As President of the Duty Free World Council, Sarah Branquinho is an active advocate for the duty-free and travel retail industry and the key role it plays in enhancing transport infrastructure and the passenger experience.
Initially appointed the first Commercial Director of the industry’s trade association Tax Free World Association, the start of the duty-and tax-free industry’s campaign to fight the abolition of intra-EU duty- and tax-free sales saw her take up key advocacy roles. She served as Secretary General of the European Travel Research Foundation from 1995, managing and co-ordinating the ambitious research projects which underpinned the lobby and as secretary general of Focus 1999, coordinating the ‘Save Duty Free’ consumer mobilisation programme throughout the European Union.
Sarah subsequently joined BAA and its retail company World Duty Free, extending her remit for business relationships and external affairs to sister company Aldeasa following Autogrill’s acquisition of WDF. With the acquisition of World Duty Free Group by Dufry, she was appointed the group’s Director of External Affairs. From 2021 to 2023 Sarah served as Global Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Dufry, further driving the company’s commitment to ensuring its team is as diverse as its customer base and to building an inclusive and culturally sensitive workplace.
Today, Sarah continues to serve as External Affairs Advisor to Avolta (formerly Dufry).
Alongside her commercial roles, she has served as Chair of the UK Travel Retail Forum (2009 – 2018), President of the European Travel Retail Confederation (2012 – 2018), and still serves as the World Business Partner observer on the ACI Europe Board and Chair of Women in Travel Retail +, which offers networking opportunities and career support to women in the travel retail industry.
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Roger Jackson is the Managing Director of Organico Solutions, one of the largest travel retail distributors in the Middle East and Africa. Roger has an extensive experience across travel retail in brand building and sales transformation. He is also an active Board Member at MEADFA and the association’s Advocacy Working Group.
Previously, Roger has held senior leadership roles from the top 10 FTSE companies such as Diageo and Coca Cola.
Dr Munif Mohammed is the CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail Middle East. Munif joined Lagardère Travel Retail in 2011, as a Financial Consultant in the Pacific region, where he later became Chief Business Officer. Munif moved to Saudi Arabia in 2017 and has been instrumental in developing the group’s activities in the country, in structuring various enterprises in the region and in establishing the regional support center in Dubai in 2019.
Munif holds a BA in Economics from Auckland University and an MBA in Corporate Strategy from UNSW Business School. He also holds a Doctorate in Business Administration & Sustainability from the Business School of Lausanne.
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Chichi Maponya is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairperson of Africa Travel Retail, a dynamic company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company specializes in travel retail, including distribution and retail operations, airport customer experience advisory, “sense of place” advisory and implementation, and non-aeronautical commercial services.
Her extensive experience and accomplishments as a business leader earned her the prestigious South African Businesswoman of the Year Award in 2008.
She currently serves as the Board Chairperson of the Maponya Group, a diversified family-owned enterprise founded in 1952 by her late parents, Dr. Richard and Marina Maponya. In addition to this role, she is a Trustee of the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation, established by the former President of South Africa. She also sits on the Board of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) and is a Trustee of the Dr. Richard Maponya Institute for Skills and Entrepreneurship. Furthermore, she serves on the boards of Boxer, one of South Africa’s largest discount grocery retailers, and Africa Realty Trust (ART), a citrus export company.
Chichi’s leadership also extends internationally through her active participation in the Middle East and Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA). She serves on MEADFA’s Advocacy Committee and as Vice President of the association, further strengthening her global influence.5
She is a member of the ACI Africa Economics Committee and ACI Africa World Business Partners, and contributes to the Airports Council International (ACI) World Economics Standing Committee, where she serves on the Non-Aeronautical Revenues and Activities (ANARA) subcommittee.
Chichi previously served as Deputy Chairperson of the South African Council on International Relations (SACOIR), which advises the Minister of International Relations. She is also a former Chairperson of Brand South Africa, the agency responsible for promoting the country as an international investment destination. Additionally, she has served as a board member of South African Tourism and 4 Africa Exchange (4AX), an alternative stock exchange.
Ali Tounsi is the Secretary General of Airport Council International (ACI) for the African continent, which includes 76 members in 54 countries and manages 265 airports.
Mr Tounsi is an engineer with a master’s degree in avionics and airport management. He has over 32 years of experience in airport operations, resource management, and infrastructure development. He also oversees information technology projects in facilitation, passenger experience, quality of service, and private-public partnership.
Mr. Tounsi is an academic lecturer at aviation schools and supervises several research projects.
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Abdeslam Agzoul is the CEO of the Middle East and Africa for Avolta AG. Abdeslam is also the newly elected President of the Middle East Africa Duty Free Association. With more than 20 years of experience in travel, food, beverage, and retail, he began his career in Grupo Areas before joining Dufry in 2006 where he served as Head of Controlling and Deputy COO for Africa and Deputy CFO EMEA. Previously, Abdeslam held executive positions with Servair and Gategroup.
Abdeslam has a bachelor’s degree in finance and a postgraduate degree in international commerce. He also earned a PMD from IESE Business School.
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With a natural curiosity and passion for compelling content, Michele is Conference Director responsible for developing and producing cutting-edge content for TFWA.
Previously, Michele spent several years with the think tanks East West Institute and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in charge of organizing high-level diplomatic events around the world. From Washington DC to Moscow, Brussels to Beijing, Michele completed impossible missions of getting heads of foreign ministries and multinational corporations talking about how to make the world a safer place. She has contributed to the New York Times and also worked as a foreign affairs columnist for the International Tribune, an Asian-American newspaper published in the United States.
Michele is a proud New Yorker who is passionate about rock climbing, running marathons, and traveling (to do both). She is aiming to visit every country in the world and is halfway there.
Martina Bednarikova is IATA’s Economist for Policy Analysis where she is responsible for producing key advocacy and appraisals tools as well as analyzing the impact of regulations and market shocks on air transport.
Prior to joining IATA in 2017, her experience extends from the public sector, a research institute, an NGO, and consulting where she held a number of roles, including analyzing countries’ and regional bodies’ branding and advising clients on how to attract new business opportunities.
Martina holds a Master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of Economics in Bratislava and is currently doing a part-time Master’s degree in Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh.
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