Africa Transforming: Africa Summit

Samir Abdelkrim is not only an entrepreneur but also a consultant, an author, a speaker and a tech reporter. In addition to leading StartupBRICS, a media and consultancy company that specialises in providing insights about innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa and emerging economies, Abdelkrim also reports on African tech entrepreneurs and start-ups for Le Monde Afrique and Les Échos. His book, ‘Startup Lions’, chronicles his experience travelling the African continent in search of the most interesting tech start-ups. Abdelkrim’s aim is to boost media exposure for these start-ups and attract potential investors.

Stepping into the shoes of Wecyclers’ founder and first CEO – a position previously held by his very own sister – was never going to be easy, but Olawale Adebiyi’s decade of experience working in the steel industry has served him well in helping Wecyclers grow larger and move towards achieving their ambitious aims – making Nigeria the world leader in recycling. The company is creating a low-cost recycling infrastructure in Nigeria, allowing people in low income communities to create value from their waste, as well as improving recycling efficiency for companies which, for a variety of reasons, are more likely to contribute more to landfill.

Sandra Ajaja is the founder of FemPower Africa, a social enterprise that seeks to teach women in Nigeria and Africa about technology, leadership and entrepreneurship. Since its inception in 2017, FemPower Africa has grown to over 2,000 members, supported 52 women-owned business (achieving funding for 10), and has trained over 2,000 individuals in 3 countries. Prior to FemPower, Ajaja worked as an educational technology consultant. She is passionate about the African Tech ecosystem, driving innovation through thought leadership, pushing a collaborative economy and building strong communities.

Diane Binder is a business executive and social entrepreneur, with extensive experience in developing public-private alliances which promote urban resilience, climate adaptation and mitigation. She is a Founding Partner and CEO of Regenopolis, an initiative for regenerative cities in Africa. In addition to serving as a member of the French Presidential Council for Africa, Diane is also the President and Co-Founder of Action Emploi Réfugiés. She previously worked at SUEZ, a leader in water supply and waste management services.

When Kamissa Camara joined the Malian Government, she became both the youngest person and the first woman to hold the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Prior to this position, she served as Diplomatic Advisor to President Keïta. Camara is the founder of the Sahel Strategy Forum, an initiative that brings together different voices to debate the complexities of governance in the Sahel region. She also worked as the Vice-Director for Central and West Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy and has been a researcher at the Centre for African Studies of Harvard University.

Boutheina Guermazi leads a global team working on building digital economies in developing countries. The team covers a wide range of digital developments, including broadband networks, mobile networks, cloud infrastructure, internet of things and big data analytics. Prior to this role, she was Practice Manager of Digital Development for Africa and the Middle East. Guermazi also leads the Digital Development Partnership, a fund focusing on global digital development, and she is a member of the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force jointly launched by the European Commission and the African Union.

Elisabeth Guigou is president of the Anna Lindh Foundation, a network of civil society organisations dedicated to promoting intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean region. Before this appointment, Guigou served as French Minister of European Affairs, member of the European Parliament, and member of the French National Assembly, among numerous other posts. In addition to this, Guigou was the first female to be appointed Minister of Justice in France, where she distinguished herself for her fight for a more independent justice system.

With over 30 years of experience in the European Commission, Stefano Manservisi has covered a wide range of topics. Prior to his current position, he served as European Commission Director-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) and Head of Cabinet for European Commission Vice-President Mogherini, former Commission President Prodi and former Commissioner Monti. He also acted as Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs (HOME) and was Head of the Delegation of the EU to Turkey. In the past, Manservisi has been a visiting professor at the College of Europe, University of Roma III and the University of Bologna.

Building on his extensive experience in private equity, investment banking and software engineering, Yonas Maru founded BCS Group in 2009. BCS Group is a wholesale telecom infrastructure provider in East Africa that aims to provide users with a first-rate internet experience at a low price. Prior to founding BCS Group, Maru was responsible for the business development of securitisation transactions at Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management. He was also an Associate at McKinsey & Co.

Louison Mbombo is a medical student at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, and the founder of the Mbombo Initiative Against Malaria (Solidariedade Na Mokili) non-profit organisation. His initiative works in partnership with Google and Microsoft to implement data analytics and machine learning to advance in malaria prevention and research. Since its creation, the initiative has reached over 10mn people, through raising money for treatment, providing health education to families and health professionals, and distributing mosquito nets. For his outstanding achievements, Mbombo was awarded with the best project to prevent childhood malaria death in 27 countries by UNESCO.

With almost thirty years of experience working at GIZ, Sabine Müller leads the Africa Department. Before that, she was Director-General of the Sectoral Department and a number of regional divisions. Müller spent her first years at GIZ in Latin America, where she was involved in a long-term project on sustainable land use with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. She also headed a GIZ project promoting small-scale farming in Uruguay.

Only one of every four women in Libya is legally employed, according to the World Bank. Fattoum Nasser set out to change that, with the help of Yummy!, the app she co-founded and runs with her business partner, Azeeza Adam. Born out of an experience of hunger during a digital workshop, Yummy! aims to give women the opportunity to grow their own business by selling their own, homemade food. Yummy! acts as a mediator, allowing the business to avoid direct contact with its clients, ensuring safe and on time delivery without forcing women to travel into unsafe areas.

With almost 10 years’ experience at The Coca-Cola Company, Dorcas Onyango has an extremely broad skillset, of which development expertise, project management and stakeholder engagement are inclusive. Prior to this, she was Director of Programmes and Implementation at The Coca-Cola Company, also in addition to her role as Marketing and Communications Manager at the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation. She is passionate about gender equality, access to education and youth empowerment, having successfully led civil society, government and private sector partners to design, implement and measure Pan-African initiatives such as RAIN, which has improved access to water for 2 million people in Africa.

As Chief Executive Officer of ESWADE, Samson Sithole aspires to empower communities and improve their quality of life through commercial agriculture projects. With an extensive experience in rural development, water infrastructure and climate resilience, Sithole is currently working on the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project Programme in Swaziland. By transforming subsistence farmers into commercial farmers, the project improves the standard of living in the area and sets up a sustainable and gender-inclusive environment.

Sihle Tshabalala is a champion for disadvantaged populations, seeking to empower them through digital skills. His Quirky 30 NPC is a non-profit and public benefit organisation offering pathways out of poverty, inequality and crime through coding programmes. A self-taught coder, Tshabalala also co-founded the Brothers for All school, teaching former inmates, unemployed youth and vulnerable children. He has received several awards for his ground-breaking work, including the Spark Changemaker award, TEDx Fellowship, Africa Social Innovation Leadership Award and the Google Impact South Africa Challenge Finalists.

Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu holds the distinction of being the first African to be appointed Chief Executive Officer of The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading philanthropy initiative. Prior to that, she was Director of Partnerships & Evaluations at the Foundation, developing its institutional framework for partnerships to scale the impact of the TEF Entrepreneurship programme and to empower over 10,000 entrepreneurs. The resulting strategic partnerships with governments, development finance institutions, multilaterals and private organisations led to a record-breaking selection of 3,050 entrepreneurs in 2019.

Returning to his native Chad after working as a consultant for start-ups in both Paris and Dubai, Youssouf Ali was inspired to set up Kouran Jabo after seeing the enduring dependence on kerosene lamps and candles for light in Ndjamena. The company, whose name means ‘power is back’ in Arabic, aims to deliver clean electricity via solar panels to lower-income families across Central Africa. With over 100 solar kits installed in Ndjamena, Kouran Jabo’s next step is to move into the provinces.