FEMALE INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020

Aicha Touré, CEO at Orange Finances Mobiles Mali, is committed to promoting digital and financial inclusion in Africa. She is passionate about making financial services inclusive and more accessible to all.

In 2019, she was an awardee of the Public Affairs section of USA Consulate General for championing a STEM Integration and Train-the-Trainer project for Educators in marginalized communities. She cultivated a STEM workforce by equipping 100 Educators with project-based learning tools to integrate practical Learning, teach challenging content, and provide key resources relevant in understanding STEM pathways and courses. Today, they have served as STEM Ambassadors by training over 4,723 other Educators with exemplary practices, expanded their learning communities for effective knowledge sharing and integrated innovation in Classrooms. Introduced STEM Education and Reading literacy to 2,805 young students in Gawuna Science and Technology School, Kano State.

Baratang Miya is an award winning tech social entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of GirlHype coding academy for women and girls in South Africa. GirlHype aims to empower girls and youth in the ICT sector in South Africa.

Helina is passionate about improving education - and access to education - across Africa. She firmly believes that the only way for Africa to educate people at scale is if technology is used to drive a community-based online learning approach Helinna has redefined and reimagined what a good education looks like, with the help of technology. In Africa there simply aren't enough places to send every single young person to university - a problem that won't be going away any time soon.

Hlengiwe Portia Masimula is the CEO and co-founder of Karisani IT. Born in Mpumalanga, Masimula has, in a very short time, grown from a start-up to a global company that develops innovative apps for local and international clients, as well as hosting conferences, speaking publicly, and mentoring. She is passionate about entrepreneurship, technology and female leadership, and believes that the only way for women can create our own opportunities and grow our economy is by empowering women involved in the tech space and entrepreneurship.

Katie Hill is Director of Power Management and Strategic Initiatives at Africa Data Centres. She is a tireless advocate for digital infrastructure investment as she sees the potential ICT holds to make life better across Africa. By its nature, the data centre industry is energy-intensive and so Katie believes the ICT sector, power sector and government all need to come together to solve this challenge.

Dr. Oliva Liyema Zake-Maqwazima provides strategic vision and IT leadership in support of business strategy and objectives at Sanlam. Oliva's career in IT is both broad and deep, having fulfilled various roles throughout her career. She is passionate about the application of technology to resolve real world problems. This passion drove Oliva to complete a Masters and PHD in the area of ICT for development, contributing to the body of knowledge specifically seeking to drive and accelerate progression through the acknowledgment and use of technology as an enabler.

A consumer, civil and digital rights advocate, Onica has managed and pioneered various national and international campaigns and policy change processes for women’s rights, civil rights, consumer rights, media and digital transformation initiatives. She brings a strong sensitivity and unique perspective to the dynamics affecting women, and other disadvantaged populations.

She is the founder and CEO of Rekindle Learning, a dynamic learning tech company that provides educational and performance support tools to improve learning efficiency and reduce time to competency for both corporates and academia. Rekindle Learning was profiled in the McKinsey Lions go Digital report as a striking innovation in mobile learning. With her infectious personality and ability to critically evaluate the use of technology in a social context, Rapelang brings a refreshing perspective to the possibilities of educational transformation in South Africa.

In 2013, after a stint on MasterChef SA, Shannon Smuts Brauer launched Pure Good Food, with a vision to provide affordable & nutritious food to the corporate space, whilst providing access to market for local, small-scale farmers and upskilling youth with no formal skillsets or training. After partnering with GetSmarter (now 2U) in 2014, and feeding thousands of mouths over the past 6 years, Pure Good has expanded to service SA's largest retailer, The Foschini Group, Workshop17, Valenture Institute, NTT/Dimension Data and numerous other companies & startups. Once Covid-19 arrived, the lockdown saw Shannon turn to her networks for fundraising and utilise one of her corporate kitchens, to run a feeding scheme providing kids in vulnerable communities in Khayelitsha, Samora Machel and the refugee tented village in Goodwood with daily nutritious meals. Shannon lives her values and is a prime example of the power of combining passion and purpose.

Youth Employment Service (YES) is a pioneering, business-driven initiative which has partnered with government and labour to tackle South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis and drive youth employability. YES has already proven itself to be one of the true innovators in South Africa, generating over R2.1 billion in youth salaries and more than 40,000 quality work experiences within 20 months of operation!