AFRICA THE UNSUNG

Instead of celebrating our myriad successes

They ignore or silently mention, most often in passing

And rather show us how poverty stricken we are

What war mongers and nation wreckers we have become

How backward and sinister we are, how dependent on them we are

Is some far off power scared? That a new Philip Emeagwali is emerging?

That we are going to produce new Fred Swanikers and Peter Awuahs

Or more Kwame Nkrumahs and Nelson Mandelas

How about more Chinua Achebes and Ngungi wa Thiong’os

Have you thought of additional Kofi Annans and Desmond Tutus?

The Aliko Dangotes and Prince Kofi Amoabengs

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies and Fatau Bensoudas

It is emerging right here at the inspiration of IHAV.

iHAVE A DREAM, ACT ON IT 

By Michael Dale-Asiedu (Ghana) 
2013 iHav Conference Participant

photo credits : Gcina Mhlophe (South Africa)

HOW YOUTHS CAN USE ICT TO SUPPORT AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT?

I observe as a lot of young people today make use of ICT tools and applications in their day to day activities. The question that comes to mind for me as an agriculturist is how this can be used to improve agriculture. It is no news that many young people only see white-collar jobs as being prestigious. But then, agriculture can provide decent and gainful work too, especially when ICTs are applied to add value to the business. Young farmers are able to master ICT skills and tools, such as geographic information systems (GIS), to analyze and adjust farming practices to cope with prevailing climatic conditions, and ultimately increase profits. They also use technology to creatively and productively manage land, weather, water and other resources, develop maps of these resources and use the feedback from mapping exercises to profile and upgrade specific sites by identifying appropriate measures for planting, stocking materials and providing pest control facilities.

Young people make up a large percentage of the population in most societies. They are talented, enthusiastic and prepared to embrace existing and upcoming technologies, which is critical for boosting agriculture in particular and rural development in general. Most young people are based in urban areas, where there is high unemployment. Virtually any programme that taps into their talents, skills and abilities to introduce technologies to rural areas would be a worthwhile engagement. Contributing to the development of their communities, in turn, increases their self-esteem, and helps them to become more inspired and motivated.

The communities also benefit from the activities of the Youths through applying ICT to agriculture their efforts revitalize the food and nutrition sector, which enhances food security in more households. Their involvement in climate change adaptation boosts other aspects of environmental protection, and promotes the development.

Even at that there are challenges and some of them includes

1. Supply of energy
2. Lack of the technical know how
3. Non implementation of policies relating to youth issues by government and other service provider.
4. Lack of proper sensitization

However like any other challenge there are solutions and some of them are;

1. Youths can organize themselves into a coherent voice to lobby government, private sector and civil society.
2. Government and other concern bodies should make available accessible training programs for the youths.
3. Youths should make effort to get trained in one or two areas of ICT as it relates to agriculture.
4. Be ready to share ideas with others to encourage the use of ICT4AG
5. More research work should be done to provide alternative source of power. For instance in UGANDA a youth organization was able to come up with solar charged mobile phones for getting information to the farmers

Having said these here are a list of areas young people can tap into in providing ICT services or products to help the Africa’s agricultural sector develop to its peak;

1. The development of mobile application (apps). A mobile app is a small program that can be installed and run on a cell phone, or on a web. This could serve different purposes such as monitoring supply chains, checking meteorological data, current prices, giving agricultural advise and so on
2. Create an online presence to tackle agricultural challenges, issues and update about opportunities by opening a blog page. A blog is easy to set up and maintain. It also has Social sharing features.
3. Providing online services for farmers. Offer to help farmers with managing their ICT matters (websites, online presence, SMS, proposals etc).
4. GIS services for both new and old farmers. This aids visibility studies for agricultural development projects. It also helps farmers to have information before hand what their yields would look like.
5. Information dissemination through the social media. Don’t spend all the time chatting away on 2go, face book, twitter and the likes. Provide current and viable information for farmers and others in the agric sector. This requires lot of research but the joy of it is helping to add value to the lives of others

The world of agriculture is very vast and every youth can have a share by positioning their self in one segment or the other.

