TECH STARS (682)
Over the past few years, he has taken numerous initiatives to empower the youth and promote digital entrepreneurship in his country, Djibouti. Thanks to his commitment to the task, he has won the trust of international and national actors.
Mohamed Guireh Galab (photo) is a Djiboutian entrepreneur. In 2018, he founded StartUp Factory, an incubator that trains entrepreneurs and invests in innovative projects, from product ideas to launch. His incubator is accessible to digital enthusiasts who want to make money from their passion, ICT, in Djibouti.
Over the years, StartUp Factory, currently present in six cities, has developed partnerships with public institutions, including microfinance institution CPEC and the private investments’ promotion agency FDED. The partnerships aim to give Djiboutians an opportunity to implement their project ideas.
Galab is very committed to youth empowerment. To drive that goal further, four years ago, he co-founded Djibouti’s young entrepreneurs’ network CJED. With CJED, he facilitates experience-sharing, networking, and value-chain-creation. “CJED offers equal opportunity for every young Djiboutian to create, develop or revive his/her company,” Galab says.
Since 2012, he is the national chairman of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Djibouti. In 2019, he became a country director for the Global Entrepreneurship Network, launched in 2008 to build a global entrepreneurship ecosystem. The following year, he was named Djibouti's ambassador to Africalink, a network of entrepreneurs operating in Africa and Europe. The entrepreneur is also a Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) alumni, who took part in the 2017 training program at Clark University, Atlanta. In 2021, he made it to Africa Digital Festival’s top 50 continental digital champions 2021.
Melchior Koba
After her studies in Spain, she returned home to serve her country. In the last ten years, she has overseen several large tech projects, significantly contributing to socio-economic development.
Olivia Garcia Berniko (photo) is an Equatoguinean IT engineer. She is, since March 2016, the technical director of state telecom infrastructure company GITGE, which manages the country’s fiber optic cables - ACE, Ceiba-1 and Ceiba-2, Ultramar GE, Mandji, and SAIL notably, ensuring the integrity of communication means and making sure residents have access to telecom services.
"My daily routine includes managing our ongoing projects and technical department. I am also involved in the entity's corporate social responsibility projects, which add extra motivation as they are closely related to the human factor,” Olivia Garcia Berniko said in an interview with AhoraEG in 2021.
Before joining the GITGE, Olivia worked for Everis, a Spanish firm that supplies strategic tech and outsourcing solutions. When she left the Spanish firm, she joined the GITGE as a system engineer, ten years ago, and gradually climbed the corporate ladder. In 2014, she was appointed project manager before being promoted to the head of the technical department two years later.
In recognition of her professional achievements, she is now invited to share her expertise during international events. On April 29, 2022, she shared her experience and opinions in the tech sector with female leaders at the International STEM Women’s Conference held online. Last year, she was one of the 50 African Digital Champions at the Africa Digital Festival. She is also a Knight of the Equatoguinean Order of Independence.
Melchior Koba
He equips Djiboutians with digital skills as a sustainable solution to the steady rise of unemployment in the country.
Samatar Abdi Osman (photo) is the founder and CEO of Djiboutian incubator CTID (Centre of Technology & innovation for development), founded in 2017. His incubator supports innovative and social project owners, mainly in the renewable energies, agribusiness, environment, and social services sectors.
“We offer young people digital training to enable the creation of projects that have social impacts. Digital technology is just a means and not an end. We aim to leverage it to find solutions to improve access to water, energy, education, etc.[...], and ensure that every project leader can specialize in a specific sector and find solutions to social challenges faced by Djibouti,” Abdi Osman told Senegalese Media Pressafrik in June 2022.
Last year, the founder and his team launched Horn Digital Academy to offer web development and digital marketing training. Apart from his works with the CTID, he is also the country representative of Club 2030 Africa, a think tank that shares skills to contribute to Africa’s emergence by 2030. He is also the Head of the Natural Hazards Analysis and Modeling Laboratory at the Djiboutian research institute CERD, since 2010.
Abdi Osman started his professional career in 2006 when he joined the CERD as a Geographic information systems expert. From 2008 to 2011, he served as a part-time teacher at the University of Djibouti. Two years later, he became a consultant for the UNDP. He also consulted for the French Development Agency and the African Development Bank, respectively in 2015 and 2016.
