Mobile for Development Summit – Speakers

For the debut Mobile for Development Summit, we invited leading global innovators and stakeholders to discuss, present and debate the opportunities, challenges and impacts of mobile in driving the development agenda. Our 2013 speaker line-up is below.

Gilbert Arum

Client Executive,
IBM

Arnauld Blondet

VP Technocentre for Africa & Middle East,
Orange

Julia Burchell

Community Manager,
Mobile for Development Intelligence

Gilbert focuses on Business Development in the Telecommunications Industry Sector for IBM in Central, East Africa and West Africa. He has worked in all key dimensions of the telecommunications value chain ranging from a Network Operator, Service Provider, a IT Security Consultant and E2E Solutions Provider. Arnauld has spent 8 years in innovation at Orange. He joined AMEA region 5 years ago, which represents Orange countries in Africa & Middle East, counting more than 20 countries and more than 80 million customers. After opening the Amman Technocentre focused on innovation for AMEA region, in 2011 he opened the new Technocentre in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Julia joined MDI after three years specialising in mobile for development and gender. During this time she supported the launch and implementation of the GSMA mWomen Programme, leading the programme’s knowledge sharing initiatives and event project management. She brings a strong background in corporate communications to her work.


Maurizio Caio

Founder & Managing Partner,
TLcom Capital LLP

Maruis Conradie

EHOD mHealth & mServices Innovation,

Vodacom

Nicola D’Elia

Africa Growth Manager,
Facebook

Maurizio leads TLcom, a London and Nairobi-based technology venture capital firm investing across Europe, Israel and Sub-Saharan Africa. He was a Director in the Technology practice of Bain & Company. A Stanford MBA, he cooperates with the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies in West Africa, and is on the Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Office. Maruis has more than twenty years of experience in ICT, strategy and business development. He has been with Vodacom Group since 1998 and heads up the “Integrated Enterprise Solutions” division in Vodacom Business. He has been driving their mHealth strategy since 2008 and is now responsible for building mobile cloud services with business partners into commercial propositions across industry verticals. Since 2012, Nicola has looked after Facebook’s growth strategy and mobile partnerships for Africa. Prior to joining Facebook, Nicola worked for the GSMA Development Fund. Based in Uganda, he managed the rural connectivity and Green Power for Mobile initiatives. Nicola also worked for Accenture within the Communication and High Technology division in Italy and Germany.

Lesley Denyes

Agri-Fin Mobile Program Director,
Mercy Corps

Fernando de Sousa

General Manager,
Microsoft Africa Initiatives

Michael de Soyza

General Manager: Head – Group Corporate Office,
Dialog Axiata PLC

Lesley has worked in the financial services sector for over 12 years; specifically in the areas of financial analysis, mobile banking, strategic planning, product development and channel management in Asia & Africa. She previously worked with Canadian investment and financial services companies, as well as working as a Senior Ratings Analyst for a leading microfinance rating agency in India. With more than 30 years of experience in IT and business management, and almost 17 years at Microsoft, Fernando is responsible for the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The 4Afrika Initiative focuses on three critical areas of development for the continent – World-class skills, Access and Innovation. Since 2004, Michael has led Dialog’s sustainability practice by leveraging the potential of mobile technologies to deliver development outcomes in Sri Lanka. Michael has published and spoken widely on the impact of mobile and sustainable development. Michael’s experience covers sustainability strategy, assurance and advisory services.



