A Principal of The Scowcroft Group, James R. Dunlap, provides strategic advice to Group clients in emerging markets; with particular emphasis in Africa. He brings strong sector expertise in the agricultural, capital markets, financial service, energy and mining sectors. Mr. Dunlap has accumulated a wealth of experience over the continent of Africa in industries ranging from oil & gas to agribusiness. He comes to the Group from the US Department of State where he was the Special Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. In this capacity he directed policies relating to the continent’s energy, trade, and finance issues and also provided guidance to the Millennium Challenge Account formation and G8 Africa process. He participated in establishing several successful public-private partnerships in the energy, finance and natural resource conservation sectors. He also worked closely with financial institutions, including OPIC, EXIM and the African Development Bank.
Prior to government service, Mr. Dunlap lived in Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. During this time he held executive management roles in a leading commodities company. While in Africa, he participated in several Tanzanian privatizations, was a board member of both a large distribution company in Namibia and a start-up food ingredient company in South Africa and worked for a non-governmental organization that provided strategic support to institutions in both the private and public sectors. Mr. Dunlap’s private sector experience is rounded out by his commodity trading experience in London and New York, where he covered Latin American and African Markets. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.