Lawrence (Larry) Attipoe is a management and international development consultant with vast organizational, people, project management, consultancy and strategy development skills and experiences acquired during nearly three decades of working across the private, public and development sectors of various countries, economies and contexts.
Larry is currently the CEO and Lead Consultant at Indegene Associates, an impact-oriented management and international development consultancy in Ghana. He is also currently the National Coordinator for the International Trade Centre's Alliances for Action value chain actor capacity building programmes in Ghana as well as the Regional Coordinator of the coffee component of the EU and Organisation of Africa Caribbean and Pacific States sponsored Business Friendly Programme focused on creating a friendly atmosphere for value chain development in selected countries in Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific. He recently also managed the UK Trade Partnership Programme with Ghana to increase export of cocoa derivatives into the UK and EU markets, project coordinating the ITC-led Sankofa Project to develop a sustainable and crop-diversified cocoa value chain with farmers from the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union, the largest Fairtrade certified cooperative in the sustainability movement.
He was, before leading Indegene, the Technical Portfolio Manager of DFID's £ 15 Million West Africa Food Markets Programme to catalyze smallholder inclusion in selected agro value chains in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Larry was also the International Development Director of Fairtrade International, where he oversaw the design and implementation of strategies and programmes that optimized the benefit of Fairtrade to producers and traders in the Fairtrade system with particular focus on Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In that role Larry was a key interface between Fairtrade's market and producer bases and was also responsible for the development of Fairtrade's capacity building towards resilient, southern-based producer organisations.
Before joining Fairtrade Larry was, for almost five years, the Country Director of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in Zimbabwe, during which period he was also SNV's Sector Head for Agriculture in East and Southern Africa and coordinated SNV's Global Partnership with the Fairtrade International across 11 countries. In that role he led the transformation of SNV's Agriculture Programme from a producer-led to a market-led program with documented benefits to smallholder farmers and businesses in SNV's operational countries in East and Southern Africa. He was, during that period, the Director responsible for SNV's Impact Investment initiatives in the region and led the set-up and management of a $35 million impact investment fund to support and develop resilient smallholder farmers and their groups in Zimbabwe. He led the valuation and assessment of the myriad of businesses that applied to the fund including a thorough evaluation of relevant collateral assets.
Prior to being Country Director in Zimbabwe, Larry was the Portfolio Coordinator of SNV's work in Southern Ghana and had additional responsibility for agriculture, private sector development, environment and tourism. During this period, he developed useful competencies in agriculture, agribusiness and value chain financing, and private sector development among others. He also led the assessment of relevant business and asset values backing various financial proposals to funding institutions in support of value chain development programmes.
Larry's consulting experience at Spectrum International saw him manage many high-profile assignments including coordinating, for 5 years, the highly rated African Telecom Summit, which brought together African Minsters responsible for telecommunications, telecom regulators and operators together to discuss ways to improve telecommunications on the continent. He also compiled 4 editions of the Ghana Club 100, a club of Ghana's top 100 companies, and edited its accompanying Magazine.
Larry worked with Ghana's National Board for Small Scale Industries in the Central Region of Ghana on a project to develop the entrepreneurial capacities of small enterprise owners, including supporting their access to various credit instruments.
Larry has managed many projects in his professional career including projects in strategy development, business valuation, consultancy, Agriculture, Water Sanitation and Hygiene and Renewable Energy on behalf of organizations such as DANIDA, DFID, UNICEF, UNDP and USAID, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Volta River Authority and currently Fairtrade International. He also has vast experience managing impact investment, project financing, inclusive business and matching grant funds.
Larry holds first and second degrees in both Land Economy and Law from Ghana and UK. He also holds professional qualifications in management accounting (CIMA, UK) and business valuation from the National Association of Consultants, Valuers and Analysts (NACVA) and the Africa Association of Certified Valuators and Analysists (AACVA), an affiliate NACVA. He is also a Governor (Board Member) of the AACVA.
Larry serves on many Boards and Technical Committees including the Technical Advisory Committee of Fairtrade Africa, where he is helping to develop a new Governance Structure for the organisation. He is currently supporting the Network of Asian and Pacific Producers to restructure their Governance structure and processes.
Larry has had professional working experiences in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, India, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, UK and Germany.