 

By OJO Olawale (Nigeria)

THE OVERSEAS’ DREAM

Nearly half of Ghana’s educated citizens live abroad while one in three skilled Angolans resides outside that country. Of the ten countries with the highest percentage of educated citizens living abroad, six are in sub-Saharan Africa, where many governments subsidize higher education.

With this little worrying statistics about how our skilled men leave their respective sub-Saharan countries, optimistic and well-meaning Ladies and Gentlemen of the first ever edition of iHAV join me as we ride on in discussion. Putting the African continent in perspective, i would like to inquire when truly the days of going overseas will be over.

I was challenged by a good friend that such living questions better not be asked as this exodus is not going to end anytime soon. And he had the guts to substantiate his stance with mind-blowing statistics. This is what he said: the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has estimated that Africa has lost a third of its human capital and continues to loose skilled personnel at an alarming rate. IOM and the Economic Commission for Africa gathered statistics showing that between 1960, when 17 African countries became independent and 1974 when most had achieved independence, an average of 1800 skilled Africans left their homelands for developed nations. Between 1975 and 1984, the rate had jumped to 4000 a year. Between 1985 and 1989, 12000 skilled Africans each year left for what they thought were greener pastures and since 1990, the rate has skyrocketed to 20000 annual African migration and brain drain. After his defense, all i could mutter was greener pastures indeed!

Then i was swift in replying that non-Africans also are in the same category, thus they also migrate and ply their trades on African soil. I later realized that it’s not the same whichever way i looked at it. They are developed or closer to development and as such if we go there we only help them develop faster alluring to the fact that the best leave for the west. Ravinder Rena of the Eritrean Institute of Technology puts it nicely that it will be impossible to achieve an African renaissance without the contributions of talented Africans residing outside Africa. Subsequently, a lack of skilled local labor means that the continent spends roughly $4billion a year to hire foreign skilled workers according to IOM. Yet again Joan Dassin of the Ford Foundation tells Voice of America that if you don’t have qualified people on the ground with strong local roots to carry out development projects, it’s not likely they will move forward in a sustainable way. This assertion is very true because we and only we know and understand our problems better save parochialism. You can therefore solve it better if you know and understand it better. The frequent dishing out of foreign aids to Africa will do no magic neither will the expatriates conjure any miracles whatsoever. It is that simple, there has been no country which has reached developmental pinnacle based on foreign aid and expatriates. The solutions thereby reside rightly within the African continent.

Maybe you have not really seen the adverse repercussions of brain drain, may be you will gladly leave if a ship docks at your port advertising free transportation to Europe. Maybe you are planning to sell your last property to secure a visa, but please hold on a little while; the days of going overseas are over. You see few blacks who have made it on TV doesn’t mean it is all rosy over there. There are many blacks who are stranded and can’t even afford a ticket back home whilst countless many have dreaded their decisions of leaving abroad. We have cattle and bees in Africa yet we seek for milk and honey outside. The climate is favorable here yet we seek for greener pastures outside. Not surprising right! Consider the patient to doctor ratio in Africa, what about the pupil to teacher ratio, currently Ghana has about 10000 nurses far lesser than the required national number of 40000.

If indeed we hold these truths to be self-evident, then why at all do we ply our trades elsewhere when we are more needed home. I once again reiterate that the days of going overseas are over, mother Africa deserves better. This is our continent, our Africa, Living a century long overseas doesn’t genetically change your roots. Folks make it work. Graduates applying for foreign scholarships all over the internet with the motive of leaving never to return again must cease. Young people do something worthwhile home. You have more than enough brains to awaken your entrepreneurial conscience. Our outlook about how we perceive people who have travelled outside must change. Long queues for visas must cease, constant rush for American lottery must reduce. We can make it here in our home continent. Remember Barack Obama pluralized his “yes we can” spirit from the word “African”. The last three letters translated into words read “i can”. There is therefore no reason whatsoever why we can’t.

One will argue that remittances sent home by our relatives abroad go a long way in reducing poverty. Whilst i don’t dispute that assertion, chronological analysis will attest that the mere fact of you making it there literally means you can make it here too. The only difference might be in the value and currency appreciation but that notwithstanding, you will have the joy and satisfaction of having contributed your utmost quota in making mama Africa develop.

