Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO

Rosa Whitaker, CEO/President of TWG, is a visionary, entrepreneur, former US government policy leader, career diplomat and trade negotiator with a progressive record of achievement driving investments into Africa.  Notably, she served as America’s first-ever Assistant US Trade Representative in the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Named as one of Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 Global Thinkers, Rosa is broadly recognized as a leading expert on African trade and business engagement. 

While serving as a Senior Trade Advisor to US Congressman Charlie Rangel (Former Chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee), Rosa was one of the key architects that crafted the historic African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was enacted in 2000. AGOA, America’s first comprehensive trade law towards Africa, now spanning the administrations of four US Presidents,  remains the cornerstone of US economic policy towards Africa.  It has delivered, inter-alia, billions of dollars in duty free products from Africa into the US market annually while also generating jobs and investments across the Continent.

After decades of supporting US and global investors to succeed in Africa, Rosa led TWG into its first direct investment in Africa.  Supporting the region’s creative economy, in 2017, TWG acquired shares and management control of Dominion TV – a Pan-African 24/7 television, entertainment and multimedia company that broadcast in 48 African countries on DStv, Africa’s largest satellite platform.    

Rosa is also a philanthropist. For more than two decades, she served on the International Executive Board of Directors of Mercy Ships later served as the President of this prominent global charity from 2018 to 2021. Mercy Ships operates the world’s largest hospital ship.  Since its founding in 1978, Mercy Ships has been providing surgeries and medical treatments (~$2B in value), free of charge, to the most economically vulnerable people in Africa.  

Rosa serves on the following Boards: U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- the world’s largest business organization; Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), an impact investment fund of the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), a leading pan-African multilateral trade finance institution headquartered in Cairo. She also serves on the Business Advisory Board of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The recipient of many awards and honors, Rosa is regularly featured in US and global media outlets for commentary and insights on Africa’s business landscape.  She holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from The American University in Washington, DC and has completed specialized studies at universities in London and Italy, as well as at the US Foreign Service Institute.