Africa Business Conference
2101 HBS Student Mail Center
Boston, MA 02163

© 2008 ICG Link, Inc.

African Telecom: Growth and New Opportunities

Moderator: Calestous Juma
Coordinator: Tawanda Sibanda

	Tito Alai CEO, Mimi Africa Tito Alai is the CEO of Mimi Africa. Previously, he was the Group Chief Commercial Officer of Zain, creating the Zain brand post merger of MTC and Celtel groups, creating One Network & Zap, and spearheading topline growth across 24 countries. He also served as Celtel Chief Commercial Officer – creating the Celtel brand for Pan-Africa, and building shareholder value to $3.5 billion of which more than $1 billion was attributed to the brand. Tito is a Kenyan citizen, but has lived in the UK and is currently living in The Netherlands with his family. He has a bachelor of Commerce from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from Kingston University in Surrey. Tito is passionate about consumers and bringing about a new pan-African reality.

	Uche Ofodile Director of Strategy & Brand, Vodafone Ghana As Director of Strategy & Brand for Vodafone Ghana, Uche’s key responsibilities include strategic counsel to the business, corporate social responsibility, brand positioning and management for Vodafone Ghana. Her department drives sales promotions, advertising and go-to-market strategies as well as provides customer insight for the overall business. Prior to joining Vodafone Ghana, Uche spent over six years in Nigeria working in various senior leadership roles in the telecommunications industry where she worked for Econet Wireless (now Zain) and MTS First Wireless. She was most recently the media spokesperson and Marketing Director for Nurtricima Ltd where she led product innovation and marketing communication. Uche has a B.A. in Political Science and recently completed a diploma in Strategic Marketing from Columbia Business School. She has over 15 years of International Marketing experience in global organizations such as, KPMG, Zain and PZ Cussons and is a member of the American Marketing Association. Uche is passionate about sharing the wealth of her experience and her interests include mentoring, public speaking and spending time with her family.

	Zakir Gaibi Partner, McKinsey & Company, Dubai Zakir (Zak) Gaibi is an American national and a Partner with McKinsey & Company. He is currently part of McKinsey's Middle East office and lives in Dubai. Prior to moving to the Middle East, he was part of McKinsey's Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices. Zak is currently one of the leaders of McKinsey’s Sub-Saharan Africa initiative, which has established McKinsey's presence in over 30 countries covering sectors such as telecommunications, media, infrastructure and governments. Zak is currently co-writing a book on the Granularity of Growth in Africa. Zak has served some of the pioneers in the Sub-Saharan Africa telecommunications space where he and his clients have addressed issues such as lowering handset costs to make the mobile market more accessible, developing innovative partnerships to ensure distribution in rural areas, and designing products that drive growth while accounting for the economic and literacy realities of Africa. Many of these efforts have often required partnering with international banks, NGOs, and government policy makers. Zak's recent work has included helping international corporations and organizations develop strategies on how to capture opportunities in capital intensive areas such as oil & gas and infrastructure. Prior to joining McKinsey, Mr. Gaibi worked at several corporations including Genera Electric (GE), American Management Systems (AMS) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Zak received his B.S. in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University and has an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

	Obinna Nweje General Manager, MTN Group Obinna Nweje joined MTN Nigeria in 2001 and was part of the company’s foundation team during the 2001 GSM launch period. To date, Obinna has been engaged in several value creation and organizational transformation initiatives, such as the rollout and expansion of MTN’s national network coverage and transmission infrastructure, the planning and development of its Internet and data products and services and the integrations of XS Broadband and VGC Communications Limited, companies acquired as part of MTN’s diversification program; all programs that have contributed significantly to MTNs profitability and market leadership. Prior to joining MTN Nigeria, Obinna had been actively involved in Nigeria’s emerging ICT industry, and worked at Resourcery Limited, a leading ICT company in Nigeria, where he was responsible for service delivery to diverse customers in Telecoms (wire-line & wireless), Oil & Gas, Finance, Education and Manufacturing. Prior to that he had short stints in enterprise computing systems with Inlaks Computers and rural electrification projects with Rayemann Nigeria Limited. In addition to formal work engagements, Obinna expresses a strong personal interest in using communications technology to transform emerging Africa Obinna is educated at all levels, in Nigeria and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri and an MBA from the Lagos Business School, a pan-African Business School in partnership with the IESE Business School in Spain.

	Calestous Juma - Moderator Professor, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government Calestous Juma is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project. He also directs the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Founding Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies in Nairobi, and he also served as Chancellor of the University of Guyana. He has been elected to several scientific academies including the Royal Society of London, the US National Academy of Sciences, and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the UK Royal Academy of Engineering. He has won several international awards for his work on sustainable development. He holds a PhD in science and technology policy studies and has written widely on science, technology, and environment. He teaches courses in developmental policy as part of the MPA/ID Program. He is lead author of Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development. He is editor of the International Journal of Technology and Globalisation and International Journal of Biotechnology.