Senior Business Development Specialist & Country Representative, Southern Africa

Mohammed Essay is a Senior Business Development Specialist & Country representative for Southern Africa at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency based in Johannesburg, South Africa.  In this capacity, he is responsible for business development, project preparation and evaluation of USTDA activities in Southern Africa.

Prior to his appointment at USTDA, Mr. Essay was a Commercial Specialist and Consultant at the U.S. Commercial Service advising clients in the agribusiness, ICT, finance and environmental sectors for more than 10 years. He also served as the Regional Agribusiness Team Leader and country manager for Liberia, Guinea and The Gambia.

Mr. Essay holds a Master of Science degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Econometrics and International Trade and Development from the University of Johannesburg. Mr. Essay has vast government and private sector experience and is a trained economist by profession.