H.E. Mr Eloi Laourou is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations Based in Geneva and Vienna.

A diplomat by career, he has more than 30 years of professional experience in the diplomatic function.

Previously, he was Coordinator of the Group of the LDCs in the WTO, and he is Co-Chairman of the Working Group on Trade and Development of the Francophonie in Geneva.

H.E. Mr Laourou holds a Doctorate in International Law and International Relations.

Mr Sébastien Nzimana is Director-General at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Focal Point for COMESA and EIF Focal Point in Burundi.

He holds a professional diploma in International Trade form the University of Adelaide in Australia and an M.A. in project economics and management.

As EIF Board Member, he represents the Francophone EIF Countries.

Since September 2014, Mr Hendrik Schmitz Guinote has been serving as Counsellor for Development Policy at the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva. In this role, he oversees Germany's engagement with Geneva‑based global partnerships and international organizations active in the area of development cooperation, with a special focus on Aid for Trade and health. He also serves as the focal point for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the German Mission.

From 2010 to 2013, Mr Schmitz Guinote served as First Secretary at the German Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. There, he led Germany's engagement in the preparation of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul (Turkey) and the negotiations on the Istanbul Declaration and Programme of Action. Mr. Schmitz Guinote also represented Germany on the Boards of UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women.

Mr Schmitz Guinote joined the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2006. Previous assignments at the BMZ include the role of German Development Commissioner in Mazar-e-Sharif (Afghanistan) and desk officer in the Aid for Trade and in the World Bank Division. In 2006, Mr Schmitz Guinote represented Germany in the EU Council Working Group on ACP countries.  

Before joining the BMZ, Mr Schmitz Guinote worked at the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on EU matters, with UNDP in Timor-Leste and with GTZ in the Caucasus region. Mr Schmitz Guinote holds an M.A. in political science, law and economics from Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Germany).

Mr Taufiqur Rahman is the Head of the LDC Unit of the Development Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a member of the EIF Board. He is currently responsible for overseeing the systemic issues of interest of LDCs in the WTO, as well as supporting the senior management on negotiations on LDC issues.  Prior to his appointment in the WTO in 2004, he served in the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in Geneva from 2001.

Mr Rahman began his career with the Foreign Service of the Government of Bangladesh in 1999 and looked after multilateral economic affairs. He was a research assistant in the World Bank Country Office (Dhaka, Bangladesh) in 1998 before joining the Government. He also had a short stint in the private sector, working as Management Trainee in American Life Insurance Company.

Mr Rahman holds a Master of Economics from the Delhi School of Economics (1996) and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Delhi University (1994). He has published numerous articles on trade and development issues in international journals, including the Oxford Handbook.