In June 2021, he was on the 2021 list of the French African Foundation’s 100 Young Leaders that celebrates “highest potential African and French talents” aged between 28 and 40.
Melchior Koba
He has over 20 years of professional management and tech experience. He now leverages the expertise he acquired over the years to boost the development of the African digital economy.
Ibrahim Ba (photo) is a Mauritanian engineer and director of network investments in emerging markets for Meta (formerly known as Facebook), since 2021. He designed and coordinated the deployment of 2Africa, a subsea cable project. The project, implemented in partnership with seven telecom operators, aims to interconnect Europe and the Middle East and Africa region by 2024 for improved and affordable internet services and enhanced use of Meta services in Africa.
Ibrahim Ba joined Meta, in 2016, when it was still known as Facebook. At the time, he was head of infrastructure product partnerships for the Middle East and Africa region. His missions included improving connectivity and attracting new users online, in remote communities notably.
Before joining Meta, the executive acquired years of professional management and tech experience. In 1994, he started as a software developer for tech solution provider Captiva. Three years later, he joined the science and engineering research lab Argonne National Laboratory as a senior software developer.
In 2000, he became an associate in New York-based management consulting firm Oliver Wyman before he was appointed director in Level 3 Communications (which was later acquired by Lumen Technologies, formerly CenturyLink). When he left Level 3 Communications in 2006, he was appointed vice-president of management consulting firm HIP Consult Inc. Ten years later, he began his adventure with Facebook.
In 2020, Ibrahim was on pan-African media Jeune Afrique’s list of the 100 most influential Africans. In 2021, the same media listed him among the 50 individuals who shape the African digital ecosystem.
Melchior Koba
Following the death of his mother back at home, he decided to create a virtual health insurance platform. He aims to help the African diaspora guarantee healthcare for their relatives and avoid his painful experience.
Bertrand Nkengne (photo) is a Cameroonian software engineer and the founder of health-tech Izikare. The startup, founded in 2018, allows the African diaspora to easily buy health insurance policies for their relatives living on the continent. With his health-tech startup, insurance policies cost as low as €0.50 daily thanks to his network of over 300 professionals, 500 health centers, 300 laboratories, and pharmacies in Africa.
“Izikare provides a virtual and physical insurance card to your relatives living in Africa. [Thanks to that card], they can get healthcare, without paying a dime, from our partner network of health professionals, in hospitals, laboratories, clinics, pharmacies, and opticians,” he told Forbes in 2021.
Bertrand founded Izikare after a painful experience. Indeed, while he was in France, his mother got sick. To facilitate her treatment, he used to regularly send funds but, instead of being used for the sick mother’s treatment, most of the funds were used for other purposes. In the end, the software engineer lost his mother.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Izikare developed a free platform, AlloDocta, to facilitate virtual consultations, and the issuance of digital health records. The platform also integrates a secure drug prescription system.
Before Izikare, Bertrand Nkengne had founded, in 2006, Cyslog, a software development firm in France.
Melchior Koba
With over 10 years of professional experience in the tech industry abroad, he returned to his native country, Madagascar, with numerous project ideas. Barely five years later, the two digital firms he created are already thriving.
Ranto Andriambololona (photo) is a Malagasy entrepreneur and founder of the tech firm SmartPredict. Through the startup founded in 2018, he helps firms deploy artificial intelligence projects without any tech skills. He also developed RetailForecastor, a platform allowing commercial companies to predict and optimize their sales, therefore avoiding over and under-production.
In 2020, after a funding round supported by Investisseurs & Partenaires Accélération Technologies, Ranto informed that his ambition was to make SmartPredict an African unicorn and a flagship of the African tech ecosystem.
With his team, the young entrepreneur plans a series A funding round by the end of 2022. Apart from SmartPredict, he also founded the software development firm HaiRun Technology, which specializes in the development of personalized web and mobile apps for startups and companies. By 2021, the software development company founded in 2018 was already employing over 120 people. According to its founder, it aims to create a local entity employing 300 to 500 employees and federating competent skills around digital issues.
His entrepreneurship career is greatly facilitated by the digital skills he developed, since 2002, working with international firms, including Rakuten in France. In 2003, he joined Boursorama Banque as a production engineer. Then, in 2005, he was hired by software developer Sysload Software before he was appointed Axway’s product manager in 2015.
