Henry Bonsu
Senior leaders convene on the hardest questions in the global economy, climate policy, African finance, development, and they need the conversation to land. A weak chair lets the panel drift into platitudes. A strong one presses the right question at the right moment, and the room leaves with a position, not just a transcript.
Henry Bonsu is a British broadcaster and international conference moderator who chairs high-stakes discussions on global economic development, African finance, and climate policy for UN agencies, governments, and multinationals.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Henry Bonsu
- Thirty years of live broadcast experience, from BBC Radio 4’s Today to Times Radio, produce a chair who can steer a twelve-person panel in real time without losing either the agenda or the audience.
- He is the annual host of the African Banker Awards since 2008 and a repeat moderator for the UNDP, WHO Africa Region, UNHCR, and the African Union. When an institution has a reputational stake in the room, it books him back.
- He has introduced UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Kim on the same stage at the Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa, and chaired sessions at COP21 in Paris. He handles heads-of-state protocol without friction.
- Oxford-trained in German and French, fluent across African political economy, Westminster politics, and US affairs, which matters when a panel crosses jurisdictions and language registers in the same hour.
- Corporate conveners including Maersk, KPMG, and Cartier International use him for sustainability, diversity, and development briefs where a sharp, well-briefed chair is more valuable than a keynote.
Biography highlights
- Magdalen College, Oxford graduate in German and French (1986 to 1990).
- Former producer on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and Black Britain on BBC Two.
- Co-founder and presenter at Colourful Radio, London, from 2006.
- Current Times Radio presenter, Thursday and Friday 10pm to 1am slots since 2022.
- Host of the African Banker Awards every year since 2008.
- Regular moderator for UNDP, WHO Africa Region, UNHCR, and the African Union; chaired sessions at COP21 Paris, the UN General Assembly in New York, and the Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa.
Biography
Some conference chairs open a panel, read the bios, and hand the microphone around. Others run the room. Henry Bonsu is in the second group, and the reason is thirty years of live broadcasting behind the craft.
He came to moderation through journalism. After reading Modern Languages at Magdalen College, Oxford, he produced BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, fronted Black Britain on BBC Two, and presented the Drivetime show on BBC London 94.9. In 2006 he co-founded Colourful Radio, one of the first London stations built for a Black audience. He is now a regular evening presenter on Times Radio, where he covers UK and US politics, education, and mental health.
That broadcast discipline translates directly into how he chairs. He has hosted the African Banker Awards every year since 2008, moderated at COP21 in Paris, and chaired eight sessions at the Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa, where he introduced UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Kim. The UNDP, WHO Africa Region, UNHCR, and the African Union use him repeatedly. Corporate conveners including Maersk, KPMG, AfrAsia Bank, and Cartier International bring him in for sustainability, diversity, and development briefs.
What the buyer gets is a chair fluent in the policy terrain, calm under heads-of-state protocol, and willing to ask the question a nervous room is avoiding. On a stage where the brief is serious and the speakers are senior, that is what holds the discussion together.
Key speaking topics
- Moderation and chairing for international summits
- African finance and economic development
- Climate policy and sustainable development goals
- UK and US political affairs
- Race, culture, and public debate
- Media training and executive broadcast coaching
Ideal for
- Heads of communications and event directors at UN agencies, multilateral institutions, and development banks convening ministerial or heads-of-state panels.
- Corporate sustainability and ESG leads at multinationals hosting external stakeholder summits on Africa, climate, or development finance.
- Awards programme organisers in the African business, finance, and diaspora space.
- Executive teams preparing for high-stakes broadcast interviews or crisis media scenarios.
Audience outcomes
- Panels that reach a defined position within the allocated time, rather than drifting into generalities.
- Senior speakers drawn out with sharper follow-up questions than a generalist host would ask.
- A chair who can hold protocol for heads of state and principals without dropping the editorial pace.
- For media training clients, executives who sound clearer and steadier under hostile questioning.