Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais is an entrepreneur and innovation specialist with a deep interest in African socio-economic development. In 2003, Mr. Bastos de Morais founded Quantum Global Group, an international group of companies focused on African development, particularly in the fields of corporate finance advisory, asset and private wealth management, real estate and investment consulting.

 

As Group Chairman and CEO, he provides instrumental guidance on financial markets, especially across Africa and other emerging markets. In 2014, he established Quantum Global Research Lab, which aims to provide bottom-up econometric models for inclusive development in Africa.

 

In 2008, Mr. Bastos de Morais founded Banco Kwanza Invest, Angola's first investment bank. As a Member of the Board, he advises on the bank's strategic direction.

 

At the core of his innovation-related work is the African Innovation Foundation (AIF), an organization he founded in 2009 to drive African-led development through fostering innovation. The AIF implements the annual Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA), which was launched in 2011 in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). In 2012, the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) passed a resolution to promote an innovation-based society in Africa.

 

In 2017, Mr. Bastos de Morais was elected as International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is the hub of Harvard Kennedy School's research, teaching, and training in international security and diplomacy, environmental and resource issues, and science and technology policy. In 2015, the Belfer Center was ranked the world's #1 University Affiliated Think Tank by University of Pennsylvania's Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program. Mr. Bastos de Morais is on the advisory board of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) and the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the international Board of Foundation for Globethics.net, a leading global network that advocates ethical corporate and social practices.

 

His interest in ethics derives from a belief that strong ethical foundations are integral to the success of businesses as well as the overall wellbeing of society and future generations.

 

In 2014 he co-edited "Innovation Ethics: African and Global Perspectives" - a book that has been described as outlining the relationships between innovation, ethics and tradition, and essential for governance. The book was published by Globethics.net in collaboration with the African Innovation Foundation. The motivation behind his book was to address innovation ethics and the ethical innovator from multidisciplinary and international perspectives with a focus on Africa - an endeavour that espoused the perspectives and expertise of 14 contributors writing from four different continents. 

 

Beyond his work, Mr. Bastos de Morais also has wide-ranging interests that span literature, music, art, science and community service. He is one of the co-Founders of the Club of Patrons of the Primavera Locarnese Festival and in 2013, introduced the Youtopia Festival with the aim of inspiring young people to reconnect with literature. He is co-Founder of Rundum, an events company with entertainment-led brands such as Miro China and China Drifting, aimed at introducing China's progressive artistes to international audiences.

 

In October 2011, he founded the Kitangana Tennis Project for orphans in Angola. He supports epigenetics field research through sponsorship of a research project at the Center of Neuroscience ZNZ, a joint competence center of the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH. He is a Board Member of the World.Minds Foundation and a member of Club zum Rennweg und roundtable in Zurich.

 

He began his career as a management consultant and holds a Master of Arts in Management from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.