Biographies of the guest speakers
President of the Republic of Namibia
MP - Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Namibia
Director, Africa Department, UNWTO
CEO, Africa Tourism Partners
UN Resident Coordinator, Namibia
Executive Director of Tourism, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Namibia.
Director of Tourism, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Namibia
Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Namibia
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Sport, Youth & National Services
CEO, Millvest Advisory South Africa
CEO, Hospitality EQ, Kenya
Director: Technology Transfer and Innovation, Durban University of Technology, South Africa
Director of Audit, Investment Management and Insurance, ABSA Group, South Africa
Senior Lecturer and Coordinator, Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Ghana
Hotel Pearl Afrique, Uganda
FENATA Chairperson, Namibia
Innovation and Digital Transformation Expert, UNWTO, Spain
Commission - Namibia’s Green Hydrogen
Deputy Executive Director, Administration, Planning and Tourism, Ministry of Environment, Forestry andTourism, Namibia
Founder, Best Marketing & Marketing Parrot, Estonia
Founder Eco Africa Digital, South Africa
Innovation, UK
Managing Director, CPL Events, Portugal
Meetings Professionals International, Zambia
Senior Consultant, BDO, South Africa
Director, BDO, South Africa
Managing Director - Namibia Wildlife Foundation
Chief Director of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry
Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Marketing Officer South African Tourism
Founder, SEEZA and Managing Director, Osiba Management, South Africa
Minister of Tourism, DR Congo
Founder and Former Dual Vocational I TVET Director
Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Zimbabwe
Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism, South Africa
Minister of Tourism and Arts - Zambia
Chief Executive Office, Vanilla Islands Organisation, Reunion Island
COO South African Tourism
Tourism Promoter and Visibility Strategist
Chairman and CEO, Hafeni Afrika Tourism Group Pty Ltd, Namibia and Co-Founder, Africa Economic Leadership Council (AELC)
Ecosystem Builder/ Open Innovation/New Business Models/Client Solutions, BBVA, Spain
Founder and CEO, Nyitiso Consulting Group, South Africa
National President, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies National Secretariat, Nigeria
Cofounder AfroChella
Private pilot student from Zimbabwe Flight Centre Academy, Zimbabwe.
Architect & Project Manager. Runner-up, Youth in Tourism Innovation Challenge 2021 & Programme Ambassador, Namibia
Executive Director, Uganda Hotel Owners Association, Uganda
Chief Flying Instructor, Namibian Aviation Training Academy
Director, hospitality EQ
CEO, Namibia Tourism Board
Managing Publisher Voyage Africa & UNWTO Communication Expert, Africa
the DBN Head: SME Finance, Namibia, Development Bank
Managing Director & Trustee, NamPro Fund, Namibia
Founder and CEO Grand Scale Consultancy South Africa
Centre for unconventional entrepreneurship, Switzerland
Economic Affairs Officer, UNECA, East Africa Office, Kigali, Rwanda
CEO, Safari Wallet, Tanzania
CEO, Wakanow, Nigeria
Country Manager, Travelstart, South Africa
Founder & CEO, Jabu
Namibia Investment Promotion & Development Board, Namibia
Director, Innovation, Education and Investments, UNWTO, Spain
Director – BDO South Africa
Commercial Manager Travelstart & Innovation City, South Africa
Director: School of Tourism and Hospitality, South Africa
Secretary-General, Junior Chamber International, JCI, Netherlands
Deputy Executive Director, Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME development
Chef & Chief Operating Officer
CEO, Development Bank of Namibia, Namibia
CEO, Namibia Trade Forum, Namibia
CEO, Financial I Advisory | International Trade Pro, Ghana
Director, Director, Product and Investment, Ghana Tourism Authority
Managing Director, Africa’s Connect – Zimbabwe
Chief Convention Bureau Officer, South Africa
Director Marketing, Zambia Tourism Agency
MP – Minister of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Namibia
Group Manager, Corporate Relations, O & L Group of Companies
Founder, Creative Switzerland, Switzerland
Country Director, ESP, Gabon
Executive Director NUST Satellite Campuses, Namibia
Acting CEO, Namibia Training Authority, Namibia
University of South Africa
Deputy Minister of Industrialization and Trade
Senior Programme Officer - Programme Innovation and Entrepreneurship, NEPAD - AUDA, South Africa
Mlangeni, General Manager, MyPond Stenden Hotel, South Africa
Executive Director, African Vibes, USA
digital media personality, event organizer & brand consultant
Presidential Advisor on Youth Matters, Namibia Presidential Advisor, Youth Matters & Enterprise Development, Office of the President, Namibia
CEO Airline Pros, International, USA
CEO, Fly Namibia, Namibia
Executive Director, Namibia Civil Aviation Authority
CEO, Airline Association of Southern Africa (AASA)
Founder and Managing Director, Augmented Future, Rwanda
Exclusive Hospitality Concepts, South Africa
Co-Founder/ Chief Operations Officer at Creative Ltd- 2021 Winner Africa Youth in Tourism innovation, Ghana
Program Development Officer, Progress Namibia Technical and Advisory Services
Head Department Enterprise Development and Management, University of Namibia
Founder & CEO, Rural Tourism Africa, South Africa
CEO, Association of Uganda Tour Operator, Association
CEO, Environmental Investment Fund, Namibia
Lead: Sustainable Tourism Strategy & Partnerships, STTA, Kenya
COO, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
CEO, Gondwana Collection
CEO, HATAB, Botswana
Senior Lecturer, Tshwane
Founder & Managing Director, Decanus Airlines, South Africa & Somaliland
President Of The Republic Of Namibia
STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. HAGE G. GEINGOB, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Namibia
Pohamba Penomwenyo Shifeta (born 27 March 1968) is a politician figure and a legal practitioner who is serving as Minister of Environment and Tourism in the Cabinet of Namibia since 2015.
Shifeta was born at Ongenga in Ohangwena Region. He has been active in the SWAPO-led National Union of Namibian Workers and Namibia National Students Organisation since 1988. Shifeta has a Diploma in Public Administration. He has a BA degree in Political Sciences and he holds an LLB Honours. He has also been involved in the SWAPO Party Youth League.
Shifeta was first elected to the National Assembly of Namibia in 2004 as a SWAPO candidate. He was appointed as Deputy Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture in March 2005, and he retained his position after the 2009 general election. In a December 2012 Cabinet reshuffle, after the fifth SWAPO congress, Shifeta was moved to the post of Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism.
In President Hage Geingob’s Cabinet, appointed in March 2015, Shifeta was promoted to the post of Minister of Environment and Tourism.
Originally from the Seychelles, Elcia Grandcourt joined the World Tourism Organisation, a United Nations specialised Agency for Tourism in 2013 as Director, of the Regional Department for Africa. Elcia began her tourism career studying Hotel Management in Singapore at the Singapore Hotel Association and Education Centre (SHATEC). Thereafter, she occupied various positions in operations, reservations and sales mainly in hotels, including leading international brands such as Le Meridien and Hilton Worldwide Resorts. She was part of the rebranding team when Hilton Worldwide Resorts took over the management of the then Northolme hotel in Seychelles. She worked with the Seychelles national airline and destination management companies before joining the public sector to Seychelles Tourism Board as deputy CEO before being promoted to Chief Executive Officer, a position she occupied prior to joining UNWTO. Passionate about tourism, Elcia is honoured to be able to contribute towards sustainable tourism development in Africa.
Elcia also holds a Master in Dynamics of Cooperation, Conflicts and Negotiation in International Relations and Diplomacy.
Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism
Legislative Profile: Member of the National Assembly (2015-present) and appointed as the Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism in March 2021 till present.
Personal:Born on 19 January 1978, Zambezi Region
Education: Student: Diploma in Business Administration, Business Management College (2014 ) Certificate: Executive Office Assistant, Business Management College (2013-2014); Certificate: Computer Literacy, Business Management College (1999); Certificate: Typing Skills, City Commercial College (1996).
Career: Kongola Pioneer Band (1989); Member: Interim Swapo Party Youth League Committee (1993); Branch Executive Member of NANSO, St Kizito College (1992); Student Representative Council Chairperson, St Kizito College (1993-1995); Regional Executive Member of Representative SPYL (1994); Regional Chairperson, Caprivi Regional Youth Forum (1994); Board Member of National Youth Council (2001-2010); Regional Pioneer Representative, SPYL (2001-2007); District Secretary: Katima Urban SPYL (2007 to date); Regional Protocol Chairperson Swapo Party (2012 to date); Member of Local Authority Tender Board of Katima Mulilo Town Council (2011- 2014); Administrative Officer: Ministry of Education, Zambezi Region (1996-2013); Acting Accountant: Ministry of Education, Zambezi Region (2013-2015).
In March 2021, Hon. Heather Mwiza Sibungo was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. Hon.Sibungo is passionate about Forestry and Tourism.
Legislative Interests: Politics
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Sport, Youth & National Services
Honourable, Kantema-Gaomas is a Member of Parliament and a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Sport, Youth, and National Services. She is a public executive who served in different key positions both in the public and corporate sectors. Prior to her appointment as Deputy Minister, Hon Kantema-Gaomas served as the Executive Director in the same Ministry. She also served as an Executive at the Social Security Commission as the Company Secretary and an Acting CEO from 2015 to 2016.
Hon. Kantema-Gaomas holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Corporate Governance and Corporate Strategy Management. She graduated from the Namibia University of Science and Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Management and National Diploma in Natural Resource Management. In addition, Hon Kantema-Gaomas obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership and Management from the University of Coventry (UK), an advanced certificate in Corporate Governance from UNISA, and a Certificate in Managing Social Security Pensions from the University of Witwatersrand.
Honorable Kantema-Gaomas is a founding Board of Directors for the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority since its establishment in 2016. She was a council member for the Namibian University of Science and Technology in 2019. In addition, she held a directorship at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) Governing Council and founding Director of the Namibia Institute of Corporate Governance. Currently, she serves as a Trustee for the Sam Nujoma Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre (SANUMARC).
Her interest includes championing and advocating for best corporate governance practices and youth empowerment initiatives.
For the past 17 years my career has been built around project and programme management, public health programming, community engagement and community development programmes. I have worked closely with Industry Partners, International donors, Civil Society and Governmental Partners and have successfully seen through the management and coordination of externally funded projects targeted at mainly socio-economic development. I also participated in the development of successful funding proposals with leading Industry Partners and International Donors such as USAID, the European Union, Comic Relief, the Big Lottery Fund in the United Kingdom, as well as the Global Fund.
I am currently responsible for Academia & Industry Partnerships at the High-Tech Transfer Plaza Select (HTTPS) at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. The rationale of the HTTPS is to improve the industry’s competitiveness through research co-creation, co-development, open innovation and the application of specialised knowledge and technology and facilitating the seamless interaction between industry and academia in physical and virtual space to enable innovation.
Project Lead, Academia & Industry Partnerships at the High-Tech Transfer Plaza Select (HTTPS) at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.
