Influencer for the New African Narrative Leader – Tech & Finance Innovator – Entrepreneur - Speaker Viola Llewellyn is the co-founder and President of Ovamba Solutions, Inc.  (www.Ovamba.com).   Ovamba is an award winning African “FinTech” company that creates culturally attuned technologies to serve formal and informal African SMEs in the trade & commodities sectors.  Ovamba’s solutions combine innovative Sharia compliant structures with eCommerce, logistics services, and technology to drive financial inclusion and promote growth. Ms. Llewellyn oversees technology development, strategic implementation, investor communications, and global business development for Ovamba. In June of 2018, Ovamba was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Global Technology Pioneer, securing a 2 year ambassadorship and a place at the prestigious “Davos Summit” in Switzerland. Ms. Llewellyn’s past career includes building a $500MM life insurance investment fund for a Washington, DC based insurance investment firm where she led investor communications, and asset management divisions. She has held positions with companies such as Unisys Corporation, IBM, KPMG Consulting, BearingPoint and Rothschild’s. Ms. Llewellyn was listed in the “Digital Undivided Report” as one of only 34 Black women in the USA to have raised more than $1 million for a technology company.  This same ground-breaking achievement was later featured in the April issue of Vanity Fair Magazine and covered by Margo Lee Shetterly, author of “Hidden Figures” (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/women-of-color-diversifying-entrepreneurship-in-silicon-valley-media-and-beyond) .  She is listed on Innovate Finance’s 2016 & 2017 “Women in FinTech Power List”, and on “The Innov8tiv’s Top 50 Visionary Women in Tech To Watch in 2017” list.  Ms. Llewellyn is further distinguished by being the first Female African Tech Founder to speak at both “Slush”, Helsinki and “Slush, Tokyo” – yearly events that are billed as the biggest gathering of innovators, funders, startups and entrepreneurs in Europe and Asia respectively. She is on a number of advisory boards, including The Africa Professional Services Group (www.africapsg.com), the European Women’s Payment Network (www.ewpn.eu), and the African Women in Fintech & Payments Network (www.Africanwomeninfintechandpayments.com).  And WEI, the Women’s Economic Imperative Initiative, headed up by Dr. Margo Thomas, the outgoing Co-Chair of the T20 Task Force on Gender Economic Equity for the United Nations.  Ms. Llewellyn has previously served on the board of Africa’s leading tech hub and incubator ActivSpaces (www.ActivSpaces.com). Viola Llewellyn’s family is originally from Cameroon.  She was born, raised and educated in the U.K. and lives between the African Continent and the USA. For more information please contact Ciana.H@Ovamba.com or adeline.sede@fabafriq.com

Jake Bright is a writer, award winning author, and advisor on global business, politics, and technology. He contributes at TechCrunch and Crunchbase. Bright has advised U.S. universities, media outlets, and Silicon Valley actors on Africa’s technology sector. He worked with TechCrunch and Facebook to spearhead the first Startup Battlefield Africa and serves as a judge on MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge. His book, The Next Africa, details the continent’s transformation story driven by business, investment, entrepreneurs, and IT and won the Axiom Best Business Book award. Jake began his career in the U.S. Department of Commerce and on White House staff as a speechwriter and chief aide to senior international economic advisors. He then worked as a management associate and bank officer in international finance. Bright earned his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and graduate degree from Columbia University. He is an avid fan of music, motorcycles, and outdoor sports. Jake was born and raised in Northern Michigan.

AUBREY HRUBY is a Co-Founder of the Africa Expert Network (AXN) and an advisor to investors and Fortune 500 companies doing business in Africa. As a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and Advisor to the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, she speaks regularly on African business issues. She has interviewed with the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg Radio, CNBC, CCTV, Africa24, and VoiceAmerica Business. She writes regularly for the Financial Times and Axios. Aubrey is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of Invest Africa USA, Young Leader at the Milken Institute and the co-author of award-winning The Next Africa (Macmillan, 2015). She earned a MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a MA from Georgetown University.

