Meet the ‘Savvy’ team
We are a fine blend of passion, dedication, and heart. We are 63 changemakers from 20 countries and we speak over 40 languages, so we are the most diverse team you could possibly imagine. We volunteer at Savvy because we believe that entrepreneurs are the catalyst for growth and the creators of wealth, so we’re building a program that will shape passionate young professionals into the finest impact-driven entrepreneurs, and equip them with all they need to be successful at what they do.
Meet the Savvy team with a combined experience of over 250 years.
Chidi
Nwaogu
Co-founder
Head of Fellowship Program
Chidi is a multi-award winning entrepreneur and CEO at Publiseer. He is an Acumen West Africa Fellow, Westerwelle Fellow, and Yunus&Youth Global Fellow. Chidi won the Migration Entrepreneurship Prize by the Swiss Government, the Africa 35.35 Award for Entrepreneurship, the Young Leaders Award for Media & Entertainment, and the Bizz Business Excellence Award.
Chika
Nwaogu
Co-founder
Head of Mentorship Program
Chika became a tech entrepreneur at 16. Since then, he has co-founded, grown, and sold two successful tech startup companies to American organizations, including LAGbook, a social networking company that recorded over one million registered users within three years, and was featured on TechCrunch for garnering 30,000 registered users in less than six months.
Alan
Main
Advisor
Alan Main was until recently a member of the Sanofi Executive Committee and was appointed to his position as Executive Vice President, Consumer Healthcare in October 2016. He is a highly respected senior leader in the global consumer healthcare industry, with more than 30 years of marketing and general management experience in the consumer health and medical device fields.
Emily
Allen
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture
Allen is the International Programs Manager at Because International. She has worked in for-profit and non-profit sectors, and thus bringing years of business experience to Savvy, having owned multiple businesses over the past fifteen years, including a successful counseling center.
Zuby
Onwuta
Mentor
Sector: Artificial Intelligence
Zuby Onwuta is a Harvard and MIT trained innovator, and a recipient of the President Obama Service award. He is a US Army veteran, a patented inventor of the “Brain Control for Blind Assistive Tech”, and the founder & CEO of Think and Zoom. Zuby is a 4x TEDx speaker.
Paul
Boudrye
Mentor
Sector: Entertainment/Entrepreneurship
Boudrye is the Chief Innovation Officer at House Studios, an entertainment company based in New York, into audio and video production, photography, studio rental, marketing, artist development, and record label services. He is the Innovation Advisor at TEDx Pearlstreet in Washington, DC.
Fabio
Hüther
Mentor
Sector: Nanotechnology
Fabio is the Founder of Evodrop AG, a nanotechnology company that ensures clean, healthy, and pollution-free water. Since 2017, Evodrop has been producing its first water filter prototype. To date, various versions have been developed and optimized.
Isaac
Sesi
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture
Isaac is an entrepreneur, engineer, innovator, and Team Lead at Sesi Technologies. He is one of 50 Most Influential Young Ghanaians for 2018 and a 2019 MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35, alongside the founders of Google and PayPal. Sesi has spoken in many top universities including MIT and Yale.
Oliyen
Chinnayen
Mentor
Sector: Tourism
Oliyen is a Foreign Exchange Manager at Thomas Cook, a leisure, travel, and tourism company in Mauritius. He is also an alumnus of the African Presidential Leadership Program. Oliyen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management from Curtin University.
Aweko
Faith
Mentor
Sector: Waste Management
Aweko is a social entrepreneur with extensive experience in supporting marginalized youths and women through employment and skills development. She founded Reform Africa, a Ugandan social enterprise that transforms Africa’s waste into wealth through repurposing waste into affordable recycled products that are used by the locals in their everyday life.
Rebecca
Baranya
Mentor
Sector: Peacebuilding
Baranya is an economist and activist for youth, peace, and security. She promotes responsible leadership, democratic governance, youth empowerment, female empowerment, peace-building, and conflict resolution. Baranya is a Generation Change Fellow with the United States Institute of Peace, and an alumna of YouLead and African Presidential Leadership Program.
Modou
Njie
Mentor
Sector: Corporate Management
Modou is the founder of AFG Ventures, a social enterprise addressing the investment and human capital gaps in Africa. He is also the Director of Startup Grind in The Gambia. Modou has won the 2019 Africa 35.35 Award for Corporate Management, the 2020 Top 50 Career Influencers in Africa Award, and the Top 10 Platinum Career Influencers Award by Workbooth Magazine.