Professor, Biomedical Scientist and Director: Technology Transfer & Innovation at the Durban University of Technology
Prof. Keolebogile Motaung is a Full Professor, Biomedical Scientist and Director: Technology Transfer & Innovation at the Durban University of Technology with more than 23 years’ experience in Higher Education. She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Global Health Biotech (Pty) Ltd. As a Professor, research scientist and entrepreneur, she trains her postgraduate students not just on how to do research, and become a scientist, but also on how to become entrepreneurs. By becoming entrepreneurs, they can create jobs for themselves after completing their studies at a time, when jobs are scarce, and unemployment is high.
Based on her own scientific exploration into the use of medicinal plants in tissue engineering of bone and cartilage, she founded a company called Global Health Biotech (PTY) Ltd in 2016. Global Health Biotech has developed a natural anti-inflammatory ointment named La-Africa Soother (LAS) from medicinal plants which helps relieve muscle and joint aches, thus offering athletes, sportsmen and women an alternative natural anti-inflammatory ointment. This is the first product of its kind aimed at preventative care, meaning it is applied ahead before and after physical activity to prevent anticipated muscle aches.
This product, packaged in a green and white tube, is already available on the market. Motaung has also licensed a technology from Stellenbosch University to develop a second product named pump protein shake (vegan friendly plant-based). The product simultaneously leads to decreased muscle inflammation which leads to accelerated regeneration and may be more effective as an anti-inflammatory agent than known non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and with less side-effect. She is an award winner and has received a number of accolades from far and wide because she has thrown the gauntlet in bridging the gap between science and entrepreneurship.
Director Of Audit: Wealth, Investment Management And Insurance, Absa. South Africa
He is the Director of Group Internal Audit: Investment Management and Insurance at Absa Bank South Africa and an academic with a vested interest in the Futures as a discipline. He has presented on this subject matter at several conferences and organisations and has received numerous accolades. He is a PhD Candidate (Wits) and holds an MBA (Stellenbosch), MCOM (Wits), BSc Hons Management (UJ), BSc IT & Mathematics qualifications.
Julius is a highly qualified and competent customer service champion and project manager who has led various projects or been part of project teams in the years that he has been in the project management field. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences majoring in Economics and Demography in 1999. Furthermore, he read for his Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a minor in Project Management through the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) based in Chennai, India in 2015. Julius is also a fully qualified Prince2 Practitioner in Project Management and also possesses a Certificate of Proficiency (CoP) in Long Term Insurance from the Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe (IIZ).
Julius started his career as a Trainee Underwriter in August 1999 at the then Botswana Eagle Insurance Company. He then left the insurance industry in the year 2000 to join the University of Botswana as a Staff Development Fellow (SDF) within the University of Botswana Library. He later worked as a Sales Executive at Standard Chartered Bank Botswana Limited where his duties included preparation and submission of sales propositions to prospective clients, acquisition of new business, especially liabilities, and direct selling of both assets & liabilities to prospective clients. Julius’ next stop was at Metropolitan Life Insurance Botswana, where the insurance bug attracted him once again, to work as a Direct Writer. From Metropolitan, Julius joined Barclays Bank of Botswana Limited as a Personal Banker, Insurance. As one of the pioneers of bancassurance within Barclays, Julius performed amongst others, the following duties: recruited new customers to the Bank, advised customers on risk & insurance, assessing their insurable interest, pioneered “Montshegetsi” Whole Life Cover policy at Barclays Bank, and sold other assets & liabilities to existing Barclays Bank clientele.
After a short stint at Barclays, Julius left the bank to join the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) in March 2010 as a Market Access Specialist. The following year in 2011, Julius was promoted to the position of Market Access Manager, where he also helped to develop the “Market Access Operational Strategy for LEA” in 2012. During his tenure at LEA he also represented the Authority in a number of Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry (MITI) technical committees that included the Technical Committee on Market Access (TCMA), Technical Committee on Export Development & Investment Promotion (TCEDIP), Technical Committee on Services (TCS) and Technical Committee on Agriculture (TCA). All these technical committees reported to the main National Committee on Trade Policy & Negotiations (NCTPN). Julius also represented the CEO of LEA on various occasions at the NCTPN chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry (MITI).
Julius has proven to be a customer service champion par excellence who was voted as a “Superstar” for the entire Department of Export Development and Promotion at Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) during the organization’s 2019
Christmas Awards. He also recently won the Mogaka Service Leadership Award as well as The WOW (Winner of Winners) Zebra Stripes Award during the 2020 Diamond Service Awards hosted by Service Bridges Consulting (SBC). The latter award is awarded to customer service champions that have consistently displayed leadership traits, are focused on service execution excellence and more importantly are a true cultural fit for their organization.
Netumbo Velile Nashandi is an eclectic Pan-African Namibian Social Entrepreneur, with over 15 years of hands-on experience in the tourism, management, manufacturing, marketing and mobile technology sectors in advisory and executive capacities respectively. By definition, a social entrepreneur is a person who pursues novel applications that have the potential to solve community-based problems. Netumbo is an individual who is willing to take on the risks and efforts to create positive impact in society, through her initiatives.
Netumbo’s creativity, passion for working with people, and her strategic leadership skills led her to pursue work in the hospitality sector. Add to that, her formidable linguistic prowess in 6 languages – fluent in English, French, Ndebele & Oshiwambo: and conversant in German & Russian. She pursued a BA (Tourism) from the University of Namibia (2006) to that effect. Marketing, public relations, networking, team mentoring & training, and executive management skills were acquired and honed during her time as Senior Sales Consultant at Namibia Wildlife Resorts Limited – a state owned Hospitality Organization that is tasked with the local/international marketing and management of 26 resorts nationwide.
In 2011, Netumbo co-founded Lex Travel & Tours (PTY) Ltd and was instrumental in resuscitating the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneurs Association (ETEA), with two other formidable emerging female tourism entrepreneurs. Through her dedicated efforts at ETEA, she was part of Team Destination Namibia – whose task was to ensure Namibia won the bid to host the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) in 2013, which Namibia hosted with great aplomb.
Netumbo took advantage of her acquired skills and linguistic talent to broaden her net of impactful activities and initiatives, and founded Opulent Investments (PTY) Ltd in 2011, with the intention of attracting FDI to Namibia as per Namibian government priority sectors. In 2012 she founded Opulent Travel & Tours; and in 2015, through collaborative partnerships, Opulent Investments (PTY) Ltd co-hosted a trade delegation led by former Finnish President & Nobel Prize Laurette Martti Ahtisaari. This inspired her to pursue a Certificate in Economic Diplomacy from the Diplo Foundation (accr. by University of Malta, 2016).
With a deep passion and understanding of tourism in Namibia, Netumbo continues to engage with ETEA, and is its representative on the NTB Marketing Advisory Committee, which advises the NTB on private and public sector’s expectations relating to international, regional and domestic marketing. Her latest achievement, encapsulates the plethora of passion she has for the Namibian tourism sector. Netumbo was elected to serve as the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations’ (FENATA) 1st chairperson from ETEA – a symbol of hope and inclusivity from a previously disadvantaged Namibians’ perspective. She has been invited to speak on Tourism in the African context at various fora; including the Emerge Conversation Series (Namibia), Olupale Summit (Namibia), South African Tourisms’ Africa Travel and Tourism Summit, DRC’s Office Nationale de Tourisme, Senegalese Tourism stakeholders, just to mention a few.
In addition to organic cosmetics manufacturing, she has done consultancy work for WWF Namibia, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry & Tourism of Namibia, and is currently co-producing a documentary TV series aptly named In Pursuit of Magic.
Family and friends describe Netumbo as a sophisticated straight-talker, driven, leader, team player, strategic, steadfast, go-getter, that she diligently applies herself in whatever she does – be it with people, work, or environment.
Senior Specialist, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Office of the Executive Director, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
José Ricardo Díaz Ardila currently works in the Innovation and Digital Transformation team of the Innovation, Education and Investments Department of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). During this period, he has been in charge of the UNWTO Acceleration Programme, the UNWTO Rural Tourism Competition and the UNWTO Sustainable Development Goals Global Startup Competition.
His experience includes previous work for the Youth Chapter of the Hotel and Tourism Association of Colombia (COTELCO) and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts in the Sultanate of Oman. Recently, he has collaborated as Mentor Coordinator for the EUvsVirus Hackathon, a project from the European Commission to find solutions for COVID-19 challenges.
James Mnyupe is a multidisciplinary financial professional with a background in accounting, asset management and wealth management. A graduate of UNAM and Rhodes University, James worked in the private sector auditing a wide variety of companies and leading one of Namibia’s prominent asset management firms for five years during which he also served as the founding Chair of the Namibia Savings and Investment Association. James holds CA, CFA and CFP qualifications. His involvement in various industry and national bodies have offered him a unique perspective from which to contribute to various dialogues and initiatives that look to deploy assets more effectively across various opportunity sets, locally and regionally. In September 2020, James was appointed as Namibian President Hage Geingob’s Economic Advisor and soon thereafter, Namibia’s Green Hydrogen Commissioner.
Hando Sinisalu is a journalist, content producer, and content marketing consultant. He is the founder and CEO of B2B marketing hub Marketing Parrot, previously known as Best Marketing International, the leading digital marketing conferences producer in Europe. He has produced and managed over 200 conferences in 24 countries from South Africa to South Korea, from Indonesia to Spain. Has experience in both content creation and event/business management. He has been an official representative of Cannes Lions Festival in Estonia and helped American Marketing Association establish Effie Awards programs in Croatia, China and Ukraine. In June 2014, he published “The Best of Global Digital Marketing: The Storybook”. The book quickly sold out, and in June 2015 “The Storybook 2” was published.
Lizanne du Plessis is the Founder of Eco Africa Digital, an award-winning digital marketing agency based in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The company’s focus is on generating leads and direct bookings for the tourism and hospitality industry via Social Media Content Management, Social Media Paid Ads, Google PPC Ads, SEO, Email Management, Content Management and Web Development. With a Cum Laude Masters Degree involving ecotourism research in Kenya, Lizanne aims to use her marketing agency as a tool to increase the profitability of tourism ventures in Africa, in order to benefit conservation and local economies.
Dan is a leader in corporate innovation and startup acceleration. With a proven track record of developing startup ventures and driving innovation for renowned clients like Sumitomo Corporation, Lloyd’s of London, and Metro Bank etc. Dan is passionate about delivering impact and positioning clients as industry leaders in innovation. Developing 9 Ventures that collectively raised $12 million in seed funding, generating a remarkable commercial value of $170 million across both developed and emerging markets.
Dan collaborates closely with C-Suite and high-performing teams to implement innovation best practices. He’s confident across diverse sectors, including Finance, Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, and Energy. Dan excels in identifying promising opportunities, shaping business models, assessing commercial viability, and setting up for early-stage investment readiness.