Matsi as an entrepreneur: • Founder & CEO of Furaha Afrika Holdings a company with subsidiaries including Furaha Solutions (a joint venture partnership with Work Force, a listed AltX-JSE company), Furaha Investments and Furaha Events. www.furaha.co.za • Co-founded Emerge Business Consultants that provided services that include Supplier Development, Enterprise Development strategy formulation and implementation, BBBEE advisory and verification, Small Medium Enterprise education and capacity training. Matsi as an entrepreneurship ecosystem builder • Co-founder of Venture Central Portal, South Africa’s digital home for entrepreneurs, a portal that aggregates information, opportunities, access to markets, access to funding, and access to resources and tools, to guide entrepreneurs from idea to scale. • Vice-Chairperson of SiMODiSA, an industry association that catalyses and amplifies high growth, high impact entrepreneurship, by providing access to markets, access to social capital and advocating for the growth of the Venture Capital industry and creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem. • Former MD of the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum (SABEF), industry association that created entrepreneurship ecosystems in South African townships, rural and peri-urban areas Matsi as a contributor to entrepreneurship and innovation policy in South Africa. • Led advocacy teams, that have impacted the South African policy landscape by driving traction in the Sec 12J tax incentive for Venture Capital Companies (VCC) and also by getting the South African government to lift Intellectual Property (IP) exchange control and Loop structure hurdles • Appointed by the South African Minister of Science and Technology to be part of a review panel for the Intellectual Property (IP) Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act • A member of the South Africa Bureau of Standards (SABS), innovation management committee Matsi as a Board Member, Trustee and Board Advisor • Board member of the Free State Land Use Advisory Board • Board of Advisor on the Agrie-Vie Private Equity Fund • Trustee on the MMI Masikhululise ESD Trust • Non-Executive Director of The Innovation Hub Management Company SOC-LTD, a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) • Trustee of Orange Corners, an incubation initiative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. • Founding steering committee member of the National Mentorship Movement • Subcommittee member of the South African Venture Capital/ Private Equity Association (SAVCA) • A member of the Institute of Directors SA (IoDSA) • Former Advisor on the Barclays Africa Shared Growth Advisory Council   Matsi as a global thought leader on entrepreneurship • Written and have been featured in numerous local and international publications, including Forbes Africa, Small Business Connect, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Boston Review, Mail & Guardian, Succeed Magazine, Destiny Magazine, The New Age newspaper, Business Day and City Press. • Matsi is a weekly featured guest on Radio 2000 and SAfm as a business mentor Matsi’s global awards, recognition and participation in the entrepreneurship development space • Keynote Speaker at the Oxford Business Forum Africa 2018, hosted by the Oxford Saïd Business School in the United Kingdom • A founding curator of the World Economic Forum, global shapers community • In 2016 was selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as one of the Top 50 Global Shapers to attend the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland and represented the country • Acknowledged by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting of New Champions, in Tianjin China by Professor Klaus Schwab (founder of the WEF) for her contribution to entrepreneurship development in South • Named Top 30 African leaders in technology, business, art, science, politics, design and media by Quartz Africa. • Named one of the Top 100 Young Independent Disruptors by Independent Day Media • A mentor on the World Bank / VC4Africa XL Africa program • Participated in the World Bank Inaugural Innovation Summit in Singapore (2017) • Member of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) • Participated at the G20 Youth Entrepreneurship Alliance in Berlin Germany 2017 • Awarded the Coca –Cola Young Achiever of the year award at the Women In Leadership – Africa Summit 2013, alongside Nigerian female billionaire Folarunsho Alakija

Breakfast Show Host / Angel Investor / Entrepreneur / AI Strategist I've been a commercial Talk Show Host and music radio presenter for the past 20 years, and still love every second. (Currently on Cape Talk) Business Strategy is a passion I am turning into a growing business, and have started to do Angel Investing in the tech space. The combination of passions I live has also launched me into MC work, primarily for business events, both in South Africa and internationally.

