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Global African Tech Leaders And Innovators To Watch Out For In 2016!

from: 20 . 02 . 16
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As technology continues to connect the world, innovators in business, ICT, development and other areas of the industry are tapping into savvy visions and expertise to improve the lives of those in their communities. Africa continues to be an emerging economy with growth potential and action on the ground that is putting the continent at the forefront of world progress. Though there are still challenges, these leaders are taking matters into their own hands, changing the way Africa does business and bridging gaps between its consumers and the world at large.



1. ZIMBABWE: Clinton Dale Mutambo, Founder, Esaja.com

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Mutambo created Esaja.com, a Web platform that connects African traders to businesses in neighboring countries via a cross-border online marketplace.

“I’m an Afro Optimist driven by a passion to make a difference, both on the continent and globally,” he writes on his About.me profile. “As a part of Africa’s cheetah generation, I have a string of entrepreneurial endeavors behind me. I see the Internet and mobile communication as unrivaled enablers of economic growth and development.”

2. NIGERIA: Juliet Ehimuan, Country Manager, Google

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Ehimuan was appointed as Google’s Country manager for Nigeria in 2011 and as head of the search giant’s operations in the region she represents the company in business development initiatives and partnerships there. Though there are still Web access and infrastructure issues in the region, the growth numbers are tremendous in mobile search.

She describes the success metrics and future in a recent interview: “In Nigeria, for example, we have deployed IT facilities in 50 universities,” she told AllAfrica.com. “And we are not relenting on the efforts to bring local contents online. It is only through the Internet that local contents gain global relevance with less stress. Therefore, Nollywood contents are gaining global attention via the Internet, especially the YouTube channel.”

“We have been uploading Nigerian maps online too. We have mapped about 250,000 meters of roads (maps) and over 200,000 special locations. Google is focused on impacting lives in Africa; that is the bottom-line of the gestures.”

“More than 10,000 developers and SMEs have been inspired through Google programmes in the past years,” she continued.

3. UGANDA: Solomon Kitumba, Founder, Yoza

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Kitumba, 24, founded Yoza, an app that connects consumers in Uganda who need help with laundry, with those who offer garment cleaning services.

“I woke up in the morning with a pile of laundry,” Kitumba told CNN in a recent interview. “I had a long night and I thought to myself, how do I get this laundry done? I had to ask around.”

Local women who have signed up to the app have reportedly been able to double their incomes—and in some cases, have seen a sevenfold increase.




4. CONGO: Verone Mankou, Founder & CEO, VMK

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Founder of VMK, a tech company focused on mobile technologies, tablets and smartphones,  Mankou is the brains behind the Way-C, its first Android tablet customized for African consumers.

The device is now available in the Congo and France. VMK also manufactures an African-themed Android smartphone called Elikia.

5. KENYA: Mubarak Muyika, Founder,  Zagace Ltd.

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Muyika was a teen ingenue in tech, becoming a successful entrepreneur at the age of 16 after reportedly turning down a scholarship to attend Harvard. His first company, Hypecentury Technologies, sold for six figures and a later venture, Zagace, is a cloud enterprise software that helps companies manage business tasks such as accounting, payroll, stock management and marketing via a format called Zag apps.

6. NIGERIA: Abiola Olaniran, Founder, Gamsole

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Olamiran is the founder and CEO of Nigerian gaming company Gamsole, which boasts more than 9 million downloads.

“Gaming is still a nascent industry in Africa,” Olaniran said in a recent interview. “Due to the high rate of mobile device penetration, mobile can serve as a converging point for both casual and hardcore gamers.”

“African-themed games can be the future of gaming if people can relate with the content on a personal basis, based on their daily life experiences,” he continued. “This is one way to push adoption of games in Africa.”

7. CAMEROON: Arthur Zang, Founder, Cardiopad

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Zang invented the Cardiopad, a medical tablet that enables heart exams to be performed on rural populations. Results of the test are wirelessly transferred to specialists, allowing citizens in remote areas to gain diagnosis and treatments in a more timely fashion, ultimately saving lives. He is also the founder of Himore Medical Equipments, the company that owns the rights to the Cardiopad.

8. GHANA: Raindolf Owusu, Founder, Oasis Websoft

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Owusu is a software engineer based in Accra, Ghana, and was dubbed the Mark Zuckerberg of Accra by Forbes Africa in November 2012. Through his software firm Oasis WebSoft, he has helped to develop an African-made operating system and Web browser called called Anansi.

Under his leadership, the company has created or helped develop tools including Anansipedia, a platform that allows sharing of educational resources to help less privileged students, Ebola Ghana Alert, an initiative that provides people with a reliable and easy-to-use application tracking the virus and training and disseminating information to the general public, and Bisa, an app that allows users to ask doctors questions, guidelines, information and tips for managing health.

9. UNITED KINGDOM: Ethel Cofie, Founder, Women in Tech Africa

c9-compressorCofie is a Mandela Fellow for President Obama’s Young African Leaders initiative(YALI) whose expertise on tech and leadership has been  featured in BBC and CNN. As founder of Women in Tech Africa, she initiated the 1st Pan African meetup of woman in tech and was shortlisted for the UN GEM Tech Award for  work supporting women in ICT. She also sits on numerous boards, including Social Media week Lagos.

“The problems that African women in tech face are not very different from the ones female techies in many other parts of the world also come across,” she said in a recent interview. “Yet, these challenges, coupled with some Africa-specific problems like power shortages and broadband inaccessibility, create an uphill task for women wanting to enter the industry and develop the high-level technical skills required in order to progress. Yet, I know there is progress, and the examples are many.”

10. ZAMBIA: Munyaradzi Gwatidzo, Founder, Astro Mobile

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With experience buying, repairing and selling mobile phones in Zambia for a few years, Gwatidzo used his expertise and savvy to start Astro Mobile in 2011.

Astro is reportedly setting up a manufacturing plant in Zimbabwe in a move Gwatidzo believes will differentiate him from his competitors: “Other African tech players in the market just import goods from the East and sell them on the market without necessarily adding any value or addressing the day to day challenges that African people face,” he told CNN.




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