Being deeply immersed in all aspects of corporate innovation and startup acceleration, Dan has a genuine passion for sharing new ideas and enjoys giving back to others as a startup mentor, thought leader, and speaker.
Chief Executive Officer, CPL Events, United Kingdom & Cape Verde
Linda Pereira is the senior partner and CEO of the L&I Communications Group. In additionto her long and respected career as one of the most influential voices in the Meeting Industry, she is also Executive Director of CPL Meetings & Events. Respected internationally as a speaker, consultant, strategic communication expert, writer and as an educator, she has been an invited speakerin over 149 countries on all continents.
She is an expert in communication and corporate diplomacy, and has a vast experience in cross-cultural communication strategies, localisation, and public speakingand as a master of ceremonies.
She has worked on the major events which marked the last 30 years of modern history, from World EXPOs, to Football and Sports Championships, various EU Presidencies and major political events. She is also an invited lecturer at five different international Universities where she lectures strategic meetings management and corporate diplomacy and protocol.
She is absolutely passionate about associations and sits on a variety of international association boards herself. Linda is also a consultant to a variety of international Governments and associations. She was considered one of Portugal’s five most influential people in the industry and has received various international education awards as well as the medal of honour for responsible entrepreneurship for her commitment to promoting culture and heritage and for Social Responsibility initiatives.
She has also been voted business woman of the year for three consecutive years. She sits on various Advisory Boards, and Education Committees and presides over three- She is also the Chair of the Association World Congress for 2022. She was president of the Global Council for Women in Leadership for two mandates. She is currently special advisor to the Minister for the Economy of Cape Verde and sits on the Advisory Council for the Leader Magazine and the Venues of Excellence Certification Board. She also sits on the Board of The Portugal-India and Portugal-Holland Chambers of Commerce. She presides the Crossroads platform focused on up-scaling and attracting investment for start-up businesses. She sits on the Portugal Chapter of Women In Tech, a Global Association. She is a business development consultant to the MICE business sector in Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macau, Georgia, Ghana and Cape Verde.
She is currently a member of the Women’s Africa PCO Alliance. In 2021 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the MICE Industry. Linda has recently been elected one of the Global 100 women leaders.
She considers her two daughters as her greatest achievement.
Founding Vice Chairperson of the Events Professionals Association of Zambia
Mulemwa Moongwa is a Certified Meetings Professional whose Entrepreneurial journey started at age 21. Today, she owns and manages a leading Meetings Management Firm called Infinite Learning Consultants where she has found her niche in high profile Government to Government and Government to Business engagements.
Being an economic victim of the pandemic, Mulemwa has identified the gaps in Industry and has since pivoted into advocacy and education. Mulemwa was designated as the 2021 Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) Africa Host by the Meetings Mean Business Coalition, an event that brought together the African Union Commission, the Africa Tourism Association, Meetings Professional International and numerous other bodies.
Mulemwa is currently the continental champion for the Meetings Professional International (MPI) Africa Chapter, an initiative aimed at strengthening the network of meetings professionals and skills development for the industry. She is raising awareness on the skills and knowledge gap in the MICE sector across the continent. The practice lacks defined learning and career paths, most that pursue do it based on self-study and talent, for an industry that contributes so much, we need to find ways to optimise our human contribution to the sector
Mulemwa was recently appointed as Chairperson of the Emerging Markets Committee and is the founding Vice Chairperson of the Events Professionals Association of Zambia. Mulemwa is an active member of the Southern African Association for the Conference Industry (SAACI) and the Council of Events Professionals in Africa (CEPA).
Jabulani is a Senior Consultant with public and private sector experience in tourism and hospitality, property, infrastructure advisory, and economic development planning. Jabulani conducts feasibility studies, strategies, economic impact studies, financial assessments, business evaluations and general market research assignments.
Project experience
Some of Jabulani’s work involves conducting tourism product feasibility studies, business plans, business cases and transaction advisory in South Africa and a number of African countries. Most recently, Jabulani has been a lead consultant in the NDT’s Development of a Budget Resort Network, the CSIR ICC Accommodation PPP, feasibility study for a hotel development in Kigali, and the Commercialisation of the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve.
Jabulani will present a workshop on “Business Advisory Expert Perspective – Understanding critical steps in financially modelling for SME funding in a post-Covid era”.
Lee-Anne Bac is a Director at BDO Advisory Services Johannesburg with more than 20 years experience consulting to clients in the tourism, hospitality, leisure and property sectors in South Africa and the rest of Africa. Lee-Anne’s consulting experience includes strategic planning, market and financial feasibility studies, financial evaluations, business valuations, economic impact studies, socio-economic impact studies, market research and demand assessments and strategic management consulting.
Lee-Anne holds a BSc degree in Microbiology and Zoology from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MBA degree from the University of Cape Town. She joined BDO Advisory Services in 1997 as a Senior Consultant and was appointed as a Director of BDO Advisory Services in September 1999.
Lee-Anne is regularly quoted in the printed press about issues relating to the tourism, hospitality and property industries and with regard to women in business and she regularly presents at industry functions, workshops and conferences.
Lee-Anne is passionate about the transformative role of tourism in economies and societies. As her commitment to enhancing sustainable tourism, Lee-Anne is a Director of Fair Trade Tourism (FTT).
Lee-Anne is a member of the national executive of the Woman’s Property Network in South Africa and was a recipient of the Women’s Property Network “Excellence in Property” award in 2013. She is also a member of SAMRA – the South African Market Research Association.
In a work career spanning close to 30 years, Dr. Ngwangwama has worked in diverse sectors of the Namibian Economy, specifically, in the postal, financial, youth development and tourism sectors. He was employed at various levels, both at managerial and non-managerial levels, in several Namibian institutions such as Namibia Post Ltd as Assistant Financial Accountant, Accountant and Savings Bank Operations Manager and National Youth Service as Executive Finance and HR for five years. He was NWR’s longest-serving Chief Financial Officer from December 2012 before taking over as the Chief Officer: Strategy and Projects in 2017 within the same organisation. Since 23 April 2019, Dr Ngwangwama was the acting Managing Director of NWR before taking over as the substantive Managing Director on 01 April 2020.
Dr. Ngwangwama graduated from the Polytechnic of Namibia, now the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), with a National Diploma in Accounting in 1992. He further graduated from the same institution with a Bachelor of Technology in Accounting and Finance in 2003. Subsequently, he completed an MBA from the Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA) in 2007. He proceeded to round of his academic studies with a PhD in Business Management and Administration from the University of Stellenbosch in 2018, specialising in organisational development and design, specifically, business management and leadership, organisational strategy and culture. He is a qualitative research methodologist.
He has successfully supervised and graduated, several masters’ degree students. His peer-reviewed journal articles have appeared in several academic journals He has written numerous newspaper articles in high circulating Namibian newspapers, such as, The Namibian, New Era and the Patriot. In terms of social impact, Dr. Ngwangwama regularly speaks on the NBC Radio Wato FM’s weekly business actuality, sports and community programmes providing social, financial and business commentary to listeners.
Chief Director of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry
Dr Runyowa is currently the Chief Director of Tourism and Hospitality Management within the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. He joined the Ministry in 2010 as a Deputy Director and profusely rose through the ranks. He holds a Doctorate in Tourism Development Studies, a Masters in Business Administration and a Bsc Honours in Tourism Management all from the University of Zimbabwe. Additionally, he currently sits on the Boards of Forestry Commission and the Lotterries and Gaming Board.
Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Marketing Officer South African Tourism
Themba joined South African Tourism in September 2019 as Chief Marketing Officer. He is responsible for defining, establishing and driving the South African Tourism brand in the domestic, regional and global markets as well as driving the overall marketing effort in order to achieve the economic outcomes required of the tourism sector from the National Development Plan (NDP).
A seasoned professional with entrepreneurial flair, Themba has held senior marketing executive positions in blue chip companies like Unilever, Coca-Cola, MTN, Cell C and Telkom among others. He also has aviation and tourism experience, having held executive positions at South African Tourism (2003-2006), Airports Company South Africa and South African Airways where he was prior to joining South African Tourism.
A lawyer by training, Themba holds a Bachelor of Arts Law degree, masters certificates in marketing and organizational behaviour, as well as a certificate in Digital Marketing. Themba serves on the board of the Marketing Association of South Africa. Themba is a certified Chartered Marketer and serves as a board member of the Marketing Association of South Africa.
Septi M. Bukula has specialised in public policy on entrepreneurship and small business promotion since 1993. He is the founder and director of Rendzo Network, a collaborative network of travel and tourism SMEs across South Africa, dedicated to strengthening their international competitiveness and market access. Most recently, he established TourismBRaIN, a digital platform connecting Africa’s travel and tourism SMEs for cross-border business referral and collaboration. The platform also facilitates sharing by public (government departments and agencies) and private entities of information on support programmes, incentives, trainings, tools, resources, and other opportunities relevant to Africa’s travel and tourism SMEs.
Founder and Former Dual Vocational |TVET Director, Namibia
Mr. Simon N William is a passionate experienced Namibian Hotelier with passion and proven purposeful servant leadership for: hospitality | tourism management operations | gifted in Talent Development | Cultural Intelligence and Corporate Culture Training | Hospitality Management Consultancy | Dual Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) | Dual Apprenticeship in TVET | TVET Assessment | Hospitality Online Platform | TVET Accreditation | TVET Regulations | TVET Quality Assurance & Auditing | TVET Compliance and Research | Entrepreneurship and Strategic Intrapreneurial innovation | Hospitality Business Plan (Strategic Business Model Innovation & Facilities Utilization since 2010 – present) | Ecotourism | Cultural-tourism | Purposeful Leadership | Mentoring of Trainers | Mentors | Train-The-Trainers Lectures | Coaching Teams and Ensuring Nurturing of Diversity Equity Inclusion Empowerment (DEIE) for Young People | Highly experienced with Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) and Orphaned Youth Care in Namibia, 14 Regions | International hospitality leadership experiences (UK 2003 – 2008 | Switzerland 2015 and USA 2015 – 2016) and a certified Global Hospitality Education Internship Program (GHEIP) / Global Recruiting Partner (GRP) with American Hospitality Academy (AHA) for J1-Visa Internship Program for USA in Namibia. He is in hospitality industry since 1998 till present.
A seasoned, versatile, and enthusiastic leader with 20+ years’ experience spanning general management, strategy & operations, executive leadership, sustainable tourism, development, and financial controls. Proud native and ambassador for Indian Ocean with great respect for different religions & cultures.
Pascal holds a master degree in Strategy and management. He used to be the director for the reunion island tourism board and is now the CEO for the Vanilla Islands organization to promote the indian ocean islands.
Popularly known as Ajala Nene, Nnenna Fakoya-Smith is a Tourism Promoter and Visibility Strategist.
She is the Founder of Nene-Uwa Hub Ltd, a tourism company that promotes tourist destinations in Africa and sustainability for Tourism businesses and organizations through visibility strategies.
