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Top African Technology Leaders And Entrepreneurs In 2014

Top African Technology Leaders And Entrepreneurs In 2014

Some of Africa’s most influential tech entrepreneurs and tech leaders of 2014 include a president, high-ranking government officials, and startup company founders who bootstrapped themselves into the global spotlight.

Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria feature prominently on this list, compiled by ITNewsAfrica.

Omobola Johnson: Minister of Communication Technology, Nigeria

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

Johnson is President Goodluck Jonathan’s Minister of Communication Technology, a pioneering position she assumed in 2011. She often says she and her department are committed to promoting growth of Nigeria’s ICT industry. Prior to this role she was country managing director for Accenture, Nigeria, working with Accenture since 1985 when it was Anderson Consulting.

Achievements include the launch of the NigComSat-IR Satellite which helped complement the country’s efforts to provide greater bandwidth and fiber connectivity. Under her watch 193 tertiary institutions in the country now have Internet access.

Johnson said Nigeria plans to lower taxes on telecommunications infrastructure to encourage companies to invest more in Nigeria-based networks.

January Makamba: Deputy Minister of Communication, Science & Technology, Member of Parliament — Tanzania

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

January Makamba has become a rising star in the Tanzanian government and may be set to run for president in early 2015, according to ITNewsAfrica. In 2014, he was a member of parliament for Bumbuli constituency in Tanzania’s National Assembly.

Before running for the Bumbuli parliamentary seat, Makamba was aide to Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete for five years. Named Young Global Leader class of 2013 by the World Economic Forum, Makamba comes from a political family. His father, Yusuf Makamba was Secretary General
of the ruling CCM party.

In 2013 Makamba was awarded an NDI Democracy Award by the National Democratic Institute, which honors individuals and organisations that have exhibited a sustained commitment to democracy and human rights, and have demonstrated leadership, integrity and courage in their dedication
to democratic values and practices.

In 2014, Makamba ranked as one of the 10 most powerful men in Africa. He played an active role in fighting cyber crime in Tanzania. Recently he proposed three bills that will enforce cyber security laws, personal data protection and protect Tanzanians against computer and cyber crime.

Chinedu Echeruo: Tech Entrepreneur, Founder of Hopstop.com and Tripology.com, West Africa

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

Chinedu Echeruo is a partner and head of investing at Constant Capital, a West Africa-based investment bank. Prior to joining Constant Capital, Echeruo founded two U.S-based Internet companies — HopStop.com and Tripology.com. Tripology was bought in 2010 by Rand McNally and is now owned by USA Today. Apple bought HopStop in 2013.

Before his entrepreneurial career, Echeruo was with AM Investment Partners, a $500 million USD volatility-driven convertible bond arbitrage hedge fund. Prior to completing his M.B.A., he spent several years in mergers and acquisitions and leveraged-finance groups of J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, financing and private equity transactions.

He holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and B.S in Finance and Accounting (Honors) from Syracuse University. He was ranked as one of the 10 most powerful men in Africa.

President Paul Kagame, Rwanda

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

When it comes to social networking, social media analysts say Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is Africa’s most conversational president. The International Telecommunications Union in 2014 described Kagame as the Digital President. Kagame has a larger Twitter following than any other African leader.

Kagame invested more than $100 million USD in broadband Internet to get the Rwandan population online. He has also been recognized for his leadership role in advancing education and the potential of ICT as well as enabling Africa’s socio-economic transformation.

Kagame received many awards. StarTimes Group awarded him for visionary leadership and commitment towards meeting objectives of Vision 2020 in promoting ICT and communications technology in Rwanda.

Marek Zmyslowski: CEO Jovago.com, Nigeria

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techmoran.com

Marek Zmyslowski is managing director of Jovago.com. Jovago is a part of Africa Internet Holding, which has successfully launched other African ventures including Jumia and Kaymu.

Zmyslowski established the first Jovago branch in Africa in August 2013. Before joining Africa Internet Holding, he successfully co-founded and exited two online ventures in Poland. Being an enthusiast of African culture and economic development, Marek moved to Nigeria to become a part of the continent’s online revolution.

Zmyslowski described himself as an Internet geek, fashion enthusiast, and sports addict. He is also a former snowboard instructor and has a racing license.