Melchior Koba
Over the past nine years, she has been a tireless advocate for gender equality in technology and the digital world. Her leadership position in the Senegalese public sector is also helping her reach her goals.
Bitilokho Ndiaye (photo) is a Senegalese sociologist. She is, since 2020, the Director of Promotion of the Digital Economy and Partnership at the Senegalese Ministry of Digital Economy. Before her appointment to that post, she already had years of experience in the local IT ecosystem, in the gender dimension notably.
Between 2009 and 2020, she was the gender technical advisor for the Ministry of Communication. For the sociologist, women should have a strong presence in the local digital sector for enhanced economic growth in Senegal.
"Women represent 51% of the population in Senegal. They will have a positive economic impact if they are taught how to use the internet as a tool. [...] Particularly, for the large majority of craftswomen and those who create value in remote areas, digital technology would be an effective way to reach more buyers and increase sales, therefore impacting the national economy,” she told Inspire Afrika.
Between 2007 and 2009, she was the communication manager of the Ministry of Information and Institutional Relations. She is also overseeing, since 2013, a project (“Gender and Technology”) that aims to “integrate the gender dimension into IT programs and boost women’s presence in leadership positions.”
In 2016, she founded the Association of Senegalese Women in the ICT/Digital Sector (FESTIC), which aims to accelerate digital transformation in Senegal by capitalizing on the female population. In 2018, as the president of FESTIC, she launched “maison des femmes entrepreneures,” a training center equipping women entrepreneurs with digital skills.
Melchior Koba
The young woman is convinced that digital innovation will create wealth, promote human dignity and promote prosperity in Africa. As a member of several networking organizations, she is hard at work promoting the continent’s innovation ecosystem.
Anna Ekeledo (photo) is a Nigerian senior marketing executive and executive director of AfriLabs Foundation (since 2016), an organization that federates 347 innovation centers across Africa. AfriLabs networks entrepreneurs, investors, tech entrepreneurs, and web/mobile engineers. In line with its mission to support African tech hubs, it provides financing, mentorship, networking opportunities, and tools to build the capacities of high-potential entrepreneurs.
In an interview with The Guardian, in 2021, Anna explained that as AfriLabs Foundation’s executive director, her work “entails overseeing the running of the organization effectively to ensure we achieve our mandate to our community and the African innovation ecosystem.”
“Externally, I engage multiple stakeholders to foster collaboration, raise awareness and funding for our work and our community of hubs, entrepreneurs, and innovators. I also work closely with the AfriLabs Board to ensure that we stay true to our vision, mission, and our strategies are aligned with them,” she added.
The young executive director is a marketing management graduate from the Leeds University Business School (2012). Since 2020, she is a member of the Europe Foundation’s strategic force group. She also chairs a working party on AfCFTA negotiations at Ecommerce Forum Africa, an organization that promotes e-commerce on the continent.
Since 2019, Anna is the African regional innovation lead for academic research institution Edtech Hub. About one year earlier, she was appointed a member of the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council.
Before her immersion into the networking sphere, the marketing executive held various marketing and consultancy positions at home and abroad. From November 2010 to September 2011, she was an assistant investment officer for the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission. The following year, she became a brand ambassador for the marketing agency iD Experiential. Then, in 2013, she was the marketing manager of real estate marketing consultant Value Chain Project Consultants.
She further enhanced her marketing expertise as a business developer for Nigerian POS manufacturer Ingenico SA and senior marketing executive for digital marketing training institute Wild Fusion Digital Center. In 2015, she was appointed consultant for World Bank’s project GEMS in Nigeria before taking the helm of AfriLabs Foundation. From 2019 to 2022, Anna was on the advisory board of Technopolis Group, a science, innovation, and technology consultant. In 2021, she made it to the Agile 50 list celebrating the “world’s 50 most influential navigating disruption.”
Melchior Koba
He founded the first artificial intelligence research and development company in Ethiopia, igniting the passion of many young people. Over the years, his company has gained international recognition.
Getnet Aseffa is an Ethiopian computer scientist and founder of iCog Labs, an AI and Robotics Research and Development Company based in Addis-Ababa.
On his Linkedin profile page, he defines himself as “a futurist, and a rational progressive who is enthusiastic about making a breakthrough in the capability of AI systems to think, learn and create and use cutting-edge technology to help leapfrog Africa into the future.”
