Ambassador Joseph Huggins, a retired Career Diplomat, is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Huggins Group (THG). The firm, which was founded in 2006, provides strategic advice to U.S. companies interested in trade and investment opportunities in Africa and the Middle East. He is also the Founding partner in GB Energie LLC – an energy consulting company.
Huggins is an accomplished strategic planner and negotiator. He knows how to bring disparate forces together to successfully close a transaction. Prior to his current position, Ambassador Huggins had a long and distinguished Diplomatic career serving in senior positions in the former Soviet Union, Kenya, Guinea, Togo, and Jordan.
In his last overseas assignment from January 2003 to July 2005, he served as Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana and the Secretary of State’s Special Representative to the Southern Africa Development Community, a political and economic organization comprised of 14 countries in southern Africa.
During his tour in Botswana, Ambassador Huggins was responsible for strengthening U.S.-Botswana relations and promoting trade and investment opportunities for U.S. firms. Following his assignment to Botswana, Ambassador Huggins worked with The Corporate Council on Africa as Senior Advisor to the Financing and Capital Flows Committee in developing strategies to increase investment flows to Africa.