As a Visibility Strategist, she helps small business owners build a visible and sustainable brand through her signature program called the Audience Builder Process™.
Nnenna is recognized as the Top 30 Tourism and Hospitality Influencers in Nigeria (2020) and Africa (2021). In 2022, she was recognized as the Top 30 Women in Tourism Nigeria.
Nnenna has been recognized as one of the “Young Tourism Personalities of the Year” by the Nigeria Tourism Awards for hosting the first-ever Tourism Virtual Summit. She was nominated for the “Rising Star of the Year (Tourism)” and “Best Tourism Innovation Through Technology (Tourism Virtual Summit)” by the Pyne Awards.
She has a first degree in Sociology from Covenant University, Ogun State, and a Post-Graduate degree in Community Relations from Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos State both in Nigeria.
Her hobbies include collecting postcards, stamps, coins, and banknotes, which got her featured on Forbes Africa as one of Africa’s Aficionado Collectors. She enjoys traveling and exploring cultures; sporting activities, arts, and singing. She is also an Afrocentric Enthusiast who loves to display her African roots.
Mr. Heinrich Hafeni is an accomplished businessman with well over 12 years’ experience in the tourism industry. Heinrich Hafeni Nghidipaya started operating in 2011, focusing on cultural tourism and organizing guided tours to informal settlements to promote community tourism, more than an entrepreneur, he is a man with a vision. From humble beginnings and a good business dream, Hafeni created his own brand under the ‘Hafeni Tourism Group’, which combines cultural township tours, a soon to be developed 20-bed Township hotel, and a one-of-a-kind traditional restaurant, offering tourists an experience they will not forget He maintains strong government and business ties in Namibia and has been recognized at the national level for his achievements. He was inducted into the Namibian Business Hall of Fame in 2015.
Graduated in Law and specialist in international marketing by training, in addition to several postgraduate degrees (IE, Columbia, Georgetown), he has lived and worked on 4 continents -from Singapore to Paraguay and Bolivia, passing through Lisbon, New York and Miami- in managerial positions in the financial industry;
An all-terrain communicator, Nacho Villoch is an active generator of content in the form of a blog, twits, videos, presentations, on Innovation, Talent, Sustainability, digital transformation, to which he has been professionally dedicated for two decades, a field in which he is it has built a proven reputation. He is currently the Director of the Digital Enterprise Show World Congress.
Regular guest professor in innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and digital transformation programs of business schools and inspirational speaker and facilitator in institutional, academic and corporate events.
Author of several business novels such as “Diana´s Adventure: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Against All Odds” and “Yago’s Challenge: In Search of the Sources of Talent. In 2021, He has published “A brief history of the Future” connecting innovation of the past with a compelling vision of the future.
He actively engages as a mentor, inspirer, or promoter in various communities and entrepreneurship projects such as TeamLabs, SEK Lab Accelerator, Xperience Ahead, Wakalua, and the TEDx event community,
A pioneer in the use of social networks and social media, in 2016 he was awarded by the Linkedin social network as the Top Social Executive in Spain and Portugal, and in 2021 he has been awarded as the +Influencer in Human Resources and listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 40 Futurists in Spain.
He currently stimulates the creation of digital ecosystems through open innovation dynamics and helps entrepreneurs to discover their IKIGAI. Nacho is passionate about travelling extreme sports, he actively mobilizes to support certain social causes and the achievement of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.
Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer at Ntiyiso Consulting Group
Alex Mabunda is the Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer at Ntiyiso Consulting Group, an authentically African and Globally wired management consulting firm, whose purpose is to “empower institutions that enable Africa’s development”.
Alex leads the development and implementation of the business strategy for the Group. He has over 22 years of Industrialisation and Management Consulting experience, with skills in Feasibility Studies, IT Strategy, Strategic Management, Corporate Governance, Strategic Planning and Thought Leadership.
Before spending eight years with a multinational FMCG company as an IT Business Analyst, Alex graduated with a BSc in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the University of Witwatersrand. Alex has also completed the Seed Transformation Program Certificate with the University of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
Alex is a thought leader and regular contributor on topical issues pertaining industrialisation and local government and is a social activist with membership of such social cohesion structures as Rixaka Heritage Forum. He also supports several community development initiatives in his home village of Bungeni in Limpopo province.
Ken Agyapong Jr (Kenny) is a Ghanaian-American Entrepreneur and a Philanthropist.
He attended public High School in the Bronx, New York and graduated top of his class. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from Utica College of Syracuse in 2012. He further his education at Johnson Wells University, Providence Rhode Island in 2014 where he received his Master of Business Administration in Business Administration.
Kenny began his career in events and entertainment Management by organizing major parties while studying at Utica College of Syracuse in his dorm room.
As a child of first-generation African immigrants, his West African roots are present in everything. He moved to Ghana in 2014 to work. As the Director of Net2TV a subsidiary of Kencity Group, a company owned by his family.
In 2015 Abdul; his good friend from New York, came up with an idea to have a festival in Ghana and consulted Kenny to partner him to plan it. After two years of research and planning.
They settled on an afro-festival dubbed Afrochella. The maiden Afrochella took place in the year 2017 at the Polo Club in Accra- Ghana, and has become the biggest culture festival in West Africa under the company ‘Culture Management Group’.
Khaliphile Sibanda is, 27-year-old lady from Zimbabwe. She is a Private pilot student from Zimbabwe Flight Centre Academy. She is working towards being a Cargo pilot in the near future. She is also into filmmaking and has won 5 International Film awards for her gender equality advocacy film S/HE IS PERFECT. She is currently the National Director for Zimbabwe in the World Championships of Performing Arts. She judged the World Monologue Games Australia. She has been a delegate for YouthSpark Pan African Rwanda. She is a writer for Women Playwrights International in Montreal Canada. She was a Zimbabwean delegate for Youth Leader Model African Union Conference. She is the ambassador for International Youth Conference. She runs Geraldine Roche Drama programs in Zimbabwe as a Producer-Director and writer. She had directed numerous plays including International renditions such as Phantom and Les Miserables. She produces advocacy films such as Ziyathunqa which airs issues on the rich and the poor. She is doing talk shows for youths Teens Talk where they air out their societal issues, and Single moms and dads’ era where they air out their concerns. She is working on garden Cooks which aims at adding value to agricultural produce that can’t be sold. The Performer aims at creating collaborative work amongst artists instead of creating competition
Luzé Kloppers is an architect and project manager, best known for her expertise in sustainable design solutions, anthropology and material studies. After travelling and working in over 15 countries, she was intrigued by the global plastic waste challenges and decided to address the problem hands on.
In 2020, she received 1st Runner-up during the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Challenge for her proposal to create a circular economy in Namibia by using recycling machines built and designed to work in rural areas. She was also nominated as one of Namibia’s top 3 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) youth influencers and was listed as one of Namibia’s moon shots by the UNDP.
She empowers efforts towards climate change mitigation and advancing net zero solutions. She believes in revolutionary thinking and projects that connect society with the environment. She started the Recycling Lab to bring positive change and motivate unemployed youth in Africa to think differently about the materials they use daily and then just burn or throw away.
Along with being a voluntary assessor for Eco Awards Namibia and serving on the Recycling Namibia Forum Board, Luzé is also a social media influencer promoting sustainable destinations and eco design solutions within the hospitality sector.
UN Tourism Senior Expert for Communications in Africa
Kojo Bentum-Williams is the Founder and Publisher of Africa’s leading travel and tourism Publication, VoyagesAfriq. A communication professional with over 12 years in working in travel and tourism trade. His cross-cutting knowledge in the industry include working as PR official at the Ghana Tourism Authority and Press Secretary to Ghana’s Former Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture.
He is currently the Senior Expert for Communications in Africa at UN Tourism and aide to the Secretary General. He has regularly contributed to several Tourism publication and reports including the annual Africa Tourism Monitor Report published by the Africa Development Bank (AFDB), New York University Africa House Journal and Casa Africa’s Encounter with African Journalists in Spain. He is a columnist in Leading Spanish NewsPaper EL-Pais on African Tourism.
Kojo has worked closely with several African Tourism Ministers, Convention Bureaus, and CEOs of National Tourism Boards in Africa as well as the Africa’s Tourism Private Sector.
Chief Flying Instructor, Namibian Aviation Training Academy
Tafdzwa Nyakudya began flight training in February of 2006 at Charles Prince airport in Zimbabwe. Due to financial difficulties and other unavoidable delays, I managed to obtain my PPL in 2009. I then moved to South Africa and found a job as an assistant flight dispatcher in 2012 where my reward was mainly flight training hours. In 2013 I was very fortunate to win the Keep Flying Scholarship-Southern Africa. This propelled my career by enabling me to obtain my commercial pilot license. The South African Flight Training Academy where I worked, then sponsored me to do my Gr III Instructor’s rating and upon completion employed me as an instructor. In about 3 years I had attained over 700 instructional hours and a grade II rating. I then moved to Namibia as a grade II Instructor in 2015.
In June of 2016, I returned to Zimbabwe and became the training manager of Wilderness Air Zimbabwe. There I flew charters, transporting guests to the pristine wilderness of Zimbabwe but my main responsibility was to train the new and current pilots on the SOP’s, manuals etc. I also then became chief pilot during my tenure. When the world took a turn due to the pandemic, I found myself at home and became a chicken farmer. I think I will retire as a farmer as I overall enjoyed the experience. In February 2021 I then moved to the Namibian Aviation Training Academy where I am the Chief Flying Instructor. I now have a total of 3000 hours of which 1400 are flight instruction.
My passion in aviation is to share knowledge with others and help as many as I can in their careers whilst I also learn from each and everyone I fly with.
Tom Ojole is a great believer in a techpreneurship and have passion for youth and Rural Development. Similarly, I am cherished in matters fintech products, data modeling for decision making and inter industrial product bundling and mapping. As an innovative entrepreneur, I have great interests in Fintech, technology startups in Hospitality industry. As such am one of the founding members of an OTA (https://bookingmy.travel/,), http://zazella.co.ug/ and Kenya an E-Commerce platform, https://groupngs.com/ a ICT startup and privileged shareholder or Consultant in diverse and highly Transformational Institutions like https://hospitalityeq.com/ and https://www.lodgesolutions.net/. As a believer of youth and rural development, I am a board member of SRI ( https://www.facebook.com/SustainableRuralInitiatives/. in addition, I am an active a member of Marketing society of Kenya.
As a cherished member of Fintech world, I have designed and launched some of the most revolutionary products with Finserve Africa (Part of Equity Bank Group) where I worked as Digital products Lead. https://equitel.com/my-money/riziki-cover/bundle-riziki-personal-cover/ first ever insurance cover bundled with GSM products, https://equitel.com/my-phone/simu-loan that enabled phone upgrading, Digital training and literacy project funded by Mastercard foundation where we managed to train over 500K subscribers on financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills and farming with >60% being youth and women. These achievements were stemmed from my international experience with leading brands (IBM, Airtel and Flytxt solutions in different countries across Africa (Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar.
