Economic Policy and Regional Integration in all countries within the region. Imani Development (EA) provides a range of services for Cafédirect, including supporting the implementation of its Producer Partnership Programme for four smallholder owned tea factories in Uganda. Other important clients include a variety of donor and development programmes ( ASPS – DANIDA, EPOPA – SIDA) who have contracted Imani Development (EA) to provide technical assistance for supply chain development. The office is also working with the Overseas Development Institute on a research project related to small producers’ access to global markets. The office is currently developing new business with the tea industry in Tanzania.  Imani Development (EA) is developing a network of local associates to support its rapidly expanding client base. Kampala-based associates are already providing technical support to supply chain development projects in Uganda and Tanzania and associate links are already in place in Kenya.

Consultants and Associates
We additionally have a core team of full time consultants and employ part time and freelance associate consultants where necessary. Our specialists include economists, accountants, financial experts, agriculturists, transport specialists and industrialists. We also have co-operation and joint venture relations with other consulting firms, locally, regionally and internationally, throughout Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, as well as in selected countries in Europe, North America, West Africa , India , South East Asia, the Caribbean and Pacific regions. Through such associations we are able to put together a team of consultancy experts to handle multi-disciplinary projects for a wide variety of clients. We establish long term relationships with our associates, thus ensuring high quality standards and good working relationships.