• Thanduxolo Shannon Zwane
• Co-founder of the EDF Initiative
• Eswatini

Thanduxolo is a co-founder of EDF, a newly established organization that focuses on funding education for underprivileged youth in Swaziland, thereby minimizing school dropout due to lack of finances. He is passionate about equipping youth with relevant skills that foster self-sustainability. He currently works for the Innovation Park under the Royal Science and Technology Park, which aims to stimulate startup and growth of technology-intensive and knowledge-based industries. Thanduxolo holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the National Taiwan University of Technology, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Swaziland.  

• Skype: shannozmzi

• Solomon Bwire
• Founder & President, Makerere Innovation Society
• Uganda

Solomon has been proudly supporting Africa Code Week as a Trainer in Uganda since 2016 and (quote) 'loves ACW to the bone marrow'!

He dreams of an empowered Africa where young people dare innovate, have start-up companies, build their life and not just their CV. Hence the importance to promote innovation & entrepreneurship from an early age.

Prior to founding the Makerere Innovation Society where he leads a network of innovators in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Uganda, Solomon worked for Wakiso Comprehensive Institute of Health Sciences and Fenix International Limited. He is also:

- Co-founder and CEO of Kawallet Tech Uganda Limited (supporting children in boarding schools)

- Co-founder of Tunaabe (providing pedal-controlled water and bar soap dispensers across Uganda homes and public spaces).

- Co-founder of eMedical (a pandemic assistance tool for Uganda healthcare).

Solomon holds a bachelor of science in computer engineering from Makerere University. 

• http://www.makerereinnovationsociety.org
• https://twitter.com/MIS_UG

• Dimonekene Ditutala
• Electronic and Telecommunications Engineer
• Angola

Dimonekene has been working in the IT and Codification industry since 1978, learning more than 20 programming languages and honing education and training skills along the way. He has been a consultant at the National Commission of Information Technologies (Comissão Naciional de Tecnologias de Informação - CNTI) since 2002, where he acted as Executive Coordinator from 2002 to 2006. He has performed various consulting activities, leading different initiatives of ICT massification and dissemination, including:

- Internet massification projects through the delivery of computers, routers and VSAT to schools and provincial governments;
- SchoolNet Angola in cooperation with SchoolNet Africa for the creation of a local center;
- Cooperation with Multichoice (DSTV), encouraging high school teachers to leverage TV to support the educational process;
- Cooperation with ComputerAid, recycling computers to be delivered to various public and private organizations (churches, public utility nonprofits).

Throughout his career, Dimonekene has also supported startups and participated in several movements to support entrepreneurship. At ECOSYSTEO, he developed activities to leverage Raspberry PI (python & Scratch) as a powerful and playful way to spark the interest of children in ICT. In 2012, he went to the Silicon Valley to collect best-practices from the various Innovation and Entrepreneurship programs there. Dimonekene graduated in Information Technology and holds a M.Sc in Strategic Management and Innovation.

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimonekeneditutala

• Ruth Kaveke
• Co-founder & Executive Director at Pwani Teknowgalz
• Kenya

TechWomen 2017 emerging leader, Ruth co-founded Pwani Teknowgalz in Mombasa, a non profit organization working to bridge the gender gap of Women in Technology. Passionate website developer, she loves inspiring more girls to venture into STEM through the Technovation Challenge - a global challenge that encourages girls from all over the world to solve community problems by creating dedicated mobile applications. Ruth is also actively involved in STEM projects in Mombasa, such as 'Mombasa Girls in STEM'. Featured by The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in one of their #eskills4girls videos, Ruth is currently working to establish the first Girl Technology Hub in Mombasa with a goal to empower girls from underprivileged backgrounds with computer programming skills. 

• http://pwaniteknowgalz.org
• https://twitter.com/kavekeruth

• Hemraj Ramsurrun
• Manager & Curator, Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre
• Mauritius

“Most of the fundamental ideas of Science are essentially simple and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone” – Albert Einstein

Strongly believing in this quote from Einstein and actively engaged in the promotion of Science and Technology in Mauritius and Rodrigues, Hemraj has evolved in this field at various levels and amongst people of all walks of life since 2005 when he joined the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre (RGSC), the only institution mandated for the promotion and popularization of Science and Technology in Mauritius and Rodrigues.

As Manager/Curator, Hemraj manages RGSC's IT facilities while contributing to the development of Science and Technology exhibitions and conduction of science popularization activities. He has been Jury member of several science project based competitions and has contributed to several international workshops/conferences.

Before completing a Master’s degree in Information and Communication Technology at the University of Mauritius, he studied Electrical & Electronics Engineering. He has also enhanced his general knowledge in Green ICT, Photovoltaics and Energy Auditing.

Through RGSC, Hemraj has been pivotal in the successful rollout out Africa Code Week in Mauritius.

• http://rgsc.govmu.org

• Josephine C. Sepeku
• Project Manager, the Camden Education Trust & DTBi
• Tanzania

In addition to coordinating Africa Code Week training for ICT teachers in Tanzania, Josephine helped coordinate the Robotics (Lego & Arduino) Summer camp for children organized by DTBi in collaboration with the African Transformative Innovation Partners (ATIP) and Airtel Tanzania.

Lead Youth & Girls Connection Officer at WATED (Women Action Towards Entrepreneurship Development) and active member of TAWLA (Tanzania Women Lawyers Association), Josephine has been working as the Dar Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBi), the only ICT hub and incubator in Tanzania currently hosted at the Commission for Science &Technology.

She also served as Coordinator of the Airtel Fursa Lab hosted at the Kijitonyama Primary school, TAWLA and WATED Volunteer, as well as and Project Officer of the Drone project of Delivery of medicines and blood samples from Ukerewe Island to Mwanza (a joint project by DHL, GIZ and DTBi).

In collaboration with the United Nations One of Tanzania, Josephine also helped coordinate training for civil society organizations on widening the Democratic Space in Dar es Salaam. She was a keynote speaker representing youth on the 1st National Women’s Rights Forum in Dar es Salaam in November 2016. She is now interning with Global Women’s Studies to assist in the organisation of events for the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence at NUI Galway (2018). 

Josephine graduated in Integrated Law & Sharia and is currently pursuing a MA in Gender Rights and Globalization at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) 2018-2019. 

• https://thecamdeneducationtrust.org/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephine-caroline-sepeku-738834131/