Thaddée
Butoyi
Mentor
Sector: Information Technology
Thaddée is a Burundian computer scientist. As part of the African Union Volunteer Corps, he is currently deployed as Information Technology Officer in Algeria within African Union‘s office in the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT), where he works as the Assistant of the Head of Database and Documentation.
Obipiseibima
Aggokabo
Mentor
Sector: Healthcare
Aggokabo is a Ph.D. student at Liverpool John Moores University. She is an experienced biomedical scientist with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital and healthcare industry. Aggokabo is skilled in medical microbiology and endometriosis. She is Founder and President at Global Impact for Rural Innovation Foundation.
Gifty
Metuge
Mentor
Sector: Cyber Security
Metuge is an expert in cybersecurity, with proficiency in cyber defence, digital forensics, penetration testing, red teaming, reverse engineering, secure software development, security tools, threat hunting, threat intelligence, UNIX internals, vulnerability research and exploitation, and Windows internals. She currently heads two tech startups based in Nigeria.
Sidoine
Leudjie
Mentor
Sector: Civic Leadership
Sidoine is a vigorous youth empowerment proponent who is passionate about Africa’s positive mindset transformation. Very engaged in civic leadership, Sidoine has served and led reputable organizations like the Cameroon Debate Circuit, Toastmasters, JCI, and YALDA Cameroon. Today, Sidoine is a consultant in sustainable development, personal development, and civic leadership.
Uchenna
Okiya
Mentor
Sector: Computer Arts
Okiya is a self-taught technical artist and the Founder of Gbosaman, which specializes in games design, 3D design, photo manipulation, photogrammetry, web design, and 3D printing. An alumnus of the Meltwater Entrepreneur School of Technology, Okiya is constantly seeking new ways to showcase the African narrative to a global audience through technology.
Andrew
Dauda
Mentor
Sector: Social Work
Dauda is a social worker, educationist, soft skill development consultant, and child protection activist. He is a co-founder of Children’s Assurance Program Sierra Leone (CAP–SL) and alumnus of many professional organizations like YALI Regional Leadership Center, U.S. State Department Alumni Network, Queen’s Young Leader, and African Presidential Leadership Program.
Olugbenga
Ogunbowale
Mentor
Sector: Employment
Olugbenga is the CEO of Epower.ng, an agency connecting businesses to customers, and the founder of TOES, an NGO working to end orphan poverty in Africa. Olugbenga is a Mandela Washington Fellow, a Tony Elumelu Fellow, and an alumnus of the Leadership in Business Institute of Kellogg School of Management.
Jacky
Kimani
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture
Kimani is the co-founder and Product Lead at Farmula, an agri-tech startup company that offers market insights and price data to farmers. Before founding Farmula, she worked at a startup for four years. Kimani is also a member of the Advisory Board for Tunapanda Insitute, a technology school in Nairobi.
Fatoumatta
Kassama
Mentor
Sector: Women’s Empowerment
Kassama is the CEO of Girls’ Pride, providing less-privileged women and girls with sexual and reproductive health education, and reusable sanitary pads. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow, One Young World Ambassador, OPEC Funds for International Development Scholar, and Obama Foundation Leader.
Brian
Kithinji
Mentor
Sector: Journalism
Kithinji is a professional media practitioner, having worked at CNBC Africa, Forbes Africa, and Ventures Africa. He is a Poynter Koch Media and Journalism Fellow, a YALI RLC East Africa Fellow, an alumnus of the African Presidential Leadership Program, and have served as the Deputy EAC Youth Ambassador for Kenya.
Adeshina
Adewumi
Mentor
Sector: E-commerce
Adeshina is co-founder/CEO of One Kiosk Africa, an e-commerce solution empowering informal retail store owners in Africa using geolocation and machine learning. Adesina is also a Partner with Aptive Capital, a US-based $1 million portfolio fund company supporting African entrepreneurs with capacity development and funding.
Ibn
Bacar
Mentor
Sector: Media
Bacar is the CEO at StartupAfrica.news, a data-driven media and content company documenting the stories of the startup ecosystem in Africa and the diaspora. Bacar has significant experience in building innovation ecosystems and creative industries. He leads an online startup studio as Lead Investor for budding entrepreneurs.