Chief Executive Officer for the Namibia Tourism Board
Digu Naobeb is the Chief Executive Officer for the Namibia Tourism Board, which is mandated to regulate Namibia’s tourism industry, but equally to market Namibia as a tourism destination both in Namibia and beyond its borders. Prior to joining Namibia Tourism Board, he was the Executive Director for the Indigenous Peoples Business Council where he was responsible for forging partnerships with the local and international funding communities, as well as establishing networking and collaborative multi and cross- institutional linkages with the NGOs and Business Chambers. Main aim of the Council was to lobby for the creation of the competitive environment for Black people to be able to engage in various industry sectors within Namibia. He also worked as the Head of Department for the Hotel and Tourism School at the Polytechnic of Namibia, where he was instrumental in establishing travel and tourism degree curricula, which was later accredited by the Higher Education Council of South Africa serving a as springboard for Namibian graduates to pursue postgraduate further studies in South Africa. He was also instrumental in the creation and development of the Hotel school itself.
Digu Naobeb holds an M.Sc in Tourism Management from University of Surrey, UK; a B.Sc majoring in Botany and Zoology from the University of Namibia, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from the University of Natal and a Senior Management Development Programme from the University of Stellenbosch. He is currently pursuing MBA studies with the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.
Lecturer, Coordinator & Learning Development Facilitator, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Maipato Caroline Mmako is a lecturer, Coordinator and Learning Development Facilitator at the University of Johannesburg. Passionate about student success and student development, she has worked on an initiative called Africa by bus where she planned, organized, and facilitated 3 trips across 3 African countries with more than 250 students by bus. She presented at the South African National Resource Center (SANRC) on how the Africa by bus initiative encourages experiential learning and affords young people the opportunity to experience the different cultures in Africa while exploring the beautiful continent.
She forms part of the first cohort of fellows who were part of the Tennessee State University Research programme with a focus on student learning and adaptation; looking at the Nashville Next Plan. She loves working with young people and that saw her working in collaboration with a youth organization in Soweto where she led, collected, and donated over 250 books for the Nelson Mandela Day book drive.
She is also an avid reader and loves traveling.
The DBN Head: SME Finance, Namibia, Development Bank, Namibia
Short Profile
Banking qualifications culminating in C.A.I.B – SA. Obtained Masters in Business Administration through UNAM/Maastricht School of Management
Career:
A career spanning more than 20 years with experience in Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking and Development Financing. Previous roles include Retail, Commercial, Corporate Manager in FNB Namibia, Head of SME Financing with FNB Namibia and currently Head of SME Financing at the Development Bank of Namibia.
Other milestones:
Deputy chairman and Chairman for the Namibia Chamber of Commerce Windhoek Branch until 2015. Regular Panelist for Global Business Labs in Namibia and Industry Expert for various organizations including Social Security Commission.
Kauna Ndilula, a Development Finance Specialist, is the Founder and Executive Director of BFS Group of companies. Passionate about the development of financial ecosystems that support the growth of SMEs, Kauna has pioneered and developed financial and nonfinancial interventions that have manifested as the cornerstones of her business and contributed to positive influence of policy in Namibia. Her interventions have focused on creating functional products and programs that enable enterprise formation and growth in a scalable manner that is need responsive.
Her demonstrable leadership skills in the social and investment space have impacted sustainable economic development across industries and structures in Namibia. She is an invested corporate citizen and key influencer on public policy and economic affairs. Her corporate profile cuts across the Public and Private Sector and in this regard, she served as the Chairperson of Sanlam Namibia Holdings and Nampower Boards and is a former member of the Presidential High-Level Panel and Planning Commissioner. Served on boards of NSX, NAMMIC, Namdeb Holdings and a founding member of the National youth Council. She is currently an Advisory Member of the Namibia Investment Promotional Development Board. Socially she serves as Director of the First Lady’s Foundation, One Economy Foundation and is the past Patron of an orphanage and vulnerable children program (ToV).
She holds a Master of Development Finance (Massachusetts, USA) and an MBA from the University of Stellenbosch (SA).
Founder and CEO Grand Scale Consultancy South Africa
Uno helps entrepreneurs to improve their cashflow and grow their businesses by providing financial strategy advice, accounting services and leadership training. He is the founder and CEO of Grand Scale Consultancy, an advisory company which fulfils this mission.
He is also an Executive Coach, Trainer, Award winning Speaker and the Author of the book “How to multiply your value and create extraordinary impact”.
Before founding Grand Scale Consultancy, Uno served as Chief Financial Officer for over 12 years. He holds 2 Accounting degrees and an MBA from UCT.
He is a member of Junior Chamber International (JCI), where he has gained extensive leadership experience from leading the Board of Directors at local, national and international level. He is a young enterprising leader who is passionate about entrepreneurship, and leadership development on the African continent.
In his spare time, Uno enjoys singing, dancing, playing tennis, jogging, watching movies and preaching. He resides in Cape Town with his wife Ellen.
Iddy John is Founder and CEO of Safari Wallet, a serial entrepreneur, tech business strategist, and innovative executive officer with a high interest in the tourism and financial technology business, with over ten years of experience in tourism and technology. Iddy believes in the critical and design thinking process in developing and building solutions that solve people’s needs and wants, driven by data in decision making and the application of user behavior science in research and findings.
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer at Wakanow Nigeria
Bayo Adedeji, known popularly as ‘The Lion’ has a broad and diverse mix of competencies, advanced qualitative training and in-depth exposure to multiple business segments and functions. He has experience in big data, business intelligence, space planning, cost and financial planning, management accounting, cost accounting and management.
His brilliance and tenacity has helped shape a successful performance driven career in Finance and Business Optimization across various industries and especially in retail and technology.
Bayo is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer at Wakanow Limited. He has prior experience working for multiple fortune 100 companies such as Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Texas Instruments and PetSmart to mention a few.
Bayo Lion is an excellent communicator, manager and business leader with analytical acumen, goal-getting orientation and trusted attention to detail. He is happily married to Kemi and has two adorable children.
Director - Innovation, Education And Investments UN World Tourism Organisation
Natalia Bayona leads the innovation, education and investments strategy of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations specialized agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism worldwide.
With a diverse background on politics, destination management and business, she has become the first innovation director at UNWTO, has introduced entrepreneurship and education as key factors for tourism and development, and has positioned UNWTO as an innovation benchmark within the wider United Nations system as recognized in the UN 2020 Mapping of Innovation, Data and Digital Capacities. Furthermore, she has joined the UN Executive Leadership Programme for Sustainable Development led by the UN System Staff College (UNSSC).
Her work consists of identifying the most disruptive startups and investment projects and matching them with Member States and leading corporations. As an advocate of youth and technology, she seeks to make entrepreneurs grow for a promising future in all regions.
During the last 4 years, Natalia has developed 20 UNWTO Startup Competitions and Innovation Challenges with outcomes such as more than 214 million USD in support for entrepreneurs and pilots for safe travel. Moreover, she has designed the Tourism Tech Adventures innovation forums and co-created the UNWTO Tourism Online Academy, the pioneer platform for advancing skill development for the sector in collaboration with the most prestigious universities such as IE University, Sommet Education, Swiss Education Group, the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Externado de Colombia University, currently with over 15.000 students from 191 countries. Furthermore, she has created the UNWTO Technical Committee on Tourism Online Education and acts as its Secretary to ensure education is at the forefront of the global agenda.
She has also opened the Multilateral Investment Cooperation area for tourism and has built a network of more than 290 investors interested in the sector and is currently working on high-impact projects to recover tourism, including the Investment Readiness for Green Finance Mechanisms in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the World Bank Group. In this same vein, she has been a coordination member of the Global Tourism Crisis Committee (GTCC) where UNWTO Member States, UN Agencies and Private Sector Associations – IATA, ACI, CLIA, among others – gather to discuss actions to address current issues. Within this framework, Natalia has led the UNWTO Healing Solutions for Tourism Challenge, the UNWTO Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Global Startup Competition and the UNWTO Jobs Factory as specific projects to support destinations and employment.
On 2022, she has launched the first series of tourism investment guidelines: UNWTO Tourism Doing Business, starting with the Dominican Republic and Colombia, and moving on with countries such as Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uruguay. Also, she has developed the brand-new UNWTO Digital Futures for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Programme which aims to provide digital training on connectivity, business growth, e-commerce, big data and analytics, payments, and security to 1 million beneficiaries by partnering with the largest technology companies.
Furthermore, her short-term goals include a variety of high-impact projects such as (1) co-creating the first Tourism International Academy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, (2) opening of the UNWTO Tourism Innovation Lab in collaboration with IE University as a world-ranked institution on online education and entrepreneurship by QS Rankings, (3) positioning women leadership in tourism through supporting innovation and startups, and (4) supporting countries to advance their investment promotion strategies in order to facilitate business creation in tourism, hospitality and food & beverage with tools such as the above-mentioned guidelines.
As recognition for her work, Natalia has been awarded the IIPT (International Institute For Peace Through Tourism)’s 5th “Celebrating Her” prize for “Innovation & the Empowerment of Women Through Tourism” at ITB Berlin 2021, an acknowledgement that is only given to 3 women from all over the world each year. Natalia is also a part of the “100 de COTEC” network which gathers experts who speak Spanish from multiple areas of knowledge for analyzing social, economic and technological challenges that innovation faces.
Recently, she has also been recognized as one of the 10 Colombian nationals in Spain contributing the most to the country’s positive image, as one of the 150 most influential people in tourism in Spain by Sergestur, and as part of the women-led think tank The Club G100 as Colombia Country Chair for Smart and Sustainable Cities.
Natalia graduated in Government and International Relations from Universidad Externado de Colombia and holds an Executive MBA from the IE Business School. Nowadays, she is part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) network as a European Digital Leader and is an Eisenhower Fellow as the first Colombian on the Women Leadership Program for creating the first Tourism for Tomorrow Programme: a high-level network focused on joining public-private efforts for high-impact investments in digital education and innovation for tourism’s sustainable development and post Covid-19 recovery. Additionally, she enjoys sharing knowledge by teaching at universities – Harvard (USA), Cornell (USA), Externado (Colombia) and Bilkent (Turkey) – and public schools in Colombia as part of her give back to youth and her country.
In 2017, she served as the Vice President of International Development for the Spain Startup – South Summit and organized the first South Summit Pacific Alliance, connecting the main stakeholders of the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru.
Having worked in ProColombia for ten years, she has lived in six countries where has developed strategies to boost exports, foreign investment and tourism for Colombia. Her career started in 2006 as part of the team that created the first international tourism campaign for Colombia: “Colombia, the risk is wanting to stay”, which sought to change the image of the country abroad. The successful execution of this campaign in more than 15 countries was possible thanks to her work.
Christelle has more than 23 years’ consulting experience and carries out and heads project teams for macro research, economic impact assessments, valuations, marketing and organisational strategies, market feasibility studies, financial viability assessments, business case assessments and transaction advisory assignments.