John Sanei is a best-selling author, global speaker and trend specialist with a holistic approach to achieving future-readiness. By combining aspects of human psychology, business strategy and future studies, John elicits the courage, clarity and focus that enables uncomfortable decision-making. With over 20 years of experience in a diverse array of industries, John has developed a toolkit of methodologies that facilitate trend contextualisation and business innovation. Whether it comes down to corporate decision making, workshop facilitation, writing books, vlogging or lecturing, he encourages individuals to ask bigger, bolder questions about themselves and how they fit into the future. John is also a Faculty Member of Duke Corporate Education and the prestigious Singularity University in San Francisco. John Sanei is a trend specialist who isn’t afraid of telling businesses to innovate or die. A best-selling author and serial entrepreneur, John also walks the talk. His keynotes provoke and inspire local and international clients in both the private and public sectors. TREND SPECIALIST & STRATEGIST To drive trend-informed change, I consult, host workshops and drive strategy sessions that inspire, action and shift gears. GLOBAL SPEAKER, FACILITATOR & COACH I speak about the future so that leaders and companies can ask the right questions about how to innovate and be ‘Forever Profitable’. AUTHOR My first book, What’s Your Moonshot?, is about what it takes to thrive – rather than merely survive – in our exponentially changing times. What’s Your Moonshot? became a South African a bestseller on the Nielsen Book charts. My second book, MAGNETiiZe, is about how to stop the chase, understand the change and take control of your future by combining human psychology, future studies, and business strategy. ENTREPRENEUR Opportunities are perpetually on my radar. I have owned and sold a number of businesses and continue to invest in great ideas and exceptional humans.

Lisa MacLeod is Head of Digital at Tiso Blackstar Group, publisher of some of the country’s largest websites like TimesLIVE, SowetanLIVE and BusinessLIVE. Her role is to manage Tiso’s websites and digital teams, as well as implement sustainable monetisation strategies for the business. Tiso’s digital audience is more than 6-million unique browsers monthly, across 14 different websites. Lisa was previously GM of Digital for Media24’s 24.com, and prior to that spent 12 years in London at the Financial Times, helping to drive their print to digital integration projects. She was Head of Operations for FT.com, widely thought to be the most successful paid website in media, and FT Managing Editor, overseeing staffing, strategic planning and budgets for the FT globally. She is also Vice-President of the World Association of Newspapers and Publishers, a board member of the World Editor’s Forum, and a Publishing Council member for the Internet Advisory Bureau.

Buhle Miranda Goslar is Chief Customer Officer at JUMO, a technology company that connects individuals and MSMEs to loans and savings products in 7 markets in Africa and Asia. Buhle has held senior leadership roles in customer strategy and insights, commercial product management, marketing communications and ESG for more than 18 years. She has worked primarily in the financial services, technology, retail, tourism and hospitality sectors – across Sub-Saharan Africa, Asian and European markets. A certified international retail banker, Buhle holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town.

William KWENDE, is an African entrepreneur and developer. Educated in Dakar, Paris and Washington DC where he graduated with a degree in engineering at George Washington University and a DEFL from Georgetown University. William is a former UN Official with the IOM agency. He was first posted in Dakar Senegal covering West and Central Africa then in Manilla, Philippines for 8 years where he covered several of south-east Asia. His experience in development work has helped him formalised AGRITECH¹s initial concept featuring a mix of profit making and sustainable development notions. Based in Singapore Agritech promotes eco development clusters supporting rural farmers in 8 west and Central african countries. It also provides agro models, access to energy, training in rural areas as well as commodities consolidation bridging the rural and world markets. In 2010 William created Burkina Golden oils to produce Shea butter and consolidate Agritech’s activities in Shea and rare organic oils focused in empowering rural women. In 2014 M. KWENDE incorporated Golden Organic Global, to blend the organic oil into cosmetic in order to provide additional to the Women’s cooperatives in the value chain. M. KWENDE believes in energy independence and all his projects include own renewable power generation consisting of a hybrid Biomass-Solar plant of 5 to 10 MGW capacity. M. Kwende is now leading the Consortium for Clean food Processing Infrastructure. This revolutionary concept will provide rural processing centers running with renewable energy to vulnerable communities in Africa and around the world. It will drastically boost food security by reducing -harvest losses of 90% and mandates reforestation activities around the centers. Supported by the African Bank and the World Bank the pilot site is in construction near Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

