Richard Dowden - Director, Royal African Society (London).

Richard began working in journalism, joining The Times foreign desk in 1980. He reported on the Middle East and African, and was appointed Africa Editor at The Independent when it was founded in 1986. He has written extensively about Africa, and has made three full length documentaries on Africa for Channel Four and the BBC, and several shorter films.

He became director of the Royal Africa Society in November 2002.

He continues to write on African issues and appear frequently as a commentator on African affairs on the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Sky News and other broadcast media.

His book: Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles was published by Portobello Books in September 2008 and in the US in March 2009.