Qutaiba Al Manaseer is the Corporate Affairs Director for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region at AstraZeneca. With more than 17 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, Qutaiba draws on his extensive knowledge and expertise to lead the Corporate Affairs agenda across the five core units which make up the MEA Area – African, Egypt, Gulf Corporation Council, Near East & Maghreb, and Turkey.

 

In this role, Qutaiba leads the strategic partnership agenda with government entities and the broader public sector, with a focus on building AstraZeneca’s reputation as a healthcare partner of choice – which includes leading communications and media engagement across MEA. Additionally, Qutaiba is responsible for driving critical conversations when it comes to policy shaping in key therapy areas: oncology; cardiovascular, renal & metabolic; respiratory and vaccine & immune therapies.

 

Qutaiba joined AstraZeneca in 2020 to lead the partnership agenda with governments across MEA, and specifically to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine and long-acting antibody. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Qutaiba worked at another multinational pharmaceutical company for 15 years, in a range of functions spanning market access and commercial roles in Jordan, UAE and KSA. Qutaiba has also had the opportunity to work with Amref Health Africa in a volunteering assignment in Kenya, which has helped shape his patient-centric and innovative mindset.

 

A proactive leader, team builder and tactical planner, Qutaiba is also a strong advocate of gender parity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

 

In addition to his AstraZeneca role, Qutaiba is on the Emirates Health Economics Society board as the Media and Public Relations Chairman. Qutaiba holds a Master’s in Health Economics from the Barcelona School of Management, an MBDA from the Swiss Business School, Switzerland and a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Jordan.

Dr Anthony Hama has a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana and an Executive MBA from the Paris Graduate School of Management. He has worked in the Pharma/medical device (IVD and Non-IVD industry) for the past 20 years in Ghana and abroad with managerial positions in Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Trials, Business Development, Project Management, and Marketing. His current role, since January 2022, is the Project Manager at the Navrongo Health Research Centre in Ghana where he is managing the Ghana component of the African Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Surveillance (ACVaSS) in African Advanced Market Commitment -92 eligible countries, a project being sponsored by GAVI and in collaboration with the Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) and African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (Alive).

Dr. Hama has also served as consultant for several world-class clients in the areas of pre- and post-market regulatory life cycle management in Ghana. He is an expert in pharmacovigilance and product safety.

Farai joined the MCAZ in 2011 and has been involved in regulatory affairs for over 10 years.

He has been involved with the ZAZIBONA collaboration since its inception in 2013.

Farai has coordinated the ZAZIBONA dossier assessment activities since 2015.

With over 40 years of experience gained across all business areas and numerous industries, Ms.  Angela has uniquely placed herself to be able to operate strategically and operationally within the Clinical Research Arena.

She has qualifications in Hotel Management, honours in Industrial Psychology and is a Chartered Accountant. Angela has, over the years undergone intensive leadership training at Eli Lilly SA (Pty) Ltd, Emotional Intelligence courses, Employment equity, Labour, Tax and Corporate Governance updates.

Lifelong learning is one of her key beliefs and training and development is encouraged at all levels of the organization. Ms. Angela has represented Eli Lilly at IMSA and ACRO at PIASA, both key Industry organizations.

She was active on a task team at Endeavor SA, identifying and refining the process for talent management in organizations and for entrepreneurs. Ms. Angela started her career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1989 and has gained experience across all aspects of the business from HR, Finance, Risk Management, Operations and Corporate Governance. She has also been responsible for company startups as well as the establishment of legal entities in Kenya

A visionary entrepreneur and an industry captain, Dr. Amit N. Thakker, has been a ground-breaking pioneer in the integration of private sector within the healthcare system in Africa. Dr Thakker actively supports governments, corporates, health organizations and development partners to foster effective public private partnership initiatives towards improved health outcomes.

 

He is the executive chairman of Africa Health Business, a health consultancy, advisory and investment firm that aims to improve access to quality affordable healthcare in Africa. He is also the president of Africa Healthcare Federation, chairperson of the Kenya Health Professionals Oversight Authority, and the former chairman of Kenya Healthcare Federation.

 

He has served as a director at LumiraDx, Seven Seas Technology, AMREF Flying Doctors. Action Aid and Ghanima Limited. As an active member of several institutions including international business group YPO Gold (Nairobi Chapter), Dr. Thakker also chairs the University of Nairobi Alumni Medical Chapter and serves as an advisor to Asia Africa Investing & Consulting Ltd, Coalition for Blood in Africa (CoBA) and Ministry of Health, Kenya.

 

Dr. Thakker founded Avenue Healthcare, a Kenyan based integrated private health service provider in 1995 which lead him to receive the “Best Male Entrepreneur of the Year” award by Rotary International in 1999. He also won the “Best CEO” award by Titans Global in the Business and Professional services category in 2017 and proudly received the Chairman’s Award for Kenya Medical Association in 2004.