Andrea is Co-Managing Partner of a Cape Town based Venture Capital firm, Knife Capital. Having grown up in Germany, she has a Masters Degree with focus on Marketing and Management of Technology and Innovation from the Technical University in Aachen, Germany and a MBA from Henley Management College in the UK. After years in industry, she has spend the last 14 years as an investor, working with technology companies in South Africa, assisting them to scale internationally. As an ecosystem activist, she believes that technology entrepreneurs have a significant influence on the future of Africa, impacting the generation of Intellectual Property, skills transfer, employment creation, creating role models and building significant sustainable businesses. Andrea believes that entrepreneurs need access to knowledge - subject matter expertise and business knowledge -, networks - advisors, customers, skills - and funding and is passionate about providing all of the above.

Jerome Touze, 38, is the CMO of travelstart group, a leading online travel agency in Africa and the Middle East. Prior to joining travelstart, Jerome was the Co Founder and COO of WAYN.com (lastminute.com group), the largest travel and lifestyle social media platform with over 25 million members worldwide. He launched WAYN.com in September 2002 in London. He and the Management Team secured $15,000 of seed capital from the Founder of Friends Reunited and grew the audience to 1 million users in less than 12 months. In 2006, he led a partial sale of the business to DFJ Esprit, a Venture Capitalist firm based in Cambridge, for $11 million and attracting investment from eminent Internet Founders such as Brent Hoberman (lastminute.com), Hugo Burge (Cheapflights.co.uk), and Andy Phillips (Active Hotels). He was responsible for implementing the main revenue channels and signing key strategic partnerships with Booking.com, Google and India Today Group. WAYN.com won UK Website of the year in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015 and won the prestigious World Travel Award in 2013 and 2015. Jerome has gained a lot of experience in fund raising and led a Series B capital raise with Scottish Equitable Partners in 2012 for $5 million. In September 2016, he led the sale of WAYN to the lastminute.com group He was an ''Enterprising Young Brits” Finalist as Business Entrepreneur of the Year and“Young Gun” class of 2007. Jerome was also commended for Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 at the UK Technology Innovation and Growth Awards and a Finalist at the Ernst & Young London Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. Prior to founding WAYN.com, Jerome was a Senior Consultant at Accenture in London where he worked in the Communications and High Tech division for clients such as Microsoft and BT Jerome holds a Management degree from Kedge Business School and a Business and Economics degree (BA Honors) from the University of Westminster with a major in Finance.

Carl Wazen is co-founder and Chief Business Officer at Yoco, a South African-based point of sale payments provider that builds tools and services to help small businesses accept card payments and manage their day to day activities. At Yoco he leads the commercial areas and fundraising. Carl was born in London in 1985 to Lebanese parents and spent his childhood between London and Beirut. He graduated from the American University of Beirut with a business degree at only 19. He went on to work for Citigroup investment bank in Dubai. After which he moved to Delta Partners, a telecoms and technology-focused investment and advisory company; which he helped grow from a team of 10 to a global consulting and investment firm of 200+ professionals with six offices globally. While on a project in South Africa, he met and worked with future Yoco co-founder Katlego Maphai. A few years later they decided to leave their jobs and start Yoco.

