IE Africa Day 2017

Austin Okere

Founder

Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) Plc.

Austin Okere is the Founder CWG Plc, the largest Systems Integration Company in Sub-Saharan Africa & Entrepreneur in Residence at Columbia Business School, where he received special commendation for his mentorship role, especially in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship. He was recognized with a "Lifetime Entrepreneurship Achievement Award" by the American University of Nigeria in 2017 for his dedicated service and outstanding entrepreneurial accomplishments.

Austin received the Nigerian Computer Society "Special Presidential Award" in 2016 in recognition of his invaluable contribution to the Society as well as the growth and promotion of ICT. He was named "ICT Personality of the year" by the Nigerian Computer Society in 2014, and also named ICT Man of the Decade by ICT Watch Africa Digital Network in 2012. Okere was named ICT Personality of the year by Technology Africa in 2010, and “most outstanding ICT Personality of the Decade” by ICT Watch Africa in 2010. Austin was listed on the UK’s C.Hub Magazine’s "100 Most Influential Creatives" in 2016.

Austin Okere is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Innovation and Intrapreneurship. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Business School Network (GBSN), a body dedicated to advancing the cause of knowledge sharing to inspire and transform business education across the globe. Austin Okere, a Fellow of the Nigerian Computer Society serves on the Governing Council of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, as well as the Advisory Council of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).

Austin Okere has an Executive MBA from the International Graduate School of
Management (IESE), Spain, after a preparatory period at the Lagos Business School, 1998. He also graduated with a BSc. (Hons) Computer Sciences from the University of Lagos in 1986, after transferring from the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1982 post his First University Examination (FUE)

Alon Lits

General Manager

UBER Sub-Saharan Africa

Alon Lits joined Uber as its first General Manager in Africa in August 2013, as General Manager for Uber in Johannesburg. Alon officially moved into his role of GM for Sub-Saharan Africa in mid-2015. The region now spans 12 cities and 6 countries.

Alon began his career in the leveraged finance division of Investec Bank Limited, where he provided debt and preference share financing solutions to South African corporates and private equity funds. Before joining Uber, Alon worked with the emerging market focused private equity fund LeapFrog Investments, focusing on investment opportunities throughout Africa. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is an Associate Actuary.

Dipo Faulkner

Country Manager

IBM Nigeria

Dipo has worked at IBM in various capacities. He was once IBM’s Global Business Services Lead for Central and West Africa. In his current role as Country Manager, he is responsible for IBM’s overall business in Nigeria with a focus on deploying IBM’s advanced technology capabilities in Cognitive, Cloud Computing, Big Data and Analytics, Mobile and Security. Prior to joining IBM, Faulkner spent 13 years working with Accenture Nigeria, where he rose to become a Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lagos and an Advanced Management Program Certificate from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain

Angela Gichaga

Consultant

McKinsey Kenya

Dr. Angela Gichaga is a public and social sector enthusiast with years of experience working across civil service, management consulting, non-governmental organizations and academia, in improving the quality of peoples’ lives through gender equity advocacy, leadership training, career coaching, mentorship health and education. She has lived in Australia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa and United States of America.

As a seasoned leader, Angela was humbled to receive the Australian Leadership Awards for Africa (2012) and the President Obama’s Mandela Washington Fellowship (2014) in recognition of her exemplary leadership within the civil service and operational track record of excellence in achieving results.

Angela has been elected as the Commissioner for Gender, Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Youth Commission (part of the African Union) based on her work of empowering youth and women through mentorship, value based leadership training, career advice and graduate admission preparation.

Her current position at McKinsey & Company-Africa Delivery Hub (ADH) has seen her grow in depth of knowledge and skills across multiple sectors, as she works on socio-economic and development issues in Africa. Angela co-developed the McKinsey Women All in East Africa initiative and spearheaded the McKinsey Women Connect forum where women in senior management share their experiences and advice with young/ lower tenure women within the firm.

Grace Kimani

Business Development Manager

GlobalWavenet

Grace started off her career as a Graduate Management Engineer with Safaricom Limited (Kenya) and went ahead to become a Senior Engineer having worked on a number of projects such as deployment of the current billing platform and MPESA Generation 2 platform deployment. She then transitioned from Safaricom to Globalwavenet Ltd, a telecommunications solutions provider, where she worked closely with several mobile operators in Africa as a Presales Engineer, designing Value Added Solutions that meet the unique market needs across Africa. She is currently the Business Development Manager - Africa at Globalwavenet, where she is in charge of the company’s operations and growth strategy for Africa.

Tonje Bakang

Founder & CEO

Afrostream

Tonjé Bakang is the Founder & CEO of Afrostream, the “Netflix for African, African-American and Caribbean content” a streaming site serving the European and African markets. Afrostream is a platform for the digital distribution of Black films and series produced by major Hollywood studios and independent distributors seeking an international audience.

Prior to founding Afrostream, Tonjé worked in the entertainment industry for over 15 years, first in the music business as a creator of videos, then as a producer of comedy shows and theater. He scouted and mentored a new generation of comedians of color, and was the first to introduce stand-up comedy shows in France inspired by HBO Def Comedy Jam. His passion for storytelling led him to develop a screenplay for a major network in France and he will use this expertise to produce original content for Afrostream.