Christelle has also facilitated numerous workshops and large meetings and is proficient in using a range of facilitation approaches and tools.
Director, School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg
Prof. Diane Abrahams holds a BSc Hons, an MSc, and PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand. She has acquired a wealth of skills and expertise during her different roles in the corporate, non-profit, government and academic sector. Throughout her career she has demonstrated commitment to economic and social development in South Africa, holding various senior positions in strategic development and governance.
Prof Diane then transitioned into academia, leveraging her expertise in her role as Director of the School of Tourism and Hospitality in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg, where she provides academic stewardship and oversight to both academic departments and the commercial operations unit. Her talents lie in driving significant transformative change initiatives with profound success, through passion, commitment, and effective stakeholder engagement. Prof Diane notes the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship as important in terms of transforming the sector and in creating opportunities for the many talented youngsters starting a career in Tourism and Hospitality.
Andreas started in 1986 as a chef apprentice in Germany where he passed the state certified culinary exams after a shortened period due to prior education and schooling, he speaks German, English, Spanish, French and Burmese though not all fluent and joined Michelin star restaurant after his apprenticeship in Germany.
After gaining culinary experiences he joined the Hotel and Catering Management College in Bad Woerishofen where he graduated from in 1994, afterwards he moved to South East Asia to join the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel in Yangon as the Executive Sous Chef, from there he moved to East Africa to join the African Safari Club as Executive Chef and later Executive Group Chef, he was recruited by Nikko International to take over the Hotel Nikko Royal Lake Yangon as the Executive Chef and F&B Manager from where he then went on to teach at the Culinary Institute of Mexico before leaving the culinary department to venture into property management, he worked in capacities such as General Manager, Resort Manager, Regional General Manager (cluster) and Chief Operating Officer.
Andreas is a founding member of the Myanmar Chefs Association which he has served since 1997 in capacity of Secretary, Treasurer and Vice President since 2003 he is a honorary life time member of the Myanmar Chefs Association and the Saudi Arabian Chefs Association and is on the permanent judges panel for the annual MCAC (Myanmar Culinary Arts Competition) and has lead the Kenyan Team during the inauguration of the African Culinary Cup in 2013 in Johannesburg / South Africa.
Andreas holds a degree as a certified hotel administrator, state certified hospitality trainer and state certified chef from Germany and has over 34 years of experiences in the international hospitality industry ranging from Chef to COO as well as extensive travel experiences gained during his tenure as COO of a well-established travel agency.
Managing Director, Dawa, Industrial Zone, Ghana
Richmond is an award-winning business leader, strategy analyst and an organisational transformation Consultant with nearly two decades of multi-industry expertise across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Specialised in Upstream Financial Advisory, International Trade and Development, Economic Integration and Digitalisation, Social Enterprise and Impact Investing, Industrial Ecosystems and Special Economic Zones.
As Ex Vice President of West and Central Africa’s leading Investment Bank – Databank Group – he achieved the highest regional CIS AUM and as former Managing Director of TBG Pensions he supervised one of the largest Trustee M&A transactions for four independent pension firms into a thriving industry leader under 24 months.
As a seasoned strategy and transformation consultant, he implemented two disruptive national campaigns as a corrective measure in West Africa’s banking and insurance sectors simultaneously, bolstering economic growth in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic.
Richmond is also former Chief Executive of Pan African Tech Firm – Asaase GPS which executed Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic integration program via digital addressing. In 2019 he was awarded for building the best business model and social impact organization, by the United Nations – ITU Global Award in Budapest, Hungary.
Currently as Managing Director for 4 African Special Economic Zones, he leads trade and investment promotion efforts across various South East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and North America. He doubles as Advisory Board Chair of FLF AFRICA, a Pan-African fNGO that drives the strategic mandate of SDGs 1 & 17 across 46 countries, focusing on eradicating poverty and strengthening partnerships for sustainable development.
He is an author of 8 Personal Development Books and he is a regular finance and economic pundit for the BBC, CNBC, CNN and other national media platforms across the world. Richmond is an alumnus of the University of Ghana, Paris School of Business, CalUniversity, Harvard Business School and Saiid Business School(Oxford University).
Deputy CEO – General Services, Ghana Tourism Authority, Ghana
Ben Anane-Nsiah is a Deputy Chief Executive Officer, General Services of the Ghana Tourism Authority based at its Head Office in Accra. He has had extensive experience stretching over two decades in tourism operations and management and has previously handled the Ashanti Region, Marketing, Special Events and Product Development and Investment Departments of the Authority.
His current schedules as Deputy Chief Executive Officer requires that he provides strategic leadership, technical, and administrative support for effective management of resources for the achievement of the mandate of the Authority including the coordination of the development of medium to long term strategic plan for the organization.
He is bilingual (French/English) and holds a Bachelors of Arts, French and Economics Degree from the University of Ghana, Legon. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Tourism Management from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and a Diploma from the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
He has been actively involved in the planning and execution of strategies designed to propel the development of Tourism in Ghana these last few years and is a keen advocate of enhanced Intra-Africa Regional Tourism.
Rumbidzai Mudzengerere is the current Managing Director for Africa’s Connect, a company she started after serving 10 years in the travel and tourism industry.
She has travel experience that includes 6 years working experience with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, where she was the Marketing Executive responsible for marketing Zimbabwe to the Americas market.
Rumbidzai established Africa’s Connect in 2018 with the goal of promoting inbound travel to Africa from different source markets namely, Middle East, Europe and USA. Prior to this, she was elected as president of the Africa Travel Association Young Professionals Program from 2012 to 2015, under the Africa Travel Association organisation based in New York City. During this period, she managed to increase membership of the African young professionals from 4 countries to 12 countries participating.
She was selected to undergo a leadership training course with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation and was trained in Diplomacy, International relations and other key areas. From there, she has held numberous leadership positions in and around Zimbabwe and represented the country’s tourism on different platforms. She has given speeches at various institutions and countries including New York University, Krakow Poland and Sao Paolo in Brazil.
With a humble background and a strong spiritual life, her passion and experience over the years has molded her into one of the finest young influencers in the country. She has established a great network of peers who have mentored and influenced her work ethic.In 2021, she was the 1st runner up in the Women Leadership Award hosted by Africa Toursim Leadership Forum.
She is also an avid reader and a passionate traveller.
Key Account Manager, Airlines and Government Agencies Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), South Africa
Acting Chief Executive Officer – Zambia Tourism Agency
Chavunga Lungu is a seasoned and accomplished Marketing and Customer Experience professional with over 18 years’ experience in business leadership having worked at senior level for blue-chip international accredited organizations including Saatchi and Saatchi and ZK Advertising as Head of Clients Services. He has also worked with Stanbic Bank as Marketing Manager and Barclays Bank Zambia now Absa Bank as Marketing and Communications Manager as well as Head of Customer Experience. He then joined The Zambia Tourism Agency as Director Marketing and currently at the helm as Acting Chief Executive Officer.
Chavunga holds a Master of Business Administration in International Business from the University of Greenwich, a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a Professional Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing – UK. He further possesses an Advanced Diploma in Information Management and a host of other professional certifications in tourism marketing, project management, international Diplomacy and Digital Media Management to mention but a few.
He is a member of the Council of the Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM) as Council Publicity Secretary, an organization responsible for regulating Marketing Practice in Zambia and a member of the Institute of Directors of Zambia (IoDZ). He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and sits on the Board of Directors for the Chartered Institute of Customer Management Zambia (CICM).
Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation
Dr Itah Kandjii-Murangi was appointed as the Minister of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation since March 2015 to present. Dr Kandjii-Murangi attained her first Bachelor’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Botswana (1982), She proceeded to do a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology with emphasis on Career Guidance at the University of Ohio, Athens, U.S.A. (1985), where she also subsequently obtained a Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology (1990).
For her academic and professional life of over three decades, Dr. Kandjii-Murangi taught psychology at both the Universities of Botswana and Namibia. She also served in other capacities at the University of Namibia, as the Founding Director of International Relations and Exchange Programs as well Dean of Students and International Programs. While at UNAM, Dr. Kandjii-Murangi studied and completed a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration (2000) and a B. Juris degree (2012).
Personal:
Born on 3rd September, 1957, Maun, Botswana.
Education:
B. Ed Educational Psychology, UniverBLS
Ph D Clinical Psychology, Ohio University, USA;
M. Ed Counseling Psychology, Ohio University, USA;
MPPA, UNAM/ ISS, The Hague
B.Juris, UNAM
Careers:
Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation (since March 2015). Dean of Students and International Programs (2003-2014). Founding Director UNAM’s International Relations and Exchange Program (1995-2002). Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education, UNAM (1992-1994). Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana (1985-1988). Staff Development Fellow (1982 – 1984)
Iwona Fluda is the founder of Ministry of Creativity LLC: a Swiss-based enterprise with the mission to bring more creativity to the world through creative workshops, business approaches, and strategies. Background: (digital) marketing & product development. Ministry of Creativity LLC has two brands:
Creative Switzerland: https://creativeswitzerland.com/ – an online booking platform with creative activities and the vision to preserve cultural and creative heritage through digitalization. Awarded the Best Creative Destination 2018 by Creative Tourism Network.
Organic Cosmetics: https://organiccosmetics.ch/ – an online shop with vegan and fairly made care products that work and help girls and women in need.
Iwona frequently speaks and writes on creativity, creative skills, responsible/social entrepreneurship, leadership, and tourism, e.g., her article published at Forbes DACH in 2020: Re-imagining The Way We Travel: https://www.forbes.at/artikel/re-imagining-the-way-we-travel.html
She is a Fellow and Swiss Connector of the RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures, and commerce) and an alumna of MIT Bootcamps: Venture Scaling (2019).
Country Lead Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners, LLC (ESP) Gabon
Carmen is a dynamic business leader with an International track record of delivering significant results in difficult and volatile markets such as Tourism Management, Entrepreneurship & Tertiary Education. Her qualities are undeniable when it comes to developing strategic frameworks, building coalitions, fostering innovation and lobbying to drive substantial policy changes.
She is driven by her passion to catalyse change, initiate and oversee transformation and build solutions that transcend national borders.
She is also widely known for her courageous advocacy of quality education and socio-economic empowerment for youth and women.”
Executive Director for Academic Support and Development at Namibia University of Science and Technology
Currently: Executive Director for Academic Support and Development at Namibia University of Science and Technology. Worked at NUST for the past 19 years and previously worked at the UNDP as a Specialist for Protected Areas, Tourism Planning and Concessions and for UNESCO as a Project Manager for MDG-F Sustainable Cultural Tourism Programme. Main specialization cut across sustainable tourism, ecotourism, community-based tourism, local economic development, and policy formulation pertaining to sustainable development and improved livelihoods.
This is coupled with extensive knowledge of best practices in administration, the legislation of higher education institutions, corporate governance, risk management, stakeholder relations, operational leadership, project management, and curriculum development, knowledge of budget preparation (capital and expenditure), and fiscal control.