Ines
Tchakounte
Mentor
Sector: Women’s Empowerment
Ines is the National Secretary-General of the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, Cameroon. She is fervent about women’s empowerment and the respect of the rights of refugees and migrants. Ines is an alumna of the YALI Regional Leadership Center and the African Presidential Leadership Program.
Charlette
N’Guessan
Mentor
Sector: Fintech
Charlette is the co-founder and CEO of BACE Group, a tech startup company that provides AI-powered facial recognition services for online identity verification. She writes, especially on topics related to technology and business, and is one of the authors of the AI BOOK by the Fintech Circle, published by Wiley.
Mohammed
Yayandi
Mentor
Sector: Employment
Mohammed Bayero Yayandi is a Nigerian tech community builder, activist, and volunteer. He is the Founder of YandyTech, a community that addresses the problems of unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria by bringing opportunities closer to locals, who otherwise won’t have access to such opportunities.
Uche
Udekwe
Mentor
Sector: Healthcare
Udekwe is the Founder and CEO of NATAL CARES, a social enterprise focused on providing healthcare, medical monitoring, and emergency services to at-risk pregnant women. Udekwe is a LEAP AFRICA Fellow, Ashoka ChangeMakerXchange Fellow, ONE CHAMPION Fellow, and Tony Elumelu Fellow.
Rilwan
Akeyewale
Mentor
Sector: Business Advisory
Akeyewale is a Lead Strategist at TechPlan Africa. With experience working with KPMG, he’s a World Economic Forum contributor, a World Youth Forum panelist, an African Entrepreneurship Awards mentor, and a Tony Elumelu Fellow. He has worked with several SMEs that have raised $5M+ and employed 5K+ people.
Iam
Etefia
Mentor
Sector: Business Growth
Etefia is the Lead at Google Business Group, Uyo. He is also a Business Strategist at 36Zero.ng, a digital marketing agency that helps brands grow through meaningful connections. Before leading GBG, Etefia was the Co-director at Startup Grind, Uyo. He is passionate about helping people to build businesses around technology.
Haymanot
Walelgn
Mentor
Sector: Youth Development
Walelgn is the Country Director for Africa Youth Union Commission in Ethiopia, an organization committed to creating the platforms and opportunities for youths to contribute their quota to the growth and development of Africa. She is a Nasser Leadership Fellow and an alumna of the African Presidential Leadership Program.
Esther
Mwangi
Mentor
Sector: Women’s Empowerment
Mwangi is the CEO at EsVendo, an organization solving existing societal problems, like providing sanitary items in Kenyan slums and rural areas. An alumna of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, she is passionate about building enterprises and working with different people to positively impact society.
Murkthar
Suleiman
Mentor
Sector: Sustainable Development
Murkthar is the Director of the Centre for Development and Advanced Learning. He is the curator of TEDxAhmaduBelloUniversity, an alumnus of the African Presidential Leadership Program, and a research and communications officer with the Directorate of University Advancement, Ahmadu Bello University.
Babatunde
Akin-Moses
Mentor
Sector: Finance
Akin-Moses is the co-founder and CEO of Sycamore, a peer-to-peer lending platform that connects lenders to borrowers using technology. Prior to that, he was consulting for leading accounting firms, where he specialized in accounting, tax, and finance for energy, utilities, and mining companies. Akin-Moses is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School.
Musa
Harold
Mentor
Sector: IT Infrastructure
Musa is the Director of RodNorth, a company that meets the IT Infrastructure needs in Africa by providing affordable technological solutions to enable business processes. Musa is passionate about accelerated growth in business development and conceptualization. He is a certified presale consultant in enterprise hardware and software solutions.
Nyarko
Antwi
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture/Finance
Antwi is a co-founder of Cocoa Sika, a financial technology company that provides instant credit with low interest to commercial cocoa farmers in Ghana. Through Cocoa Sika, Antwi helps farmers improve their yields, and provide them and their families with free healthcare. He is an alumnus of the African Presidential Leadership Program.
Oyinkansola
Oni
Mentor
Sector: Business Management
Oni is a youth development advocate and Director at Way Network Africa, a social enterprise advancing youth development and education through technology. She is also a corporate strategist and business development expert with experience spanning through the manufacturing, retail, IT, and finance sector. Oni is adept in the knowledge of B2B sales, lead generation, negotiation, and data visualization.