Vuyisa has over 15 years experience in; • Management • Technology • Marketing • Media • Entrepreneurship. He is co-founder at equity crowdfounding platform, Uprise Africa and is a founding partner at venture builder, Entrepreneur Traction. He holds directorships and advisory roles on various startup boards, and as a funding non executive director advocacy group at the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum (SABEF). Past projects include: • The Bandwith Barn Khayelitsha • SiMODISA • Startup South African Conference • Execuive MBA startup mentorship with Columbia Business School • Global Entrepreneurship Movement ( Malaysia) • SA Business Angels Network (SABAN) and Seedstars South Africa. He has completed a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) Degree and a Postgraduate Certificate in Property Analysis at the University of Cape Town and a Design Thinking in Practice short course from the D-School, at the UCT Business School. He is a past television host/presenter of Business Beat on Cape Town TV (DSTV Channel 263) and has a weekly column in the Business Report, part of the Independent Media Group and the largest English language business publication in South Africa.

Helen Zille is the Premier of the Western Cape. She was elected to office by the Provincial Parliament on 6 May 2009, and reelected after the May 2014 general elections. She was educated at Johannesburg's St Mary's School, Waverley and the University of the Witwatersrand, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. Before Helen Zille began her career in politics she worked as a political correspondent for the Rand Daily Mail, where she covered key political stories, such as the death, in police custody, of black consciousness activist Steve Biko. In 1977 she was able to prove that Biko had been tortured to death and that the official version of the story, which claimed he had died of natural causes, was false. From the 1980s onward she became involved in NGOs and activist organizations, including the Open Society Foundation, the Independent Media Diversity Trust, and the Black Sash. She also campaigned against vigilantism and repression in the Cape Town townships, and was part of the peace movement that worked to bring warring factions in Crossroads together. She joined the former Democratic Party in the mid 1990s, where she was asked to reformulate the party's education policy and stand as a candidate on its election list for the Western Cape legislature. She also acted as Technical Adviser to the party at CODESA in the early 1990s. Helen was elected to the provincial parliament in the 1999 general election under the banner of the Democratic Alliance. From 1999 to 2001 she served as Minister of Education in the Western Cape Province. When the ANC gained power in 2001 she became Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape legislature, where she remained until she was elected as a member of the National Parliament in 2004. As a Democratic Alliance MP she served on the Portfolio Committee on Education, and acted as the DA's National Spokesperson. Her constituency included Langa, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha. On 15 March 2006 she was elected as Mayor of Cape Town, and resigned from parliament. Two years later, in 2008, she was voted World Mayor in a poll of over 800 cities around the world conducted by global think tank World Mayors. On 6 May 2007 she was elected as the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, and was re- elected in 2012. Her term as DA leader ended in May 2015. In 2016, Helen released her autobiography Not Without A Fight. The City Press described it as the ‘Nonfiction book of the year’.

Craig Mullett is President of Branison Group, an M&A advisory firm based near New York City. Craig is also an active angel investor as a Director of the Angel Investor Forum, part of the Angel Capital Association. Craig is a founder of AngelHub, Africa's first angel group and helped in establishing SA Business Angels Network as well as Trident Angels, the first Caribbean angel group. He has many active angel investments that include cloud computing software, mobile digital security, consumer goods and medical devices. Craig has been interviewed on startup investing by the New York Times, Forbes, Financial Mail and Inc. He is a Venture Advisor at Yale University and has an MBA from Nyenrode (Netherlands), a BCom(Hons) from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and is a graduate of the International Leadership Academy of the United Nations (Jordan).

