Meet Our Leadership Team
Bullhorn Formation’s leadership team brings together deep expertise in supply chain execution, public policy, and international engagement to deliver disciplined, transparent, and inclusive cross-border trade. The company is led by Sam Salifou, Owner and CEO, whose background in large-scale program management and public policy informs Bullhorn Formation’s end-to-end supply-chain design, governance, and export readiness. Ulrike Salifou, Chief Women Empowerment Officer, contributes extensive experience in corporate operations, business process engineering, and federal program management, embedding women’s economic empowerment and equity directly into the company’s operational and cooperative frameworks. Soumanou Salifou, Export Coordinator, brings decades of experience in international journalism and high-level government and stakeholder engagement across West Africa and the United States, ensuring strong regional relationships and effective execution of export operations. Together, the leadership team reflects Bullhorn Formation’s commitment to operational rigor, credible governance, and sustainable, inclusive growth.
Meet Our Leaders
Samir “Sam” Salifou
Owner & Chief Executive Officer
Samir “Sam” Salifou is the Owner and CEO of Bullhorn Formation Trading Company, where he leads the development of transparent, resilient agricultural supply chains connecting West African producers to U.S. and global markets.
Sam brings over 20 years of experience across supply chain operations, large-scale program management, and public policy, spanning federal advisory work, complex logistics environments, and trade-adjacent initiatives. His career has focused on building accountable systems that operate across regulatory, operational, and stakeholder boundaries—expertise he now applies to agricultural sourcing and export.
He has led multi-stakeholder programs in highly regulated environments, managing cross-functional teams and overseeing risk, compliance, and performance at scale. In parallel, his work has been shaped by U.S. trade policy and industrial strategy, informing a disciplined approach to traceability, quality standards, customs readiness, and long-term market access.
Sam holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Virginia, grounding his operational leadership in rigorous policy analysis and institutional governance.
At Bullhorn Formation, Sam oversees end-to-end supply chain design, from cooperative engagement and production planning to quality assurance, packaging, and logistics. His focus is on scaling responsibly—aligning commercial performance with transparency, producer equity, and buyer trust.
Grounded in deep ties to West Africa, Sam founded Bullhorn Formation on the belief that well-designed trade systems can deliver both commercial excellence and durable local value.
Ulrike Salifou
Chief Women Empowerment Officer
The Chief Women Empowerment Officer ensures that women producers and processors are economically empowered, fairly compensated, and represented across Bullhorn Formation’s supply chains—transforming inclusive practices into measurable commercial strength.
Ulrike Salifou serves as Chief Women Empowerment Officer at Bullhorn Formation Trading Company, where she leads the integration of women’s economic empowerment into the company’s operational and supply-chain frameworks.
Ulrike is a seasoned federal consultant with extensive experience overseeing complex operations for multiple federal partners across the healthcare sector. Her professional background spans business process engineering, program management, and policy-driven operations, with a career focused on designing systems that improve outcomes while operating within highly regulated environments.
She began her career in education, where she developed a long-standing commitment to community empowerment and institutional capacity-building. That foundation led her to specialize in public policy, and later to focus deeply on healthcare policy, where she has worked at the intersection of program design, equity, and operational execution.
Ulrike holds two master’s degrees from the University of Virginia—a Master of Public Policy Analysis and a Master of Public Health—providing her with a rigorous analytical and public-health lens that informs her work across sectors.
At Bullhorn Formation, Ulrike applies her expertise to ensure that women’s participation in production, processing, and cooperative leadership is intentional, equitable, and operationally sound. She works closely with leadership and on-the-ground partners to align empowerment initiatives with quality standards, compliance expectations, and long-term supply-chain sustainability.
Ulrike’s leadership reflects Bullhorn Formation’s belief that strong supply chains are built by investing in the people who sustain them, and that empowering women is both a moral imperative and a strategic advantage.
Soumanou Salifou
Export Coordinator
Soumanou Salifou serves as Export Coordinator at Bullhorn Formation Trading Company, where he oversees export operations and manages key institutional and commercial relationships across West Africa.
Soumanou brings a distinguished background in international journalism, media leadership, and cross-government engagement. He spent over a decade as a journalist with the Voice of America, where his work placed him at the center of political, economic, and social developments across the African continent and within U.S.–Africa relations.
He later created, and served as CEO and Publisher of The African Magazine, building and maintaining high-level relationships with government officials, business leaders, and civil-society stakeholders across West Africa and the United States. Through this role, he developed deep expertise in navigating political contexts, institutional dynamics, and cross-border coordination—skills that are critical to export operations and market access.
Soumanou holds a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), as well as multiple master’s degrees from leading West African universities, reflecting a deep and regionally grounded academic foundation in international affairs and governance.
At Bullhorn Formation, Soumanou is responsible for on-the-ground coordination of export activities, stakeholder engagement, and relationship management with producers, logistics partners, and public-sector counterparts. His leadership ensures that export processes are executed smoothly, professionally, and in alignment with both local realities and international expectations.
Soumanou’s combination of regional insight, diplomatic acumen, and operational oversight strengthens Bullhorn Formation’s ability to operate effectively across borders while maintaining trusted partnerships throughout West Africa.
Bullhorn Formation Trading Company 