Café Africa relies on a pool of internationally recognized staff and consultants with expertise in the field of coffee production, processing, marketing, overall project management, and food security related issues who engage stakeholders across the sector.

Our team is dedicated to building relationships, sharing knowledge and facilitating systemic change in national African coffee sectors. We aim to employ people from the places we work, capitalizing on local knowledge while building resilience, knowledge and capacity into the local population.

Board Chair, Café Africa International:  John Schluter

After working with Cooper Brothers & Co and qualifying as a certified accountant, John spent nearly 40 years working in the coffee industry. The first 15 were in East Africa, including time in Uganda, Kenya, D R Congo, Tanzania and Ethiopia. From the early 1980’s he directed the family company’s main trading office, first in London and from 1990 in Switzerland, continuing to work mainly with African origin producers and exporters, and with associated offices in up to 6 producing countries.

After handing the family company to the next generation in 2003, he founded Café Africa in 2006, in order to address the potential for Africa’s coffee sector to provide a sustainable way of reducing poverty in many rural African economies and to meet growing world demand.

Executive Director, Café Africa International:  Jeremy Lefroy

Jeremy Lefroy is a chartered accountant who has worked for 35 years in the coffee and cocoa business.  He and his family lived in Tanzania for 11 years, where he helped set up the Tanzania Coffee Association.  He was a director of the Tanzania Coffee Board from 1997-99.

Jeremy’s work centres on: a) smallholder agriculture in Africa; b) supporting growth of jobs and livelihoods in the UK and East Africa; and c) working with partners to tackle infectious diseases.

From 2010-2019 he was a UK Member of Parliament (Stafford), where he was a member of the International Development, Joint Human Rights, and Exiting the EU Committees.

Kisumba joined as Executive Director of Café Africa R.D.C. in early 2017.  He had previously worked with his family coffee export business in Eastern Congo and Kinshasa, as well as directing an import business based in Kinshasa.  Kisumba was educated in Eastern Congo, then did his Masters Degree in Coffee Economics and Science at the University of Trieste (Italy). He has an extensive knowledge of the production and marketing of coffee, and of the different production regions across the Congo.

Kisumba has considerable experience in coffee procurement , processing, and exporting from the D.R. Congo. He has been involved in a variety of initiatives aiming to promote and revitalize the DR Congo Coffee Sector. His private sector experience and public policy acquaintance enabled him to be a catalyst in the formation of the national exporters’ association. Before this, he was a board member of AFCA and CARDC.

By joining Café Africa, Mr. Kamungele’s objective is to contribute to the development of the sector in order to witness the positive transformational impact of coffee to stakeholders along the value chain.

Executive Director, Café Africa Tanzania: Dr Aikande C Kwayu

Aikande Clement Kwayu is a social scientist with experience in development research and consultancy. She consults on development program design and intervention. She also does political economy analysis, policy analysis and project evaluation for evidence based advocacy.

Aikande serves as Director and program consultant at Café Africa Tanzania. She has previously worked as a teaching fellow at the University of Nottingham (UK) as well as being a research affiliate at the University of Oxford (UK).

Executive Secretary, Café Africa Tanzania:  Mr Samora Mnyaonga

Samora Mnyaonga joined Café Africa in June 2020. He had previously worked as Country Program Coordinator with Hivos Foundation East Africa. He is a dedicated and passionate Social and Community Development Specialist driving impactful change and fostering sustainable development within diverse communities.  He possesses a deep understanding of community dynamics, cultural sensitivities, and the importance of inclusivity.  He has worked extensively across Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

Executive Director, Café Africa Uganda: Reint Bakema

Reint Bakema joined Café Africa in October 2017 as Executive Director. He has over 30 years’ professional experience in development economics and agriculture, among others. He holds a Masters’ Degree in Tropical crop science and development economics from Wageningen University. As part time Executive Director, Reint is charged with the managerial oversight and quality assurance of the Café Africa Uganda team as well as supporting the outreach of the organisation towards the coffee sector in Uganda, both public sector institutions and private sector stakeholders.

Operations Manager, Café Africa Uganda: Samson Emong

Samson Emong joined Café Africa in 2015. He is a motivated coffee enthusiast with over fourteen years’ experience in the coffee value chain mainly in Uganda but also in selected countries in Africa.  He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies and a Masters’ degree in Business Administration.

Samson is also the Country Coordinator of the Global Coffee Platform, overseeing the implementation of their programs in country.

Click here to learn more about our team’s vision!