Ability to communicate complex information, both written and oral, to inform or influence a diverse range of stakeholder groups; Policy advocacy and conceptual reasoning; Capacity to build inter-sectoral and inter-agency technical programme partnerships, Resources Mobilisation and Sound numeracy ability. In-depth understanding of board member’s fiduciary duties including statutory duties, companies Act(s), Namcode and King IV.
Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Training Authority (NTA)
Muvatera Ndjoze-Siririka is the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Training Authority (NTA). He has a host of qualifications in the area of adult education, with a specific focus on the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector, acquired from inter alia, the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Wales and the University of Manchester.
Testament to his passion for seeing Namibia’s TVET sector flourishing to the benefit of the public at large, his Master’s degree dissertation focused on the topic of ‘Technical and Vocational Education as Education for Development’ and suggested the establishment of the NTA as a regulatory body for Namibia’s TVET sector.
His keen interest in writing developed during his time at the University of Zimbabwe where he also worked as a research fellow for SAPES TRUST and a subeditor for the Southern African Political & Economic monthly (SAPEM). He has contributed to several publications and conference papers that have influenced policy and allowed the platform for TVET to be recognised as a crucial vehicle for social equity, inclusion and sustainable development, in an increasingly competitive global environment.
As a TVET specialist and human development practitioner with over 23 years of experience with a keen focus on skills development, he worked within the public sector of the Government of the Republic of Namibia and Botswana at various management levels, including the roles of Deputy Director and Director.
His experience spans functional initiatives and outcomes within the TVET, employment, youth development and empowerment spaces, with a focus on policies and programmes at both national and continental levels.
Associate Professor: Tourism Management, University Of South Africa, South Africa
Magdalena Petronella (Nellie) Swart holds a DCom in Leadership Performance and Change, is an Associate Professor in Tourism at the University of South Africa, and a Certified Meeting Professional. Nellie has authored and co-authored accredited journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings related to business tourism and tourism education. The training of tourism teachers is amongst her community engagement projects. She is an executive committee member of a number of tourism committees and serves on the editorial board of the IJTC. Nellie has organised national and international conferences and is often an invited speaker at business events.
Deputy Minister of Industrialisation and Trade Republic of Namibia
In 2020, Hon. Verna Sinimbo assumed the position of Deputy Minister of Industrialisation and Trade charged with the responsibility of spearheading development and manage Namibia’s economic regulatory framework, promote economic growth and development through the formulation and implementation of appropriate policies with the view to attract investment, increase trade, develop and expand the country’s industrial base.
Prior to her current position, Hon. Sinimbo served as a Mayor of Rundu. Her appointment as a Mayor came after a long career at the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare. Hon. Sinimbo is a teacher by profession.
Hon. Sinimbo, her political status started at the young age and she served in many Youth structures which include the SWAPO Youth League.
Hon. Varna Sinimbo is a Namibian National and hold qualifications in Education and Business Administration.
Policy Analyst at the African Union Development Agency -NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD).
Mr Vincent Oparah is a Policy Analyst and Senior Programme Officer, Programme Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the African Union Development Agency -NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD).
Previously, Mr Oparah was the Project Manager for Youth and Enterprise at AUDA-NEPAD. Before then he was the Fund Manager of the NEPAD Climate Fund. He facilitated the implementation of 22 climate change adaptation projects in 18 African countries between 2014 and 2016. He also supported some African counties for accreditation towards the Green Climate Fund.
As the Focal Point of AUDA-NEPAD Tourism Programme, Mr Oparah’s work on African Sustainable Tourism includes support the convening of the African Youth Tourism Tech Adventure, advisory services to the African Ministers of Tourism and support to the publication of African Tourism Post-Covid 19 Recovery Strategy 2021 and White Paper on Tourism Security 2021.
In addition, Mr Oparah supports the African Tourism Leadership Awards as an Adjudicator and volunteers as a mentor at the Mandela Washington Fellowship – Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
He has a Master Degree in Public and Development Management from Wits School of Governance, Johannesburg, South Africa and Honours Degree in International Relations from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
He has authored and co-authored a several publications on development, tourism, and environmental policies. Mr Oparah is well travelled within Africa and internationally.
Mlangeni, General Manager, MyPond Stenden Hotel, South Africa
Hotelier Pearl Motaung-Mlangeni has won several awards. She graduated from Unitas High School in 2004, earned a certificate in hotel administration and management in 2006, and went on to the University of South Africa to study labor relations management, human resources management, and services. She has a postgraduate diploma in international business management from Eaton Business School and is now working on her research master’s degree in global business management.
She has more than 16 years of expertise in operations, including pre-opening five hotels, front desk, room division, and food and beverage. Her commitment in mentoring and instructing young minds in the hospitality sector demonstrates her enthusiasm for the profession.
She is on the African Association of Women in Tourism and Hospitality’s advisory board.
Mrs Motaung-Mlangeni has received several honors after being nominated. She was a finalist for the Standard Bank Top Women Young Achiever of the Year under 40 in 2019/2020. She was nominated for the Strategic Africa Women in Leadership Award in 2021 and won the Pyne Awards for Rising Star of the Year (Hospitality). She represents Hospitality South Africa on the Top 10 Trailblazers to Watch in African Tourism 2022 list.
Mrs Motaung-Mlangeni is the General Manager of the MyPond Stenden Hotel**** in Port Alfred, where Stenden South Africa’s hospitality students are taught.
Senior Lecturer, Department of Tourism Management, Tshwane University of Technology
Dr PPS Sifolo has wealth of experience and prodigious knowledge in the tourism sector and higher education. She is a senior lecturer focusing on Management, Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship subjects in the Department of Tourism Management at Tshwane University of Technology. She is a National Research Foundation rated researcher and the Future Professors Program candidate by the Department of Higher Education & Training. Portia completed her Doctorate in Business Administration at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) which focused on the nexus between supply chain management and stakeholder management for the optimum growth of the tourism sector. She has a Master of Business Leadership from UNISA, her research project focused on marketing strategies for major economic regional players in Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa). She is the Editorial Board of the International Journal on Tourism & Sustainability in 2022 as well as Tourism Planning and Development (TPD) 2022 -2024. She serves as Africa Tourism Partners (ATP) expert for Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit & Challenge as a representative for British Council’s Innovation for African Universities programme in 2021-2022. She was an adjudicator for the National Tourism awards in South Africa from 2015-2019. She served as a Board member at LARASA (Leisure and Recreation Association of Southern Africa) from 2017-2018. She has passion for tourism leadership and tourism supply chains in Africa as economic development initiatives due to her international exposure, particularly in the African continent. She is a research supervisor and an examiner for various institutions. Her scientific interests include digital procurement of tourism establishments in Africa. She has co-authored in different books, published research papers in academic journals and participated in both domestic and international conferences.
Digital Media Personality, Event Organizer & Brand Consultant
Edward Adjaye is a Ghanaian digital media personality, event organizer and brand consultant. Edward began his career in events and entertainment by organizing major parties while studying at Central University in Ghana.
In 2012, he joined the then newly launched BBnZ Live media & talent management agency as the lead brand manager and head of digital marketing. He was instrumental in the launch and organization of BBnZ Live’s maiden Afrobeats Music Festival in 2013, and the second edition in 2014, that witnessed Ms. Lauryn Hill perform in Ghana for the first time. He supervised the entire digital media rollout of both events, and the Dare To Care charity campaign that was aimed at feeding street children.
He has directly been involved with the brand rollout campaigns of a number of reputable Ghanaian brands. He sits on the board of 2 media houses, and a brand consultancy firm. His love for music and entertainment, and candid opinions on these subjects, gained him a cult following on social media. And he in turn, used it to help him launch yet another brand – Afrochella. In 2017, he partnered with his childhood friends to organize Ghana’s current biggest music festival – Afrochella, under the company Culture Management Group. He is currently the President of CMG, and lead Creative Director. They have organized 3 consecutive successive Afrochella festivals since then, with a 4th set to happen this year; making it a staple and household event in Africa & gaining traction worldwide. He spear-headed the creation of another successful event series in Ghana – Amapiano & Brunch. It is a once – a month brunch party known for its star-studded South African guest performers and DJs.
Presidential Advisor, Youth Matters & Enterprise Development, Office of the President, Namibia
Daisry Mathias was appointed Advisor to the President of the Republic of Namibia, His Excellency Dr. Hage G. Geingob, in June 2015. In this role, Daisry advises the Head of State on policy and programme priorities to harness a Demographic Dividend and create an enabling environment for sustainable entrepreneurship in Namibia, under the overarching goals of poverty eradication, economic inclusion and shared prosperity.
Daisry co-authored the “Harambee Prosperity Plan I and II”, the Namibian Government’s roadmap for accelerated development, launched in April 2016 and March 2021. She serves on the COVID-19 Economic Task Force & Dashboard Monitoring Policy Advisory team, from April 2020 to date and as Commissioner for the National Planning Commission, from April 2017. She also served as Team Namibia Board Director from June 2015 to 2017 and was Editor of the “Namibia Business Journal” a business, finance and economics publication. July 2013 – December 2015. In July 2019 Daisry was selected to become an Obama Leader, joining 200 young Africans in a Leadership Development Programme by former U.S. President Barack Obama.
In her preceding role as an under 30 Chief Executive Officer of Team Namibia; Daisry led a business support organisation, promoting local industry by advocating the preferential consumption of Namibian goods and services.
Daisry’s professional experience ranges from public policy formulation, to national development planning, project management, monitoring & evaluation, diplomacy & high- level stakeholder engagement, to brand strategy, digital marketing and public relations. Daisry is dedicated to contributing to Namibia’s broad-based empowerment, deepening of democracy and accelerating socio-economic transformation. She is positive about Africa’s future and passionate about capacitating the individual to maximize potential.
Achma’s passion for aviation was inherited from her father, who had worked with the Royal Air Force, the Indian Airforce and the Zambian Air Force, where he trained many of the recruits in the newly formed Air Force in the newly independent Zambia.
In the era after she graduated, the only career in aviation that welcomed women was the cabin crew department, which was not approved by her father. So Achma began her working life as a travel agent before joining Air Namibia in Windhoek, where she started her life as an Interline Accounts Supervisor and gradually worked her way up to become the Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. Her years at Air Namibia, is what she considers her ‘most formative years’ as she says that she had four additional jobs, as a wife, a mother to her son and daughter, a housekeeper, and a student!
She joined Air Seychelles at their headquarters in Victoria as the Chief Internal Auditor, which consolidated her knowledge of the airline business. “Working with small international airlines gave me insights into the entire length, breadth and width of the business” says Achma. “This prepared me for the bigger roles I was to play eventually in my working life.” Thereafter, she got the opportunity to realize her dream to work for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), as Senior Internal Auditor, enlightening her into the macro-economic workings of the global aviation industry. After some years with IATA, her continuous yearning to learn more made her move to USA to work with American Express as Director, Enterprise Risk Management.
