Board Members
Fairtrade Africa is guided by a single continental Board. The seven-member Board brings together four producer representatives and three independent members.
Producer Board Members:
Mr. Benjamin-Francklin Kouame – Chairperson
West Africa Network
Mr. Benjamin-Francklin Kouame is a cocoa producer from the SCOOPS ECAM Cooperative, where he has served as President of the Management Board since 2014.
He is a Councilor at Yamoussoukro Town Hall, Côte d’Ivoire, and a Member of the Board of Directors of Fairtrade International.
In 2022, Benjamin-Francklin was elected to represent all producers at COP27 in Egypt. He also served as Chair of Fairtrade Africa until 2023.
Over the years, he has held several leadership positions, including Chair of the Agricultural Cooperative Union in the Lacs Region, Member of the Reform Committee of the Cocoa-Coffee Sector in Côte d’Ivoire, Board Member of the Interprofessional Fund for Agricultural Research and Consulting, and Board Member of the Federation of Ivorian Coffee and Cocoa Producers’ Organizations.
He holds expertise in Business Management, Computing, and Governance.
Mr. Kouame is from Côte d’Ivoire.
Ms. Hend Kassab – Vice Chairperson
Middle East and North Africa Network
Ms. Hend Kassab is the Quality & Corporate Affairs Director at Daltex Corporation, bringing over thirty years of diverse experience in quality systems management, operational management, social responsibility, women’s empowerment, administration, purchasing, and staff management.
Throughout her career, she has held senior roles including Operations Director, Quality Manager, Office Manager and Administrator, Purchasing and Administration Manager, and PR and Marketing Consultant.
She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Howard University (Washington, D.C.), a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the American University in Cairo, and a high school diploma from the English School, Heliopolis.
In addition, Hend has completed extensive professional training in governance, agribusiness management, food safety management, auditing, supply chain management, and ISO standards.
She currently serves as Chair of Fairtrade International and Vice Chair of Fairtrade Africa.
Ms. Kassab is from Egypt.
Mr. Moses Mwenje Njeru – Board member
Moses Mwenje Njeru is a leader and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience spanning engineering, humanitarian logistics, academia, and agribusiness governance.
He is Founding Chairman of the Kenya Tea Network and Chairman of Mungania Tea Factory, a Fairtrade-certified Small Producer Organization.
Moses began his career as a Production Engineer at SAFAL Group, later supporting humanitarian operations with Kello Brown & Root in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, before transitioning into agricultural leadership.
He holds a Bachelor's in Business Management, a Higher National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, and is completing a Master's in Supply Chain Management.
Mr. Jeremiah Mweene – Board member
Southern Africa Network
Mr. Jeremiah Mweene is a passionate sugarcane producer with extensive experience in addressing smallholder producer needs and advancing Fairtrade Africa’s operations. He currently serves as Chairperson of the Kaleya smallholder Farmers Association Fairtrade Premium Committee, Board Member of the Kaleya Smallholder Farmers Association, Trustee of the Kaleya Smallholders Farmers Trust, and is a Member of the Zambia Institute of Marketing as well as the Business Banking Credit Subcommittee.
Alongside his work in agriculture, Jeremiah is a professional banker with more than 16 years of experience in the financial services sector, spanning portfolios in financial analytics, budgeting, and business banking relationship management. He currently works as Regional Business Relationship Manager at ABSA Bank Zambia Plc.
He holds an MBA from the Copperbelt University and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Zambia. He brings proven expertise in leadership, corporate governance, financial and credit analysis, risk management, sales and marketing, communications, and negotiations.
Mr. Mweene is from Zambia.
Independent Board Directors:
Mr. Kojo Darpaah - Finance and Auditing
Mr. Kojo Darpaah is the Director of Markets at Fidelity Bank, where he leads the Financial and Capital Markets teams with a mission to unlock global financial markets for Africa’s collective wealth creation. With over a decade of leadership in treasury, trading, and market development, he combines global best practices with local insight to deliver sustainable, risk-adjusted returns.
Previously, Kojo served as Treasurer at Universal Merchant Bank and Head of Trading at FNB Ghana, where he successfully established the Global Markets and Treasury departments for the FirstRand Group’s entry into Ghana. Earlier in his career, he was Assistant Vice President, Fixed Income at Barclays Ghana, where he earned the Best Trader Award for Africa Markets and contributed at the national level as an inaugural member of Ghana’s National Technical Committee tasked with developing operational rules for the Ghana Fixed Income Market.
He began his career as a Management Trainee at CAL Bank, rotating through the Risk, Credit, and Treasury departments, before joining Corporate Finance, where he was lead analyst on a USD 51 million syndicated facility to construct an agro-processing factory.
Kojo is a CFA Charterholder and serves as Chair of the Advocacy Committee of the CFA Society Ghana, driving thought leadership in Ghana’s investment landscape. He holds an MSc in Financial Engineering from Claremont Graduate University, California, and a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Mr. Darpaah is from Ghana.