He supports public and private firms and institutions in their development by leveraging data analysis, machine learning, computational linguistics, machine vision, cognitive technology, etc. He also trains young people in digital and tech skills. Through iCog Labs, the tech entrepreneur inked agreements with 36 universities to share his knowledge and federate artificial intelligence research and development. He is also discussing agreements with 21 higher education institutions worldwide.
Aseffa discovered his passion for technologies very early. To polish his talent in the field, he took Youtube courses and followed DIY websites. Later on, when he was schooling at the Defense Engineering College, one of his friends made him discover Artificial intelligence by suggesting an American futurist Ray Kurzweil’s article published in Time magazine in February 2011 titled “2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal.”
“I was so excited about this guy [Note: Ray Kurzweil]... “I got his book The Singularity is Near and I just kept reading it again and again— I read it three times in one week. This book created a roadmap from the past to the future. [...] In his writings, Kurzweil describes the exponential growth of technology and predicts that we will reach the “Singularity” by 2045— the point at which humans merge with artificial intelligence, transcending our biological bodies and brains,” he told media platform Emerge.
Two years later, Aseffa founded iCog Labs, which developed the cognitive engine and emotional capabilities of the humanoid robot Sophia. The latter, designed by Hong-Kong-based Hanson Robotics, is the first non-human to receive a United Nations title. In 2018, shortly after the inauguration of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, it met the latter in Addis Ababa.
Melchior Koba
Despite being a trained sociologist, a field that is far from being related to technologies, he is currently a tech entrepreneur and a prominent figure in the national digital innovation ecosystem.
Mahamadi Rouamba (photo) is a Burkinabe entrepreneur and founder of startup studio BeoogoLab. The studio founded in 2015 provides support, coaching, and funding to innovative tech projects. The aim is to create at least one innovative tech firm in every key sector in Burkina Faso by 2025.
According to Rouamba, the startup studio also plans to set up a business development fund with the profits generated from the funds already invested. “We are working to consolidate our position as an innovative entrepreneurship support institution at the national and regional level,” he told Afric’Innov.
With three master’s in sociology, project management, and management sciences, Rouamba is a prominent figure in the Burkinabe digital innovation ecosystem. As a digital transformation consultant, he is (for about a decade now) the CEO of Ticanalyse, an IT engineering firm that develops and deploys IT solutions. In 2019, he founded the fintech startup Lagfo Super App. The following year, he became the chairman of the national network of business intelligence professionals, the national federation of innovative entrepreneurship support institutions, and the federation of Burkinabe fintech startups.
He also received several awards and recognitions. In 2017, he was made Knight of the Burkina Faso’s Order of Merit. The following year, he was crowned entrepreneur of the year by a network of the African diaspora in Europe (ADNE) and civic entrepreneur by the Ouagadougou municipality for his contribution to the development of the city.
Melchior Koba
More...
Fully aware of the importance of the digital industry, he helps young people acquire professional skills in the sector and prepare them for future changes in the job market.
Samy Mwamba (photo) is a Congolese entrepreneur and founder of Itot Africa, an edtech startup. Through its online academy Okademy, the startup founded in 2016 offers various digital courses including graphic design, software development, and automation.
Samy initially launched Itot Africa as a forum for discussions on new technologies and employment. He later shifted to software development, digital marketing, and tech talent recruitment consulting. To date, Itot Africa has trained some 400 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and created over 60 jobs.
“I launched Itot Africa in 2016 when I was still a university student. At the time, I used to see several of my seniors graduate from university and still be unable to find jobs despite being brilliant students. This led me to reflect on employment in DRC. [...] When I realized that there were no real employment prospects in DRC, I employed myself by first creating a business, which offers various solutions to the population, and then training people in digital skills,” he said in an interview with Deutsche Welle.
Samy Mwamba is, since 2020, an e-commerce and e-business teacher at the Higher School of Economic and Political Governance of Lubumbashi (EcoPo – Lubumbashi). In December 2021, he was a TED speaker for TEDxBoulevardMsiri. From May to June 2021, he was a training consultant for the Belgian development Agency ENABEL. From September to November 2021, he was also a digital platform consultant for Oxford Policy Management. Besides Itot Africa, Samy has co-founded JENX, a clothing brand, and Dark Valley (DAVA), a dog breeding center.