Neku Atawodi-Edun is Director, Investor Relations for the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), a not-for-profit that invests in and trains African Entrepreneurs, with an aim to create Africa's next Tech entrepreneurs and provide jobs for the continent. Neku has extensive experience as a self-starter entrepreneur, having spearheaded the launch-to-market of companies in various sectors under her watch. Previously, Neku worked as a Technical Advisor to the Ministry of (FCT) where she developed the FCT’s revolutionary File Tracking System. Neku is passionate about empowering African entrepreneurs through tech, and was a member of the founding team for Africa’s pioneer Impact Investment Tracking Platform. Neku is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and a Clinton Global Initiative Lead Mentor. She holds a Masters Degree in International Business from the European Business School, London, and is an avid equestrian in her spare time. She is a Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 entrepreneur and a nominee for CNBC's Young African Entrepreneur of the year.

CEO at Silicon Cape. Kerry joined the Silicon Cape team in February, adding her significant experience in within the NGO sector; particularly around strategic visioning, stakeholder engagement and evaluation; to the Silicon Cape stable. Kerry has run successful interventions across urban and rural South Africa in sectors such as education, social justice and health. Her 2008 MBA dissertation explored the advantages and disadvantages of for-profit / non-profit alliances and the potentials of social enterprise. Her interest in innovative partnerships for development impact continues in all her work. She is passionate about facilitating outcomes that contribute to a future society which will be underpinned by commercial, social and environmental sustainability. Kerry continues to support improved school governance in public schools through her volunteer work with Broader Woodstock SGB Collective.

Martin is a Senior Market Engagement Manager for the GSMA’s Ecosystem Accelerator programme, which supports mobile operators and innovators in driving scale in unique, commercially and socially sustainable mobile for development products and services in emerging markets. Martin joined the GSMA in 2016. Prior to joining the GSMA, Martin worked at Hewlett Packard Enterprises as the Distribution Business Manager for East, West and Southern Africa. He’s always worked at Symantec Corporation as Regional Business Development Manager for East and Francophone Africa. Prior to that Martin worked at Aitel Africa group office as a Group Product Marketing Specialist for SMS, Data and Mobile content across the 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Martin holds a Bsc. In International Business Administration from United States International University and a diploma in technology distribution from Global Technology Distribution Council

Julia Raphaely is a majority shareholder in Associated Media Publishing (AMP) and CEO of the group. Associated Media Publishing currently reaches an estimated 1.2 million readers each month through its print titles and more than 8 million users through its online properties. With five prominent titles in its stable, it reaches a wide variety of women in South Africa, talking to them in their various life stages and mind-sets across multiple platforms. As CEO of the company she is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction and creating a vision for the group, improving business results and overseeing the group’s day-to-day operations. Julia completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Cape Town in 1987, after which she studied at the AAA School of Advertising (graduating with honours). She completed a Masters Degree in Interactive Telecommunication at the University of New York in 1993. Since joining AMP full time in August 1993, Julia has played a significant role in establishing the company as one of the largest independent publishers of glossy women’s magazines in South Africa. AMP has steadily grown its reach, not only in print but now also as a multi-platform media house. Julia has not only embraced the significant challenges the print industry currently faces, but continues to transform AMP into a business that will flourish in the years to come. Julia is a decisive and determined leader with proven commercial management and operational skills. Above all, she is a true professional and team player, focused on innovation and continually striving for a streamlined and successful business foundation. One of her biggest strengths is her ability to embrace change – a skill much needed in todays fast paced business environment. Her experience covers a broad spectrum, including business development management, marketing, finance, digital media and sales. Family is very important to Julia and alongside her partner, is the parent of two young children and the lucky step-parent to two more.

Tanya van Lill joined the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) in March 2017 as CEO, after a rewarding 10-year career at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). There, she fulfilled the roles of Director of Academic Programmes, and learning and development specialist, focusing on management and leadership development across a wide range of sectors. During her tenure, she served on the board of the Executive MBA Council (EMBAC), an international academic association that represents the executive MBA industry. She holds a BCom Informatics and Honours in Business Management degree from UNISA as well as a post-graduate diploma and MBA from GIBS. Her thesis was dedicated to the methodology behind developing a global mindset. As a strategic and creative thinker, Tanya’s interests lie in both human and organisational development, with the aim of shaping the ongoing growth and success of Southern Africa’s private equity and venture capital sector. Tanya is also a South African PowerLifter as well as a motorbike and fitness enthusiast.

