Agenda

Reine Essobmadje holds a Global Executive MBA from IE business school Spain with an additional program in Ethics & Corporate Governance from SMU Singapore. She is also an Engineer by training (Master of sciences), graduated in 2004, from ECE Paris (she has been introduced in School Hall of Fame) including an additional program in Management from Stafford University in UK.
She is the founder of Evolving Consulting in Cameroon and France since 2009.
With a double culture (African and European) Reine advocate for the added value of ICT4Dev in various sectors (finance, education, agronomy...), while in parallel being involved in scientist and women organizations.
Her activities focus on women and youth entrepreneurship, workforce diversity, diaspora role in development and women in STEM
▪ President of Digital Economy Committee at Cameroonian Business Council named GICAM (Groupement Interpatronal du Cameroun) and member of Women CEO Committee
▪ Board member at GICAM (Cameroonian Business Council) and past board member at Air e-Go (West Parisian Business Council)
▪ Member, WIE Committee (WomenInEngineering) at WFEO (World Fed of Eng Organizations)
▪ INWES Africa – Chair of Advocacy committee
▪ Member of Club 21e Siècle / Diversity
▪ Co-Founder Digital Coalition (Ex ICT4MDG (Hackathon, ICT days, Master Class, Entrepreneurship, Think Tank)
With the intent of using ICT to achieve inclusive and sustainable development Reine is also the promoter of ICT days under the brand name “ICT days Africa 4.0” launched in Cameroon in 2010, and the Hack4Cause series including (Hack4Afrik and Hack4Girl) through her NGO Digital Coalition. She is also co-organizer of the African Digital Woman Award patron by Dr Hamadoun Touré former ITU SG.

Moctar Yedaly is an executive from the African Union. He has an MBA in international Business, two Engineering degrees and more than 20 years of International experience in the field of communication and Networks management, resources evaluation and policy preparation. He is graduated from George Washington University, Amity University and Institute of Informatics. Moctar is a former staff of Intelsat in the USA and RASCOM in Cote d’Ivoire where he led the first African Satellite Program. Since 2008, he is in charge of the Information Society within the African Union Commission – an
Intergovernmental organization with HQ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this capacity, he has led the formulation and adoption of several Policies related to ICT including the AU Convention on cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection and recently the AU Digital Transformation Strategy (DTS). He has designed and implemented key Programs and Projects for Africa like the African Internet Exchanges System (AXIS), the Program for Infrastructure development in Africa (PIDA), the Dot Africa Domain Name System- an African Digital Identity. He contributes to several conferences and event around the world. He has been the co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Forum for Cybersecurity Expertise (GFCE). Moctar is Fluent in English, French, Arabic, Russian and Wolof 

Technology continues to change the world we live in. Tunde’s mission is to create globally inclusive technology platforms that improve lives. As Lead Advisor to the Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) Digital Centre of Excellence, he is responsible for creating and implementing the ECA’s digital initiatives across Digital ID, Trade and Economy.

As a business leader, Tunde has built and managed teams that delivered growth in $5 million to $5 billion businesses. He has led technology and telecommunications businesses in the US, South East Asia, and West Africa. As a Senior Partner of Kitskoo, Tunde leads teams that advise and implement digital transformation projects for government cloud services, smart cities, as well as broadband and mobile platforms for inclusion. Previously, Tunde has been Managing Director of Bayan Telecoms (PH), as well as Vice President, Verizon.

Tunde serves on several corporate and non-profit boards. He has an MBA from the Sloan School and an MS in Technology & Policy, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Based in Ethiopia, Andrew Rugege is currently the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regional Director for Africa and Representative to the African Union (AU) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). 

Recognized as a thought-leader and key influencer among African countries, Andrew is responsible for collaboration with and technical assistance to ITU Members in Africa. He believes that by putting ITU’s resources and expertise at the disposal of its Members and building key partnerships between Public and Private Sectors, ICT and Innovation can become the backbone of Africa’s Digital Transformation and accelerator of UN SDGs and AU Agenda 2063.

Andrew leads teams that provide Members States with advice and expertise in ICT Policy, Regulation, Infrastructure, Innovation, and others. He is passionate about Youth and Women Empowerment, Innovation and sustainable development through ICTs. His broad experience in the Technology sector spans private and public sectors as well as Academia.

Prior to ITU, Andrew served as COO at MTN and CEO at Artel Communications both in Rwanda. He previously served as Director of International Business Development at ABSinteractive, USA and Global IT Services Coordinator at United Bible Societies, UK.

Andrew holds master’s degrees in Engineering and Computer Science and Business Administration.

“Dr. Ralph Oyini Mbouna earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Temple University, Philadelphia, USA, where he was an assistant Professor in the College of Engineering. His research focus was in computer vision and machine learning leaning towards use cases in defense, security and national interests. Dr. Ralph Oyini Mbouna has several publications in peer-reviewed journals such as IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems and IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. In 2016, Dr. Ralph Oyini Mbouna returned to Africa where he was appointed Director of the Universal Service Fund at the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP), the Gabon’s telecom/ICT regulator. After spending 3 years as a telecom regulator, he joins the Smart Africa’s team where he is presently Head of Digital Transformation, Innovation and Services.”