Melchior Koba
He has over 10 years of experience in entrepreneurship coaching and over a decade of professional experience in the tech industry. His ambition is to contribute the expertise acquired to showcase the Gabonese and Central African innovation ecosystem to the world.
Sylvere Boussamba (photo) is a Gabonese tech entrepreneur and founder of Start X 241, an incubator, accelerator, and investment fund focused on digital companies and tech firms. Through Start X 241, (founded in 2020), Sylvere wants to “create the largest digital products and services distribution network in Central Africa.”
To achieve his goal, he develops strategic win-win partnerships between Central African startups and the companies built by his startup studio. “The partnership allows us to ensure collaboration between great Francophone entrepreneurs and great Gabonese peers,” he explains.
Start X 241 is not the first venture established by this tech enthusiast in the Gabonese innovation ecosystem. In 2013, he launched Ogooué Labs, a co-working space, accelerator, and digital training space. Five years later, he created Ecole 241, a digital training academy founded to support the state and firms in their digital transformation. He also co-founded Digitech Africa, a software company based in Côte d’Ivoire.
His expertise is the result of an extensive professional career that started in 1996. He was an application team leader, then business systems support manager for telecom operator Zain. He worked at Airtel Gabon as Service Quality Assurance Manager, IT Manager, and later as Operations Manager and Innovation Manager for Airtel DRC.
He has been certified as a leadership coach, teacher, trainer, and speaker by The John Maxwell Company. Also, since 2015, he is a Tony Elumelu Foundation business mentor.
Melchior Koba
With years of professional experience in the ICT industry, she is, since 2016, committed to the development of green technology.
Safia Mahamat Youssouf (photo) is the developer of Smart Village Chad, a green tech innovation hub. The innovation hub, launched in 2016, focuses on production, transformation, and support to young project owners, cooperations, and associations. It has three notable sections, namely an incubator (Sahel Green Hub), an experimental farm, and a research and development lab (AgriLab).
The developer is a telecom and computer science engineer who graduated from the Bamako Higher Institute Of Applied Technologies in 2002. She started her professional career in 2009 as a Value Added Services Supervisor for telecom operator Zain Chad. The following year, she was appointed Marketing Product Manager for Airtel Chad before leaving the Chadian Finance Ministry’s modernization project from 2011 to 2014.
In 2015, she joined the national ICT promotion agency as the director of research and planning. From 2017 to 2018, she was the director of communication and international relations for the Electronic Communications and Post Regulatory Authority (ARCEP).
Since 2018, she is the deputy CEO of telecom company Sudachad. In 2020, she made it to the Musodev list of the 21 women who shape the African ICT industry.
Melchior Koba
He is well aware of the challenges faced by most students in their student visa application process since he was once in their shoes. Six years ago, he decided to contribute his professional experience to help overcome those challenges.
Duplex Eric Kamgang (photo) is a Cameroonian entrepreneur and co-founder of Studely, a consulting firm that facilitates visa applications for students applying for admission to European Universities. The consulting firm assists students in the obtention of proof of financial support, accommodation research, travel or home insurance, and bank account opening.
According to Eric Kamgang, Studely is the result of personal experience. “... In 2009, I got admitted to a major business school in Paris. At that time, I thought everything was ready for me to travel to France and fulfill my dream but I soon realized how wrong I was because applying for a visa turned out to be a long and painful journey. [...] Apart from showing how motivated I was, I also had to prove I had enough financial resources, find decent housing in France, and purchase compulsory insurance policies. I had to do all this within days and, having no assistance, I doggedly did as I could in my native country,” he recounts.
Studely currently claims assistance to 10,000 students from 65 countries for their visa applications in France and Germany. The consulting firm founded in 2015 is already present in 15 African countries. It earned its co-founder, Eric Kamgang, several recognitions and awards, including Meet Africa 2016 and Digital Africa 2017.
Let’s note that Eric has a master's in finance and accounting from the Catholic University of Central Africa and an MSc in Management from the Skema Business School, France. He started his professional career in 2007 as a financial auditor for BACA Consulting, Cameroon. In 2020, he joined Total as a financial controller before subsequent positions in the financial and energy sectors in Germany and France.
Melchior Koba