Aaron is an early stage investor, entrepreneur, and strategic advisor to both startups as they scale and corporates as they transform to gain agility for disruptive innovation. Over the last 5 years he has specifically focussed on innovation in Africa, working with partners across diverse industries, from financial services to health to mobile to agriculture. As Managing Director at MEST, dedicated to training, investing in and incubating the next generation of rockstar global software entrepreneurs in Africa, he manages a portfolio of 30+ startups spanning industry groups like fintech, media, eCommerce and agritech. He’s energised every day at how each of these entrepreneurs are transforming the continent and its narrative, sharing this excitement regularly on the global stage and continuing to advise corporations on innovation and transformation.

As founding partner of ThisIsMe, Juan Furmie has acquired a unique talent for client relations over his years spent consulting for start-up businesses. His unstoppable passion for the digital world was ignited when he became involved in the web technologies and networking basics of Magiqstudios, a web development company headed up by his brother. Armed with a keen interest in the expanding realm of e-Commerce, Juan ventured from Magiqstudios in 2003 to become a specialist in payment systems (including Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance) for PlayUKinternet, a UK-based lottery ticket concierge marketed from Cape Town. After gaining five years’ experience in payments, Juan shifted his focus to become Marketing Manager of the Central & Eastern Europe marketing division of PlayUKinternet and then later on to become the Global Head of Marketing. Juan applies his extensive expertise in operations, payment systems, marketing and business strategy to ThisIsMe. He now heads the business as the CEO after 4 years as COO.

Kungela Mzuku describes herself as an optimistic futurist who comes from Mthatha, Eastern Cape. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of Proof of Steak, an investment platform which strives to tackle information asymmetry within the agricultural sector. Alongside her entrepreneurial endeavours, Kungela is part of the first candidates currently pursuing the MPhil in Financial Technology and previously a Bachelor of Business Sciences in Information Systems both at the University of Cape Town. She has won 1st Prize in two Hackathon Competitions, worked for 22Seven (UX/UI design intern), Praekelt Foundation (Service Design intern) and more recently as a Data Science intern at Aerobotics. She is passionate about Product Design and using technology to facilitate change.

Named one of the Top 5 Women influencing IT in Africa, Ethel Cofie is CEO and Founder of EDEL Technology Consulting, an IT Consulting Company in West Africa and Europe who was recently named IT Consulting Firm of the year by the Telecoms and IT Industry. She is also Founder of Women in Tech Africa, Africa’s largest women in tech group with members in over 30 Africa countries and in the diaspora and growing. She created women in tech week, a global event which impacts over 10,000 women globally. Currently sits on the Advisory Board for Ghana’s Vice President, helping to design Digital Strategy for Ghana, as well as sits on the Tech Advisory board for the Graca Machel Trust. She has been featured on BBC and has had her opinion pieces published on CNN on the topics of business, technology in emerging markets, and women leadership. When she is not running EDEL or Women in Tech Africa, She is advising and consulting on technology growth in emerging markets and bringing more women into technology careers across Africa.

Antoinette started her entrepreneurial journey in 2004 after leaving McKinsey and Company with the aim to positively influence how business is done in Africa. She started her first business, Afrofusion Advertising in her mother’s lounge and over the past fourteen years, she gained extensive experience in accessing new markets by taking her first business to Uganda, Kenya and servicing clients in Nigeria. She is passionate about the entrepreneurial space across the continent and shares her expertise by mentoring early stage Founders. She was a featured mentor on SABC1s Making Moves. She launched the 88 Business Collective in 2016 and focuses on accelerating Female Founders utilizing her Growth Through Collaboration methodology. INTERVIEWS: Startup Grind:  https://bit.ly/2FVi2Bg AfricaCom:        http://bit.ly/2zuEop6 Ventureburn:   http://bit.ly/2iJrOMf Cliff Central:     http://cliffcentral.com/unbranded/unbranded-18-08-15/ KayaFM:           https://soundcloud.com/afrofusion-advertising CNBC Africa:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Kl5M2EMHw

