A Rwandan woman Miss. Akaliza Keza Gara (above) has been appointed to the four-member Microsoft Advisory Council for the African Continent known as the 4Afrika Advisory Council.
Miss Gara is an entrepreneur and Founder of Shaking Sun, a Multimedia Company. She is also a mentor at open technology hub kLab in Kigali and a member of Girls in ICT Rwanda.
Garais currently setting up an animation studio to create cartoons and films for African children.
“As a youth council member, I hope that I will be able to represent my region well by sharing the unique needs and opportunities that exist here in terms of using technology to impact people’s everyday lives,” said Akaliza Gara.
Responding to IGIHE via email;
How were you nominated?
I was nominated in 2013 and sent a formal invitation from Microsoft 4Afrika to join the Advisory Council. When I accepted, I was invited for the official induction that happened earlier this week on Tuesday, 18 February 2014, in Cote D’Ivoire where I also got to meet my fellow youth Council members.
How are you going to advocate for promotion of ICT among girls and African youth?
I will continue to advocate for the importance of learning ICT skills to all African youth through the organisations I am part of, that is Girls In ICT Rwanda and kLab.
Now that I have joined the Microsoft 4Afrika team I have an additional platform to spread this message. I am also able to share with Microsoft the needs and opportunities that exist, particularly in my region- East Africa.
In this way they can make sure the programs they have already set up, and are currently developing, in the region are targeted and make a positive and significant impact.
Microsoft Corp. introduced the first four youth members to the 4Afrika Advisory Council to ensure the critical voices of Africa’s large youths are heard.
The Microsoft 4Afrika Advisory Council, announced last October,is an external board of advisers tasked with guiding strategic investments undertaken by the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative.
Microsoft 4Afrika was launched one year ago to facilitate Microsoft’s active engagement in Africa’s economic development.The four youth ambassadors will represent the issues facing Africa’s rural and urban youth, including unemployment, education and access to technology.
“The information and communications technology (ICT) field is not only redefining how we conduct our major businesses on the continent, it is increasingly improving the efficiency of critical support services, such as education, health, and disaster mitigation and management.
The youth is playing a big role in integrating new solutions to these services, and this has helped create new industries and employment opportunities,” said H.E. Benjamin Mkapa, chairman, Microsoft 4Afrika Advisory Council.
“The Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative will be critical in defining a framework that other global and indigenous organizations in the ICT space can adopt to leverage this emerging space and promote economic development in Africa.
We are excited about the induction of the new4Afrika Advisory Council youth members because it helps the initiative stay true to the spirit of youth, enterprise and innovation.”
“My role involves sharing my own experience working in the tech industry in East Africa, and the stories of youth in my social and business circles, to help the initiative better understand the region and inform them about the existing activities promoting ICT for development.
Since I arrived in Cote D’Ivoire, what I have enjoyed most is meeting my fellow youth council members and hearing thier stories from across the continent.”
“I’m very excited to be joining the council as a youth leader,” Tayeb Sbihi said.
“I look forward to meeting the rest of the members and exchanging ideas. We all come from different fields and countries, which helps create richness.
Our skills complement each other, and we bring different insights, be it technological, political, environmental or social. We represent a good mix, and we will work together to do something good.”
Other Members of the 4Afrika Advisory Council
ChudeJideonwo (Nigeria). An award-winning journalist, media entrepreneur and youth development expert, Jideonwois co-founder and managing partner of RED, an innovative media company that owns the Future Awards Africa, the continent’s premier youth event.
Jideonwoalso founded Enough Is Enough Nigeria, one of Nigeria’s foremost civic groups, and has been awarded several accolades, including being selected by the World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper.
Tayeb Sbihi (Morocco). A Moroccan entrepreneur, Sbihihas a bachelor of science, a master of science and an MBA, and he has 10 years of professional experience in multinational companies specializing in new technologies.
With a wide knowledge of the telecoms market, he founded his first company, B2N Consulting, offering a wide range of telecom services and solutions to Morocco and Africa.
Olivia Mukam (Cameroon). A social activist and entrepreneur, Mukamwas a student when she helped solve the problem of waterborne diseases in West Cameroon by giving 5,000 villagers access to clean water. She then founded the NGO Harambe to engage Cameroonian youth to be national problemsolvers.
Thousands of youth were trained with business skills, and the for-profit business that Mukamco-founded, Solutioneurs SARL (LLC), taps into theHarambe database of skills to deliver affordable solutions to small businesses in Cameroon, Nigeria, the U.K and the U.S.
The youth members were selected from a pool of notable candidates from existing African youth leadership groups, including U.S. President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative, the African Leadership Network, the African Leadership Initiative, the Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship Program and the World Economic Forum’s Forum of Young Global Leaders.
The council will meet in person twice annually and will also hold regionally focused meetings throughout the year.
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