In 2014, Zmyslowski boosted e-commerce in Nigeria. According to
Zmyslowski: “Agriculture and oil used to be the leading sources of the Nigerian economy, but with the rebased GDP it was shown that these two industries together only account for 37.9 percent of the Nigerian economy. A bigger percentage of 51 percent was allocated to services of which online
businesses like Jovago.com play a big part of.”

Arthur Zang: 2014 Young Laureate, Applied Technology, Cameroon

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

A university IT specialist, Arthur Zang used his technological know-how to pioneer cardiac healthcare in his native country of Cameroon. In June 2014, Zang invented what is believed to be Africa’s first medical tablet.

The innovation will allow healthcare workers in rural areas to send the
results of cardiac tests to heart specialists via a mobile-phone connection. As an African innovation, Zang’s medical tablet will not only speed up the process of sending results, but may also save the lives of many people across Cameroon as well as Africa.

Alpheus Mangale: Chief Enterprise Officer MTN, South Africa

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

MTN South Africa appointed Alpheus Mangale Chief Enterprise Officer. Mangale joined MTN from Cisco where he was managing director South Africa. Mangale is a seasoned ICT expert with more than 18 years’ experience in ICT, enterprise and public sector industries in Africa, Europe and Middle East.

He spent 15 years at Dimension Data where he led the group’s overall technology strategy, marketing function as well as all strategic business alliances for, among others, Microsoft, HP and EMC.

During his tenure at Cisco, Mangale led all Cisco’s engagements across private and public sectors markets. He was also responsible for the company’s overall country transformation strategy with service providers and government leaders.

Mangale’s peers described him as an industry veteran at the opening of Cisco Connect 2014, held at Sun City in November 2014. During his career, he established business relationships at various levels within telecommunications (Mobile, VAS, Wire line & Cable) service providers, enterprise and commercial as well as government in order to push the ICT sector forward well beyond 2015.

Tonee Ndungu: Tech Entrepreneur – Kenya

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

Kenyan tech entrepreneur Tonee Ndungu addresses skills and learning through mobile technology.

He founded and launched Kytabu and quickly attracted global attention, including support from two U.S. investors who saw the appeal of the innovative subscription service and textbook leasing application that relies on mobile money to lease textbooks, as well as an encryption system to protect publisher’s content.

Ndungu said he is dyslexic. A big audio book fan, he got through university with audio books and is interested in the delivery of learning materials. He understands the challenges of being unable to absorb the generic structure of current education practice.

Ndungu has degrees in international relations and journalism. He’s
interested in people and the environment in which they live socioeconomically, according to ITNewsAfrica. Ndungu’s started exploring technology in 2005 and is now a respected innovation architect in the Kenyan IT space.

Ndungu is Kenya’s most popular young professional facilitator and speaker, according to Tosh Juma, a brand identity firm based in Nairobi. Ndungu has more than 160 corporate clients.

Isaac Mophatlane: CEO of Business Connexion, South Africa

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

Isaac Mophatlane was appointed CEO of Business Connexion (BCX) in August 2014 after the June 11 death of his brother, Benjamin Mophatlane.

Before Benjamin’s death, Isaac was BCX’s head of sales and marketing. In 1996, Isaac and Benjamin co-founded what was then known as Business Connection. Isaac held various positions within the company over the past 18 years.

Isaac said he plans to take BCX forward while still staying true to Benjamin’s goals.

The brothers led the My World of Tomorrow initiative, which aims to
create a single, African-led movement of global technological innovation.

Marlon Parker, Founder of RLabs, South Africa

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http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2014/12/2014s-most-important-africans-in-tech/

RLabs was founded by Marlon Parker in 2008 as an environment for community-driven innovation and reconstruction. RLabs creates an environment where people are empowered to make a difference in the lives of others. The RLabs main hub is in Athlone, Cape Town, but RLabs has expanded into 21 countries including in the U.K, Europe, Asia and South America.

From 2008 to 2014 Parker and his team at RLabs have provided more than 5 million people with skills training, economic and social support services. In March 2014 Parker was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Parker is setting the scene for what social entrepreneurs should be doing.