We are elated to announce the participation of Heather Li, Cordel Robbin-Coker, Hannah Subayi Kamuanga, Adebola Omololu and George Appiah at WIM 2020, hosted by EqualOcean. They will share their insights on the topic ‘The role of cross-continental collaboration in development of Africa’s tech ecosystem at the African Chapter panel discussion, moderated by Heather Li.
On December 9-11, 2020, EqualOcean will host this year's World Innovators Meet (WIM2020). Due to the unprecedented events regarding COVID-19, WIM2020 will take on a bolder stance and adopt a more global outlook by taking the form of an online conference that will be streamed simultaneously in all countries and regions that champion the realm of technology and innovation.
During the World Innovators Meet, the WIM Committee will release the annual blockbuster WIA list, the World Innovation Awards, based on our annual industry and investment research findings, together with a series of research reports.
The building of a technology ecosystem in Africa must have an underlying purpose and, particularly given the macro-environmental fundamentals prevalent in Africa, that purpose must be to create an enabling environment that drives inclusive growth.
Heather Li, founder of DotConnector
Heather graduated from Penn State University with a dual degree in Public Relations and Political Science with a minor in Digital Entrepreneurship. Known as the ‘ultimate dot connector,’ she’s passionate about bringing people together and building communities.
At the center of crisscrossing relationships within and beyond the Sino-African Entrepreneurship/Technological context, Heather is a tech-savvy and an adventurous freelance consultant, working in collaboration with top China-focused startups & SMEs across various industries, with a focus on China-Africa relations and technology.
She is also the organizer of freelancer/creative communities like Coffee Co-Lab and Shanghai Women in Media, where she hosts regular events.
Following the example of Thomas Huxley, she tries “to learn something about everything and everything about something."
Heather believes firmly in the power of learning. She always challenges herself to step outside of her comfort zone and take every challenge as an opportunity to learn something new. It has rewarded her well and helped her gain many different perspectives which she is adept at sharing.
Cordel Robbin-Coker, CEO of Carry1st
"Entrepreneurship is like being in the deep end of a pool. You can’t walk into the deep end. You’re either in or you’re out. And the only way to get in is to jump. If you overthink it, it would be hard to jump.”
Cordel Robbin-Coker has a background in investment banking and a passion for mobile games. His mission is to bring the world of interactives to Africa and to connect Africa to the world. Get ready for a fascinating, deep dive into the mobile gaming markets across a continent that is always speeding up its pace of change.
Cordel Robbin-Coker is the Co-Founder and CEO of Carry1st, the leading mobile games and content apps publisher and developer for African consumers. He graduated from Stanford University with a major in Political Science. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, he is a frequent visitor to New York.
Carry1st is an interactive content platform leveraging mobile technology to serve the interests of the first generation of African smartphone users. They develop and publish social games and digital commerce apps, combining proprietary technology, local payment gateways and culturally-relevant content to serve a large, fast-growing, yet underserved market. Carry1st has published the #1 Android game in Nigeria and Kenya, ‘Carry1st Trivia,' which has delighted over a million users.
While serving as a board member of Amrod (the South African leader in corporate branded promotional products) he led their digital transformation strategy and expansion strategy into high-growth markets in Kenya and Nigeria.
“Africa is the fastest-growing continent in almost any way you can imagine. People are starting to move into the middle class in a way you saw in Asia probably 20-30 years ago. And as that happens, there is an appetite for a really wide range of goods and services. Everything that you have and use day-to-day, people on the continent aspire to or/and are beginning to have. So, it creates a cool opportunity to build businesses and serve people," said Cordel during a recent podcast.
Hannah Subayi Kamuanga, PE and VC Investor in Africa
Hannah is a portfolio manager at South Suez Capital, the largest African fund of private equity funds ($1bn AUM), heading the secondary and funds practice. She has been investing and conducting due diligence on the whole continent and in various sectors, gaining expertise in innovative financial modelling, cross-border deal structuring and complex legal negotiations. In this context, she has a deep understanding and knowledge of the African private equity market and the dynamics of managers and the environment. From an investor’s perspective, she has also dealt with pension funds and other types of investors (including family offices, DFIs and endowments) in Africa, Europe, US and Asia. In addition, she has built her experience as an angel and venture capital investor since 2018, in particular as a director of Dazzle Angels, the first SA female angel fund. As a guest lecturer in entrepreneurship at the African Leadership Academy, she also has access to numerous African entrepreneurs.
In addition to being passionate about African entrepreneurship and female empowerment, she is also keen on educating the market about investment opportunities.
She has acted as a speaker, host, and panelist, moderator and Judge at various industry events including in African conferences focused on private equity and start-ups AVCA, SAVCA, Africa.com [Ahub], Bonds & Sukuk, Superreturn Conference, AESIS Conference, EY GBV Hackathon, Vfest at the African Leadership Academy and various podcasts (The Nest).
