Ing Samuel Avaala Awonnea was born in 1964 and obtained BSc (Hons) Mechanical Engineering from the KNUST in 1990. He also holds a Diploma in Financial Management (ACCA, UK) and an Executive MBA.

Currently, he is the Estate Manager (or Plantation Manager) of Benso Oil Palm Plantation Ltd, a public listed company on the Ghana stock exchange. This Company was a subsidiary of Unilever Ghana Limited but is now a subsidiary of Wilmar Africa Limited

He has had a wide-scoped career starting from 1990 as a National Service Person at the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) of the KNUST after which he joined BOPP, then a subsidiary of Unilever, as a Management Trainee Engineer.

Positions as held in BOPP over the period include: Maintenance Engineer, Divisional Manager (Estate), Factory Manager, and now Estate (or Plantation) Manager. As the team leader, he has led his company to successfully achieve RSPO certification thus becoming the first to achieve this certification in Ghana and the second in Africa.

Other positions he has held in the Unilever Ghana Factory in Tema include: Refinery & Foods Production Manager, Planning Manager, Projects Engineer (West Africa Spreads Manufacturing Sites Rationalisation), and Manufacturing Manager in that order.

He is a past member of the Unilever Sustainable Agriculture Community of Practice and is currently the chairman of the Ghana National Interpretation Working Group (GNIWG) taskforce of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an RSPO Lead Auditor and currently, the incumbent president of the Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAG).

He is a certified Instructor of the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM)/Unilever for TOTAL PRODUCTIVE MANUFACTURING (TPM) - a continuous improvement and waste elimination philosophy in manufacturing industries.

Charles Mate-kole was born in 1972 and is a Ghanaian. Charles holds a BSc Agriculture from University of Ghana and an Executive MBA from GIMPA Business School.

Charles had his National Service at AMEX International as a Graduate Farm Manager Trainee after which he joined BOPP, then a Subsidiary of Unilever. Charles was seconded to TOPP another subsidiary of Unilever for 5 years as a Divisional Manager.

Positions held in BOPP included Assistant Divisional Manager and Divisional Manager.

Charles left BOPP to pursue his career with Norpalm Ghana Limited a leading Oil Palm Company in Ghana in 2008 as Plantation Manager. As Plantation Manager he successfully led the company to achieve RSPO Certification and led a team to successfully implement a Yield Intensification Program at Norpalm.

Charles is currently a member of the Ghana National Interpretation Working Group(GNIWG) Taskforce of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and currently the Vice President of the Oil Palm Development Association  of Ghana(OPDAG).

Mr. Maxwell Commey, is the Managing Director of Oro Oil Company Ltd, an oil Palm Processing and Marketing Company. He is a hardworking and conscientious individual who is capable of performing most roles within the professional environment.

He has over 10 years’ in-depth knowledge and experience about Ghana’s oil palm industry.

He is the Public Relations Officer of Oil Palm Development Association.

Horatio Pitcher works as the Managing Director of Ayiem Oil Mills Ltd while also serving as a Director of ADK Consortium Ltd, as associated company of Ayiem Oil Mills Ltd.

Mr Pitcher’s foray into the Oil Palm industry began in 2011 when he joined Ayiem Oil Mills Ltd as the Financial Controller of the Company. He served in this capacity until 2014 when he was promoted to be the Managing Director of the company, a position he has held to date.

Prior to joining Ayiem Oil Mills Ltd, he schooled and worked in the United Kingdom where he resided between 2000 and 2010. 

Mr Pitcher is a Chartered Accountant with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and also holds an MSc in Corporate Finance and Investment from the London Metropolitan University. He also holds a certificate in Project Management from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

To deepen his knowledge of the Oil Palm industry and to share experiences of fellow practitioners and actors of the industry, Mr Pitcher enrolled on the 34th Palm Oil Familiarisation Programme (POFP) of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2014; a week-long intensive workshop covering all the key issues along the value chain of the Oil Palm industry.

Mr Pitcher is married with three kids and presently serves as the Secretary to OPDAG.

Selorm Quame is Executive Secretary of Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana. Prior to joining OPDAG, He was a communication Consultant at Izar Consult Ltd and the Head,Business Development and Marking at Brandz Showcase a subsidiary of DDP Outdoor Ltd.

He was the Senior Consultant, Trade Promotion and Event at Infocus PR Ltd. He was also the Assistant Exhibition Director for the National Food & Agriculture Show (FAGRO) since 2009 to 2013.  He was also a member of the planning committee of FAGRO.

He is a Marketing communication specialist with bias to Advertising, Public Relations, Strategic Planning & Sales Promotion. He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Networking & Database Administration, an Executive Certificate in Project Management and also a member of the Charter Institute of Business Analyst Ghana.

To be well abreast with issues of the oil palm sector he participated in the 38^th Palm Oil Familiarization Programme in Malaysia.