André Akutsa is director of NORIA, which provides services to NGOs and SMEs in the field of innovation, local development and creativity, EU project writing, financial management, and international cooperation strategy. He began as cultural activist and an actor of civil society in Togo. He worked as consultant in cultural development and EU cultural programs at the Centre de Dévelopement pour les Musiques Actuelles (AMI) in Marseille, where he lead several cooperation projects with Central Africa, the Maghreb and the wider Middle East, as well as with several EU young cultural stakeholders. He was also the treasurer of the Togolese branch of CAO, a pan-African NGO involved in strengthening democracy in West African countries. In parallel, he also worked as a sociologist for the national Ministry of country planning and decentralization and co-founded the Festival de Théâtre de la Fraternité (FESTHEF) international theater festival. Mr. Akutsa holds an M.A. in European Studies and in Sociology. He was part of the British Council's Cultural Leadership International Program.