Hannah is also a philanthropist seeking to impact the healthcare space in her home country.
Adebola Omololu, Cofounder at GetFundedAfrica
Adebola is a dynamic entrepreneur and intrapreneur and is the founder of Afriscaper. Afriscaper is an advisory platform that leverages data and helps companies with their investment or expansion plans into emerging markets in African and Asia. In 2017, Afriscaper was involved in decision pipelines of over $100m.
Adebola is recognized in Nigeria and abroad as a pioneer in many fields. In 2005, he launched one of the first fully integrated ecommerce platforms in West Africa, which is credited by McKinsey & Co as one of the first online retail businesses in Nigeria, his home country. The ecommerce landscape in Nigeria, in which he was a pioneer, is today worth over $2 billion.
Before setting up as an entrepreneur, he rose through the ranks as a tax and accounting specialist in several multi-national organizations including KPMG (Professional Services), Schlumberger (Oil & Gas Servicing) & Conoco-Philips (Upstream Oil & Gas).
He holds a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Ilorin and is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He also holds an advanced certificate in Marketing from the University of Liverpool.
Via KaiOS, Adebola is on a mission to provide internet access to the over half of the world's population who have no internet access. Leveraging technology, KaiOS has developed an operating system that enables ecosystem partners to tackle the main barriers to internet access.
He is as well a founding member of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (East China), the African Business Chamber in China (Afbizcham) and also a Fellow with the Startup Leadership Program (SLP).
George Appiah, Executive Director for Ghana Tech Lab
A graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, George Appiah is a techpreneur and Africa Tech-Policy Expert with a background in Electrical/Electronic Engineering (BSc), Business Administration (MBA) and Renewable energy (MSc).
He is the Executive Director for Ghana Tech Lab, an ecosystem hub serving as a strategic vehicle for the acceleration of digital skills and digital entrepreneurship/jobs in Ghana. Ghana Tech Lab currently works with 12 partnered Tech Hubs across the country, delivering digital skills and jobs programs for about 2000 youths annually.
George is passionate about youth employment and impactful innovations – this makes him focus on accelerating the adoption of the‘4th industrial age’ technologies in Africa, solving crucial challenges and creating jobs through the building up of ‘Human Capacity.’
He is also the Co-founder/CEO of Kumasi Hive; a Tech Innovation Hub which through its ‘Future Workforce for Africa’ initiative trains undergraduates as well as unemployed and underemployed youths to acquire skills in emerging technologies (IoT, VR/AR, Biotech, Blockchain etc.). The hub works on a cycle of problem-solution-startup, where aspiration leads to relevant preparation for employment.
Kumasi Hive truly shows us socially-minded innovation in action. Its rapid prototyping of ideas, its feeding of budding local innovations, and its raising of impactful startups all address critical social economic and developmental challenges.
George has over 10 years’experience in technology development, innovation process management and managing technology-entrepreneurship communities. He has served as a consultant in various capacities, in e-governance, digital skills development and digital entrepreneurship for the Government of Ghana and international development agencies. He is a member of the Africa Union Commission stakeholder engagement group for e-commence development in Africa.
About WIM
Hosted by EqualOcean, the World Innovators Meet (WIM) is a world-class event for innovators. It provides limitless opportunities to learn from and connect with the most sought-after technology pioneers.
About WIA
The World Innovation Awards (WIA) are announced at WIM to recognize game-changers across various industries and geographies. Selected by a committee of distinguished experts, entrepreneurs and investors, WIA are designed to acknowledge technology disruptors striving to make a positive impact.
Register for the event
We sincerely welcome you to join WIM2020 on December 9-11, 2020.
Click here to register and you will receive:
[Global Trends] Key insights from 11 Industry and Overseas Chapters made available to you for all three days of WIM2020.
[Insightful Conversation] Connect with 120 top-notch global speakers, listen to their perspectives and interact with them online.
[Innovative Community] Join an exclusive network of 10,000 professionals to participate in discussions and gain first-hand information from fellow participants.
[Business Networking] Gain 1:1 business-connect opportunity to launch or speed up partnerships worldwide.
[Comprehensive Report] Exclusive in-depth research reports will be delivered right to your mailbox.
Free tickets, Premium tickets and Platinum all-inclusive tickets are on sale. Presale and group ticket options are also available, don't miss this opportunity!
Join the WIM2020 family and become a member of the World Innovation Community, participating in a technology and innovation carnival that connects the world right at your doorstep, all while drawing a special end to the extraordinary 2020!
Cooperation
If you would like to become/recommend a speaker, discuss cooperation opportunities or media partnerships, apply for the World Innovators Awards or to be a volunteer, please click here to fill in the WIM2020 Cooperation Form (we recommend you to do so on a computer). We will be in touch as soon as possible. Thank you and welcome!