Pieter de Villiers

Founder & CEO,
Clickatell

Corina Gardner

Senior Manager,
Mobile for Development Intelligence

Miguel Granier

Founder & Managing Director,
Invested Development

Pieter is responsible for establishing Clickatell as the world’s leading mobile messaging provider, enabling tens of thousands of enterprises and millions of consumers to interact and communicate via their mobile phones. He co-founded Clickatell in 2000, now considered to be the largest global mobile messaging platform in operation on the web today. Corina has been managing the development of the MDI programme since 2010, including the programme design, external consultations and relations, recruiting, events, and partnerships. Previously, she focused on international development, working with USAID, State Department, and consulting companies, spending 8 years managing, implementing, and advising on foreign aid projects. Miguel is the Founder and Managing Director of Invested Development, a Boston-based impact investment management firm. In 2011, Invested Development launched the BSP Fund, a seed-stage equity fund focused on mobile/ICT, alternative energy, and agriculture technologies. In 2012, ID created the Impact Factoring Fund, a working capital vehicle for growth-stage technology companies in emerging markets.



Denis Guibard

Vice President, Sustainable Development, Products & Services,
Orange

Tim Hatt

Senior Analyst,
Mobile for Development Intelligence

Priya Jaisinghani

Deputy Director of Innovation and Development Alliances,
U.S. Agency for International Development

Since 2008, Denis has been leading Sustainable Development for Products and Services at Orange. He is in charge of turning CSR and sustainable development into value creation opportunities through Orange offerings and marketing actions, including services that contribute to the social and economic development of the countries where Orange operates. Tim is responsible for MDI’s research outputs produced and presented externally at conferences and public speaking engagements. Prior to joining MDI in 2012, Tim spent four years working as a telecoms analyst in London, focusing on the European and US markets for both mobile and fixed line. Priya is the Deputy Director of Innovation and Development Alliances for the U.S. Agency for International Development. In this role she leads the agency’s efforts to leverage mobile technology to dramatically enhance the agency’s development outcomes. She led the agency’s conceptualization and realization of Better than Cash Alliance and other multi-stakeholder partnerships.


Chris Locke

Managing Director,
GSMA Mobile for Development

Mwamvita Makamba

Business Performance Partner

Vodacom International

Strive Masiyiwa
Founder & Chairman,
Econet Wireless
Chris is the Managing Director of GSMA Mobile for Development. GSMA Mobile for Development brings together our mobile operator members, the wider mobile industry and the development community to drive commercial mobile services for underserved people in emerging markets. Mwamvita is a Business Performance Partner for Corporate Affairs for Vodacom International, overseeing its international Corporate Social Investment Agenda. Prior to this Mwamvita held multiple positions within Vodacom Tanzania. Mwamvita plays a key role in supporting Vodacom’s expansion strategy into new markets in Sub Saharan Africa and sits on the Vodafone Group Foundation Board of Trustees. Strive is the Founder and Chairman of Econet Wireless. He currently serves on a number of boards including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Advisory Board of the Counsel on Foreign Relations, the Africa Progress Panel, AGRA, and the UN Sec General’s Advisory Boards for Sustainable Energy. He is one of the founders, with Sir Richard Branson, of the Carbon War Room.



Christopher Mikkelsen
Co-Founder,
Refugees United
Andrew Milne
CEO,
Hello Doctor
Dr. Michael Mol
Director,
Hello Doctor
Social entrepreneur Christopher Mikkelsen is Co-Founder of Refugees United, the first-ever mobile family-tracing platform for refugees. The platform capitalizes on the ever-growing mobile phone usage across Africa and works closely with partners, such as Kenya Red Cross, UN Refugee Agency, Ericsson and others. Christopher is an expert on social innovation. Since 2010, Andrew has been CEO of Hello Doctor. Hello Doctor offers customers a wealth of trusted medical expertise, offered by qualified and experienced medical professionals, supported by innovative, fully-compliant systems, and backed by a transparent and ethics-driven business model. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of Virgin Lifecare. Michael is Director of Hello Doctor, as well as a medical doctor, an executive television producer, international speaker, and business consultant. In 2011, he melded his passion for medicine and media into a TV series called “Hello Doctor” (renamed “The Dr Mol Show”). with a vision to educate and inspire South Africans to live their best life, by being the healthiest they can be.



