Keynote speakers
Seminar keynote speakers
Dr. Frederick Boamah, Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, University of Ghana
He is a Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana.
He holds an LLB Degree in Law, a Qualifying Certificate (QCL) to practice law in Ghana, and an MPhil and PhD in International Affairs.
Boamah has been practicing law in Ghana since 2003 starting his career at the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General's Department. Subsequently, he moved into private practice and joined one of the most prestigious law firms in Ghana-Akufo Addo, Prempeh and Company, focusing on corporate law and investments.
Between 2010–2013, Boamah pursued an MPhil on the topic "Extending Ghana's Continental Shelf and the Challenges of Diplomacy" where he explored the contestations between Ghana and her neighbours in extending their continental shelf for purposes of oil exploitation.
For his PhD studies, he looked at the topic “Towards a Comprehensive Maritime Regime in the Gulf of Guinea”
He teaches Public International Law and International Humanitarian Law at the University of Ghana. He is also an Adjunct Fellow of the Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR), University of Cape Coast. He was a member of the Security Council Working Group for Ghana 2022-2023.
His research interests cover maritime security and law of the sea, diplomacy, global governance and transnational threats, and outer space development.
Dr. Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk, Professor of International and Diplomacy Studies from Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, University of South Africa
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Anthoni van Nieuwkerk holds a doctorate in International Relations from Wits University (Johannesburg). Having been research-active from the early 1990s, he has pursued an academic career in postgraduate teaching, supervision, and policy analysis from 2000. In 2015, the South African government appointed him to the South African Council on International Relations and, in 2018, to the Presidential High-level Review Panel into Intelligence. Anthoni is a skilled institutional architect and experienced academic manager, facilitator and programme evaluator.
He publishes widely on African foreign and security policy, has participated in several scenario exercises, and has broad experience with advising policymakers and practitioners in the South African government, SADC and the African Peer Review Mechanism.
He coordinates a network of Southern African academics and practitioners, is a senior research associate at Good Governance Africa, a Smuts Memorial Trust trustee, and serves as editorial board member of several accredited journals.
Dr. Wanjiku Wacieni Kaniaru, Strathmore University, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Wanjiku Kaniaru received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English, cum laude, from the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, Kenya, BA (honours) and MA in International Studies from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa and a Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Prior to joining Strathmore University, Dr Kaniaru worked as both staff and research consultant for various UN agencies including, inter alia, UNEP, UN-Habitat and UNDP. She also previously taught at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, University of Nairobi. Dr Kaniaru is an author in several international journals and has presented in a number of local and international conferences and workshops. She is also an experienced Trainer/Facilitator. Her research interests centre on climate change diplomacy, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, international environmental law and integrated water resources management with a particular emphasis on transboundary waters.
Daniel Erik Schaer, Ambassador to Kenya and South Africa, Ambassador at large for Africa
Ambassador Daniel Schaer has over 20 years of diplomatic experience. He has a passion for Africa having lived in Rwanda for 4 years and having visited over 35 African countries. Ambassador Schaer has been accredited to Kenya and South Africa since 2023. As Ambassador for Africa, Daniel is looking to build stronger economic and diplomatic relations between the continent and Estonia. Daniel led the innovative Estonian pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai from 2020-2022. He has previously been Estonian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. As Ambassador at large - Special Diplomatic Representative of the President of Estonia in Africa, Daniel helped run Estonia’s successful UN Security Council Campaign. Daniel served as Charge d’Affaires of Estonia’s Special Mission to Afghanistan. Daniel is a graduate of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where he studied International Relations. He has a Master’s degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
https://icds.ee/en/autor/daniel-schaer/
The seminar will be moderated by
Matthew Crandall Crandall, Associate professor of International Relations at Tallinn University
At Tallinn University he defended his PhD (2016). He completed a master’s degree in EU-Russian Studies from the University of Tartu (2010) and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University (USA) in Political Science (2007). His major field of research is small state foreign and security policies.