Christopher Adam studied economics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and at Nuffield College, Oxford. His research is primarily on the macroeconomics of low-income economies, particularly those of Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Fellow of the European Development Network, Visiting Professor at the University of Clemont-Ferrand, France and occasional Visiting Scholar at the IMF. He currently serves as Lead Academic for Tanzania for the International Growth Centre and is Vice Chair of the Board of the African Economic Research Consortium.

From 1998 - 2003, Paul Collier, CBE, was Director of the Development Research Group of the World Bank. He is the author of several books including 'The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It' which won the Lionel Gelber, the Arthur Ross and Corine prizes. His most recent book is 'The Plundered Planet: Why We Must and How We Can Manage The World's Natural Resources to Ensure Global Prosperity'. His research covers the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural-resources rich societies.

Njuguna S. Ndung'u is on leave of absence from the University Nairobi. Professor Ndung'u is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Nairobi and holds a PhD in economics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Prior to his appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, he was the Director of Training at the African Economic Research Consortium. He also worked as the Regional Programme Specialist for the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi, of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada; and at the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) as a Principal Analyst/Researcher and Head of the Macroeconomic and Economic Modelling Division. A long-time researcher and trainer with the AERC and MEFMI networks, he has published in international journals as well as chapters in various books on economic policy issues.