Jesse Moore
Co-Founder & Managing Director,
M-KOPA
Hilda Moraa
Senior Researcher,
iHub
Dr. Tim Murdoch
Industrial Research Fellow,
University of Cambridge Engineering Design Centre
Jesse is Co-Founder and Managing Director of M-KOPA, a Nairobi-based company which provides affordable solar-powered lighting and charging solutions on a pay-as-you-go basis Since 2010, M-KOPA has helped Kenyans acquire solar power products by offering innovative payment plans and a distribution model tailored to the needs of rural customers. Hilda is an ambassador of African youth entrepreneurship and ICT development. At iHub Research, she spearheads in-house research on ICT Hubs in Africa that focuses on understanding the models of the Hubs, their sustainability and potential strategies for improving their work. She also formulates iHub Research’s capabilities, policies, processes, proposals and frameworks. Tim was Founder and CEO at Iceni Mobile, a turn-key solution provider and business incubator for mobile payments services in the emerging markets, creating marketplaces for a wide range of secure mobile data services for low wage and rural communities. Prior to this Tim led the design, development, deployment and operation of M-PESA.


Yaya N’djore
Special Programs Manager,
Millicom – Tigo Tanzania
Maria Pienaar
Executive Head Value Added Services,
Cell C
Gustav Praekelt
Founder,
Praekelt Group & Praekelt Foundation
Yaya has more than 9 years of experience working in Africa and the Middle East. He’s currently managing all programs aiming to combine the use of mobile to support reaching the underserved communities especially in the field of Agriculture, Health, Finance and Energy. Previously, Yaya held multiple positions in supply chain and project management. Maria has a strong track record in driving revenue through identifying new product opportunities. Her expertise is in building strategic partnerships to open new distribution channels, reaching new domestic and international markets. She has launched over thirty successful wireless and Internet applications and services for both enterprise and consumer market segments. Gustav is the founder of the Africa-based Praekelt Group which uses mobile technology to improve lives of people in the majority world. His belief in the power of mobile phones to transform lives inspired him to establish the Praekelt Foundation – A social business that develops scalable mobile solutions for social good, whose programmes have reached over 50 million across Africa.



Mike Quinn
Group CEO,
Zoona
Andrew Rudge
CEO,
Mxit Reach
Yazeed Sheqem
Director of Business Development (Middle East / Africa),
Souktel
Mike is the Group CEO of Zoona, an African payments business. He has worked for Zoona since the first payment in 2009, and successfully closed a $4m Series A venture capital round from international investors in early 2012, a first ever for a technology start-up in Zambia. Andrew heads up Mxit Reach, a not for profit that focuses on developing educational and health apps in conjunction with other NGOs and international organisations. Mxit Reach has just entered a partnership with Unicef and the Department of Basic Education to develop a mobile phone based virtual school, Ukufunda. Based in Jordan, Yazeed leads Souktel’s business development outreach to clients in the Levant, Gulf, North Africa and Sub-Saharan African regions. He joined Souktel in early 2013, bringing with him more than 7 years of professional experience in business development and management consulting..



Laura Szczuczak
Project Manager,
SeeSaw
Dr. Erik Wetter
Co-Founder,
Flowminder
Adam Wills
Analyst,
Mobile for Development Intelligence
SeeSaw is a South African social enterprise promoting the use of mobile technology in the water and sanitation sectors in the developing world. Laura joined SeeSaw in mid-2012 and recently worked on a cellphone-based monitoring system of rural water entrepreneurs in Ghana. She has a particular interest in ICT4D and social entrepreneurship. Dr. Erik Wetter is Co-Founder of Flowminder, a non-profit applied research initiative that pioneered the use of anonymized cellphone data to map and predict population movement after natural disasters (Haiti 2010 earthquake). Flowminder is part of The Human Mobility Mapping Project. Adam has been working with MDI since 2012, researching and writing reports as part of MDI’s research agenda, as well as spending time on the ground in developing markets to gather intelligence. Adam’s focus is increasingly on entrepreneurs creating mobile enabled products and services across the range of development verticals.