Lukman
Abubakari
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture
Lukman is the co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Agroseal, a commodity trading company that empowers fruits and vegetable smallholder farmers through innovation and technology. Lukman has worked in different capacities across various industries, including education, healthcare, IT, and Agriculture. He is a Tony Elumelu Fellow, and an alumnus of the African Presidential Leadership Program.
Favor
Ori
Mentor
Sector: Software Development
Ori is a software engineer and entrepreneur with over five years of experience building and launching innovative products and solutions geared toward simplifying, automating, and improving life. Some of Ori’s projects are Tugure, MedJapa, FavCode54, College Situation, 4yBY, and most recently, WeJapa. College Situation was acquired for approximately $70K within two-weeks from its launch.
Marly
Samuel
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture/Software
Marly is the Tech Innovation Project Coordinator at Inclusive and Collaborative Local Tech Innovation Hub, which brings people and resources together to develop tech innovations. She is passionate about the integration of ICT in societies, especially less-advantaged societies. Marly has also worked at AIESEC.
Isaac
Oladipupo
Mentor
Sector: Education
Oladipupo is a co-founder at Afrilearn, an ed-tech company integrating a network of teachers, developers, and animators to deliver affordable and standard education to Africans, anywhere. Having served as a Judge for the Future Awards Africa, he was nominated as a 2020 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Fasoranti
Damilola
Mentor
Sector: Employment
Fasoranti is the Founder of Prikkle Academy, where he co-creates open innovation hubs with rural stakeholders to uncover their potentials and mobilize it to create street-smart solutions. He is a Kanthari Fellow, Dalai Lama Fellow, LEAP Africa Fellow, Laddership Fellow, and African Changemaker Fellow.
Samuel
Osborn
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture/Software
Osborn is a co-founder at farmCap, an agri-tech platform that connects smallholder farmers to capital, data, input, and market in Africa. He is also a software engineer with an interest in computer vision and building solutions for real-life issues using machine learning. He is an alumnus of the African Presidential Leadership Program.
Gloria
Kaguo
Mentor
Sector: E-commerce
Kaguo is the Product & Marketing Lead at Kweza, which offers collective buying to informal retailers, so they can source stock conveniently, at the best prices and have it delivered to their stores. She is skilled in strategy, product development, and management. Before Kweza, Kaguo has worked for ‘Girl Up’ and ‘Apps and Girls’.
Onyinyechi
Nmecha
Mentor
Sector: Education
Nmecha is the co-Founder and CEO at Extraclass, a digital platform that offers flexible learning and teaching environment for individuals especially students. Before Extraclass, she was engaged with offline tutoring and the provision of extra classes for kids and college students. Nmecha is a 2019 Tony Elumelu Fellow.
Nthatisi
Lesala
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture
Nthatisi Lesala is a youth leader from Lesotho, passionate about contributing positively to youth activities at both national, and global levels. She is the founder of Greenland Farm and the Majakaneng Youth Club. Lesala works with different organizations in Lesotho to implement inspiring humanitarian activities.
Ability
Elijah
Mentor
Sector: UI/UX Design
Elijah is the co-founder of SMUV, a branding, and design agency. Before that, he was the co-founder of Caketunes, a music-sharing and beat distribution platform for artists and producers in Africa. Elijah is an experienced UI/UX designer focused on planning, wireframing, and designing software, mobile apps, and websites.
Fela
Buyi
Mentor
Sector: Fashion
Fela is a business consultant and coach. He is the founder of SALUBATA. Fela has won the Africa 35.35 Award 2019 for Arts, Culture and Fashion, the Entrepreneur Africa Awards 2019 as the “Business Person of the Year”, and the British Council Entrepreneurship Award 2019. He is passionate about community impact.
Olamide
Akomolafe
Mentor
Sector: Healthcare
Olamide is one of the founders of Nadia, which offers affordable primary health services like prescription, diagnostics, insurance, and scheduling through our automated personal assistant. At Nadia, he works on strategy, user support, and operations management. Olamide is also a co-founder of Shukran.
Precious
Joy
Mentor
Sector: Sales/Customer Service
Precious is the founder of Africa Startup Entrepreneurs Network, an online community that inspires business leaders through personal and professional development. She is a sales and customer service strategist. Precious is the author of 7 Things That Customers Need. She has trained over 700 African entrepreneurs.