Head of Sourcing & Marketing at WeThinkCode_ Katie believes that peer-to-peer digital education in today's Fourth Industrial Revolution is key in creating opportunities for Africa's youth. Born into a family of educators, Katie considers herself extremely fortunate to have enjoyed a varied education including a Bachelor of Journalism & Media Studies (Hons.) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Media Management from Rhodes University. While traveling and working abroad, she also completed two online courses with Distinction; Digital Marketing (Quirk, Stellenbosch Business School) and Online Copywriting (GetSmarter, University of Cape Town). Katie has extensive digital marketing experience across a number of different industries including the alcohol, FMCG, travel and tourism, motoring, finance and health and wellness industries. Today, Katie aligns her values to her varied skill set as she sources future WeThinkCode_ talent to join the Joburg and Cape Town campuses. Going forward, WeThinkCode_ aims to establish another three campuses across the African continent and Katie looks forward to establishing Pan-African partnerships and sourcing diverse talent to join WeThinkCode_. She is also passionate about driving WeThinkCode_'s internal WomenThinkCode_ initiative; where she strives to recruit, retain and nurture more women in the tech industry.

Otema Yirenkyi is the Founder & CEO of NexInnova. She is an innovative, versatile sales & marketing leader with a passion for technology and drive for results. Otema has 20+ years leading teams at IBM, Microsoft and Vodafone. Her extensive corporate experience driving complex deals and geographic expansion of services and products on behalf of large MNCs underpins her deep understanding of selling to corporate clients. In recent years, Otema has been working with tech start-ups focused on innovations that positively impact Africa’s development. As the Founder and CEO of NexInnova she is bringing to life that passion through creating an innovation services company that houses an accelerator and VC fund. She loves the art of the deal and building ecosystems that enable innovators, partners and investors to connect and flourish. Otema graduated from Cornell University with a BS in ILR and University of London (SOAS) with a Masters in Economic Development.

Justin is an entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist from Cape Town, South Africa. With more than 15 years experience, he is founder, board member, advisor, or investor to a wide variety of companies in the technology industry. Growing up on a farm, he decided not to complete high school and instead made the move to the city of Cape Town alone, to pursue his dreams of being an early Internet entrepreneur at the turn of the century. Despite a few years of failed attempts in the wake of the infamous dotcom crash, he eventually prevailed and successfully launched and grew a pan-African Internet based software company from a garage in the suburbs of Cape Town, centred around the newly emerging theme of Internet security. Having founded his first startup attempt at the age of 18, Justin has been involved in tech startups and entrepreneurial endeavours ever since, and has advised or invested in dozens of companies, domestically and abroad. Today he focuses his time as co-founding General Partner of pioneering venture capital firm 4Di Capital. Based in Cape Town and Atlanta, 4Di Capital specialises in investing in early-stage tech companies in Southern and Eastern Africa. As co-founder of the Silicon Cape Initiative in 2009, designed to highlight and catalyse South Africa's nascent emerging tech startup ecosystem, Justin believes in Cape Town's potential as a global technology innovation hub. In 2011, he was listed by the Mail & Guardian for the 'Top 200 Young South Africans', in 2013, listed by Forbes for '30 Under 30: Africa's Best Young Entrepreneurs'. For 2014 through to 2017, he was listed by the Institut Choiseul for the 'Choiseul 100 Africa: Economic Leaders for Tomorrow', and in 2017 he was listed in the inaugural '100 Most Influential Young South Africans' by Avance Media.