Thus, after having traveled far and wide, amassed a wealth of experience and knowledge on the workings of the airline industry inside out, Achma decided it was time to do something of her own. She co-founded AirlinePros, which offers a wide range of services to the airline industry. AirlinePros today is an award-winning global leader providing airline and travel representation, distribution, and commercial solutions with over 70 airline clients and more than 40 global locations. A Fellow of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) from the UK, Achma is also an MBA from the University of Manchester.
Chief Executive Officer, Airline Association of South Africa, South Africa
Aaron Munetsi currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at AASA. Prior to joining AASA, he held several commercial management positions at South African Airways, including Regional Manager for Africa and the Middle East and as its Acting Chief Commercial Officer. For 10 years, he served on the board of Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Business, and after leaving SAA in 2018 he joined the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) for a stint as its Director: Government, Legal and Industry Affairs. For the past year he has been working as an aeropolitical and business strategy advisor to airlines.
Aaron holds diplomas and certificates in marketing, strategic management and leadership from the University of Zimbabwe, University of Witwatersrand Graduate Business School and the Gordon Institute for Business Studies.
Founder and Managing Director of Augmented Future
Confident Niyizibyose, 23, is a Rwandese technologist, Founder and Managing Director of Augmented Future a startup using augmented and virtual reality technologies to enable engaging story telling in education and creative culture industry.
With quickAR product, creators can bring to life their art works so that art gallery and museums visitors can scan artworks to extract more meaningful information such as story and inspiration behind it.
He is a technology for good champion where he has spearheaded or was part of the organizers at first Africa XR Delegation at Laval, VR month at Institut Francais Goma and numerous immersive art exhibitions. He is currently working on a pan African tourism platform powered by immersive technologies.
Ms Francine Zana was born in Coega in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape Province. Born into a humble and modest family she aspired to pursue a career in business, but due to financial difficulties dropped of college after completing her second year and went to work as a domestic worker and cleaner. Through sheer determination and personal drive worked her way up in to Management Position. And is the current Managing director and owner of Exclusive Hospitality Concepts, a company which specialises on the interests of private homes and established hospitality establishments who don’t have big hotel resources but aim to archive high operation standards and systems.
She holds vast amounts of experience in the industry with over fifteen years working in the sector, firstly beginning as a Domestic worker and room attendant/Waitress/Front office she worked her way up to management level within the industry. And eventually working for award winning establishments like the No5 by Mantis group which specialises in 5 star boutique hotel. This is where she was given the big brake to start training other workers. Ms Zana is a current holder of a National Lilizela Tourism Award 2017 The Minister’s Award Category, which was awarded to her by the Ministry of Tourism for her contribution to the tourism industry. She is also a winner of Standard Bank Top woman in the Eastern Cape Region, she was also Awarded Life time Achievement in entrepreneurship by CEWENA she also received an awards from the Nelson Mandela bay Mayor as part of the Top 50 Companies operating in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
She is also a Service Excellence Ambassador in the Eastern Cape Province. She also founded her own Hotel organic amenity range: Organic Amenities by Francine. She is also a founder of Celebrating Woman in Hospitality Gala Dinner/Awards this is an event that aims to recognise and honour the people who makes the Hospitality industry the success that it is today. She also runs a special program were she provides hospitality training to unemployed youth and later place them in hotels for temporal/Casual or permanent positions this is a non- funded project that aims to produce high quality hospitality staff and also create job opportunities for unemployed.
She was recently awarded Standard Bank Top Women Regional Entrepreneur for the year 2019 she was also awarded the African Women in Tourism Leadership Award for the year 2020.
Co- Founder and COO, Creative Bibini Ltd I Development Partner at FOCAS | Award Winner Africa Youth in Tourism innovation- ATLF- UNWTO 2021, Ghana
Eugene Allotey has over 7 years of experience in the IT field. He has spent most of his career working at Creative Bibini managing IT-related project portfolios as well as managing large, complex multi-use development projects. He began his career as a Project Manager and is now the Chief Operations Officer for the company.
As Creative Bibini’s Co-Founder, COO and Senior Project Manager, Eugene is responsible for defining and implementing a state-of-the-art information technology architecture, developing and implementing governance, project management processes while ensuring the successful deployment of services that meet Creative Bibini’s mission and client requirements. As a Senior Project Manager at Creative Bibini, Eugene approaches all projects with a strong strategic focus and an emphasis on team building while always maintaining a clear path towards achieving project goals. He is a true believer in building solutions that follow values and agile practices, mentoring and motivating teams to improve processes, eliminating team impediments, and facilitating meetings and decision-making processes.
Eugene is a Co-Founder and Development partner at FOCAS, a real-time customer service feedback software that won the Africa Youth in Innovation Challenge Award in 2021.
Eugene holds a Master’s Degree in Marketing Strategy from the University of Ghana Business School. He is also a Member of the Project Management Institute (Global and Ghana Chapter) as well as a certified Digital Marketer from Google.
Project Facilitator and Manager of the RuralRevive Project
Reinhold Mangundu is the Project Facilitator and Manager of the RuralRevive Project: Building a Desert-based Economy by rethinking conservation and tourism to improve the livelihoods of the rural majority. He represents the Wolwedans Foundation and he is the key liaison person to the Steering Committee. Reinhold oversees the implementation of the project, tracking and documenting the progress.
Reinhold Mangundu is also a Poet, Community Development Planner, Sustainability Researcher, and Environmental Activist passionate about conservation. He holds a Masters of Philosophy in Sustainable Development, Planning and Management, as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development from the University of Stellenbosch. He has an Honors Degree in Regional and Rural Development from the Namibia University of Science and Technology. He is the current Chairperson of the Namibian Environment and Wildlife Society, and the Strategic and Partnership Officer of the Namibian Youth Coalition on Climate Change.
Quote: There is happiness in every compassionate act
Jacqui Taylor often refers to the conduit needed to get a natural resource, oil, from the ground to the petrol tanks of cars. The analogy applies to Rural Tourism/Agritourism which is a facilitator of employment opportunities, an additional income generator to rural communities and a means to empower women and the youth where there are few opportunities to provide a sustainable life.
Jacqui Taylor is the Founder & Managing Director of Rural Tourism Africa; Agritourism Training and Agritourism Africa. Jacqui Taylor is a passionate communicator, marketer, and entrepreneur. She has over 30 years’ Communications and Marketing experience in the Agricultural and Tourism industries, both nationally and internationally.
She is passionate about Sustainable Rural Tourism, Agriculture, Conservation, Ecotourism, and Community Tourism. Jacqui has succeeded in developing Domestic and International Marketing Strategies for several Destinations. Her focus is currently on Sustainable Tourism, Ecotourism and Rural Tourism initiatives.
Jacqui is an Advisory Member on the IWA Marketing Committee (Vermont), a member of the South African Association of Agricultural Journalists, a member of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and Advisor to EURAC.
Jacqui started her Rural Tourism business in Sept 2016 by creating an internet hub highlighting tourism farm experiences across Africa thereby allowing tourists (local and foreign to incorporate visits to farms as part of their travel plans. She is an advocate on numerous forums and an international speaker on Sustainable Tourism Development.
My name is Albert Kasozi, currently working with the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) as the Chief Executive Officer. AUTO is Uganda’s leading tourism private sector association representing the interests of over 350 top tour operators in Uganda.
I have previously worked for the Buganda Kingdom as the Marketing and Product Development Manager and I have as well served the Ugandan government under Uganda Tourism Board in the Marketing and the Quality Assurance Departments at the for a period of six years.
I have a bachelors degree in Tour and Travel Management, Diploma in Tourism Management and currently pursuing an MBA at Makerere University.
I have a considerable experience in tourism marketing and quality assurance. I have contributed to development and implementation of effective quality control processes and structures in the Uganda hospitality and corporate environment as well as development of new products on the tourism market in Uganda.
Founder & Principal Consultant Sustainable Travel & Tourism Agenda Kenya
Judy has a wealth of knowledge in sustainable travel and tourism across the African continent.
Judy is a sustainable tourism advocate, planner, adviser, assessor and trainer with over 20 years’ experience working with tourism sector, communities, conservation. Holder of MA in Rural Sociology & Community Development, Judy has dedicated her professional life to creating awareness on sustainable tourism. This has involved, challenging status quo, reviewing, debating and making contribution to how to effectively link tourism, community development, and conservation for sustainable tourism development.
She was the founding CEO of Ecotourism Kenya, the premier ecotourism society on Africa. While at Ecotourism she led and coordinated the development of criteria and standards for sustainable tourism certification, resulting in Kenya’s eco-rating scheme for hotels and lodges. In 2013, she founded Sustainable Travel & Tourism Agenda (STTA) an advisory organization that uses education, research, advocacy, and training to accelerate uptake of sustainable tourism, and support public and private sector agencies to engage and respond.
Globally Judy has served severally as a judge of World Travel and Tourism Council Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, and onsite evaluator for Nat Geo Unique Lodges of the World and Nat Geo World Legacy Awards. She has also been judge for IIPT Awards.
Her other roles in the industry include: board member of Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), advisory board member of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) and recently board member of Fair-Trade Tourism South Africa (FTT).
Judy has made significant contribution to acceptance and understanding of sustainable tourism through development of tools, training and awareness, assessment, advocacy and recently through a regional publication for East Africa- The EA sustainable tourism report.
Judy has developed one-day training modules for businesses that are beginning the journey and to support those who are in formative years/stage to mature into truly sustainable operations.
In 2019, she was awarded the Sustainable Citizen Award by Forbes Woman Africa in recognition of outstanding contribution to awareness and knowledge of sustainability in tourism in Africa and beyond.
Acting Chief Executive of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA)
Mr Givemore Chidzidzi is the Acting Chief Executive of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), the National Tourism Organisation of the Republic of Zimbabwe under the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Established through the Tourism Act (1996), the ZTA is responsible for tourism marketing and development.
Givemore has 36 years’ experience in the tourism industry. He holds a MBA in Marketing from the City University, Bellevue, Washington, USA and a Bachelor of Business Studies Degree in Tourism and Transportation from the University of Applied Sciences, Worms, Germany.
Founder of a Regional Commercial Airline in Africa starting in 2022(Commercial License in South Africa, Registered in the Cape Chamber of Commerce & actively working in British Somaliland 1937).
Never too young to start a market. At the age of 19 he had a goal of starting his own airline as he noticed an opportunity in the African continent in the aviation field, luckily this was possible with the support and guidance of his three business partners who have over 40 years of combined business and aviation experience. Dean who is currently 23 years of age is trying to make a difference in the airline/business world by creating and opening a window of opportunities in the African continent by creating a market strategy.
Dean is honoured and excited to have been accepted and starting his Bachelor of Business Administration studies at the Business School of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland. His passion drives him, He is a doer, ambitious, visionary perseverance, and a determined person. Dean stands for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.