Kyrian
Molokwu
Mentor
Sector: Software Engineering
Kyrian is a co-founder and product engineer at Eazox, an e-commerce solution. He is also a mentor at Google Africa Developer Scholarship, a partnership between Grow with Google, Andela, and Pluralsight. Kyrian is a software and DevOps engineer with interest in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Zena
Omwayi
Mentor
Sector: Education
Zena is a teacher with over five years of experience. She began teaching in Khartoum, Sudan, before moving to Nairobi, Kenya. Since 2015, she has served as Deputy Director of a children’s home in Nairobi. Zena is a YALI RLC East Africa Fellow 2020 and an alumna of the African Presidential Leadership Program.
Kayode
Daniel
Mentor
Sector: Product Design
Kayode is co-founder of Covibes and a community organizer of Product School. With an MBA from the University of South Wales, Kayode is equipped with over 4 years of experience in solving problems using design thinking and product design. Kayode is an alumnus of the Meltwater Entrepreneur School of Technology.
Bayode
Ibironke
Mentor
Sector: STEM Education
Bayode is the CEO of TechBridge Consulting, an ed-tech firm with a vision to reimage Africa as a hub of innovation and train 10 million young Africans for advanced IT and programming skills before the year 2030. His company, TechBridge was featured as Nigeria’s Top 100 startups by Forbes for the year 2020.
Godwin
Mayaki
Mentor
Sector: Multimedia
Godwin is the Founder of Gross Multimedia Services, which provides multimedia and digital services in Nigeria. He has served as a lecturer in Statistics at the Federal College of Education, Obudu. Godwin holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the University of Abuja, Nigeria.
Chadia
Mathurin
Mentor
Sector: Agriculture
Mathurin is a co-founder of FarmWallet, a startup company that uses blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to create a more sustainable Africa and the Caribbean by firming the agricultural value chain and empowering the farmer. She is a brilliant and strategic storyteller.
Embassy
Marshal
Mentor
Sector: Business Development
Embassy is the Founder and CEO of SpiCodeX. He specializes in software and hardware development, digital marketing, designs, and consults for companies and organizations. It is his dream to raise self-sustained people who are able to raise others as well.
Temitayo
Johnson-Laleye
Mentor
Sector: Fashion
Temitayo is the founder of TJL Signature, which creates bizarre fashion accessories for adventurous students. TJL has been recognized by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Alumni, SME 100 Africa, BellaNaija, Women Connected by Purpose, among others.
Mike
Rosanje
Mentor
Sector: Growth Hack
Mike is a serial entrepreneur, writer, and tech enthusiast. He is the founder of GuddiesPlanet, Cashbudy, instaDrop, and Credmart.co. He’s a prolific growth hacker and business developer, proficient in planning and structuring, branding, and digital marketing.
Godson
Charnor
Mentor
Sector: Education
Godson is a social entrepreneur, youth development and leadership consultant, co-founder of EITSEC Ghana, and currently pursuing a charted program in investment analysis. He is a YALI alumnus, who is passionate about Africa and strongly believes Africa will work again.
Toyin
Bamidele
Mentor
Sector: Social Entrepreneurship
Bamidele currently explores his interest in the African Economic Value Creation Ecosystem through the Venture Matrix for the future of Africa Project, where he develops projects, structures, and processes to advocate for youth inclusion and participation in exploring Africa’s growth potential.
Harry
Enaholo
Mentor
Sector: Education
Harry Enaholo is the founder and CEO at Treford, an ed-tech startup company focused on empowering African youths with the digital skills that they need to thrive in this digital era. Harry’s experience cuts across Talent Management, Product Management, Agile Project Management, and Business Strategy.
Olumide
Ogunbanjo
Mentor
Sector: AgriTech/Business Optimization
Olumide is an experienced agro-ecologist with a strong flair for AgricFood projects and rural livelihood improvement. He has an excellent understanding of business optimization, process re-engineering, logical framework, change/lean management, and hand-on skills in marketing, re-distribution, and sales.
Want to join the ‘Savvy’ team?
Every day, we are looking for experienced entrepreneurs with post-revenue businesses to join the ‘Savvy’ team that is building the new generation of impact entrepreneurs through mentorship. We are a diverse team, so we welcome people from different backgrounds.
We are looking for experienced entrepreneurs with a heart for helping others, and dedication to leaving the world better than they found it. So, if you think that describes you, then you might be whom we are looking for.