This article would be incomplete without extending a note of appreciation to the Neil Turok of Cambridge University who run a science and technology postgraduate programme in South Africa that hopes to be expanded to fifteen African countries since this will entice more graduates to stay. Another new programme the African Leadership Academy which i am proud to have participated in their maiden finalist weekend at Tema SOS will waive tuition for most of its students but if they are not working in Africa by the time they turn twenty five, they will owe the school tuition fees plus interest. Again, the IHAV Initiative is very commendable and let’s feel at home as we enjoy a fruitful conference. Let’s live the African dream “For we are strangers before them, and sojourners, as were all our fathers.1 Chronicles 29:15’

BY MICHAEL DALE-ASIEDU (GHANA)

Africa’s beacon of hope

I rise hopefully like the morning Sun

Bracing my muscles for a season of change

For my beloved continent I choose to run

To run with the vision I have for Africa.

Africa my motherland, Africa my home

Africa my fatherland, to my home I come

I come with answers for the horn of Africa

Solutions for the palm of Africa

Celebrations for the pride of Africa

Here in the gold coast of Africa

From the heart of Africa

To the whole of Africa

I am the youth with the truth

At my lips is a herald of hope

In my hands is a gift of hope

On my mind are thoughts on the future

Dreaming, believing and daring

Trusting my heart’s consistent nature.

I dream of better infrastructure

Longing for peace without fracture

A transparent government structure

Adequate provision of divine nature

I have a vision for Africa

I envision a prosperous Africa

I am the youth with the truth

Africa’s beacon of hope

Beckoning for sustainable change

I have a vision for Africa.

By Faith Ndinda Ngila, (Kenya). 

 

Picture source-deviantart.com

The African Youth: Usual thinking

The thought and urge for change in Africa is eminent now. The avidity to see societal development and sustenance, governmental rule which is truly centred on the people, and most importantly character modification and transparency from leaders to servants is sincerely imbedded in the hearts of the Africans. There is a hunger within the African to be noticed and acknowledged for his talents, culture, language, wisdom and understanding without being tampered with by any other. However, he or she is willing to know more and embrace truth, interpret failures, address wrong, be brave to instill right to consequently conserve victory.
 

God has placed in each a unique dwelling, ability and intellect within which he or she in accord with His Spirit can humbly express, and we all marvel because it’s ‘God-given’. From the self-taught 15-year-old inventor from Sierra Leone, Kelvin Doe and William Kamkwamba, a 26-year-old Malawian inventor and author to great up and coming, and young footballers, athletes, doctors, teachers and leaders, Africa is expressing the a generational shift.

This is the previous youthful thinking we had some decades back but along the way we chose not to retain in our knowledge. The thought and act to see that which we perceived and dreamt, fully based upon our faith and depending solely upon the precepts, wisdom and guidance of God. To create that well sustained environment for each African to first see his or her neighbour as human and living and is willing to bring about mutual coherence. And not to be unwillingly or falsely influenced by any other and to be rid of from what so inheritance we gained but to learn from others and to work well with our hands.

This was and is still the African youth. The fresh mind, stable and firm with all judgments; the willing heart, desiring good and is truthful at all times and the diligent hands, holding on to see things materialize.

KEEP CALM,

Change is come.

JOHN BROBBEY AFRIFA, (GHANA)

                       Volunteer of the week

Name: Ammishaddai Ofori

Age: 23

Profession:  Electrical Engineer graduate

Nationality: Ghana

Hobbies: Reading Tech blogs, riting, watching animations and swimming

 Am a recent graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and an emerging entrepreneur. People often describe me as fun loving and that is because I love to put fun in everything I do to get the deed done. What they don’t know is the effort and commitment I have to put in to make the supposed deed fun “fun”.

I love challenges and the ability to jump and punch a fist in the air when the challenge is done. I am a sucker for bad situations and empathize too easily. I always want to be a part of worthy course which often gets me involved in almost every noble purpose and IHAV foundation is A NOBLE PURPOSE. I have been actively involved in community outreach for the National Society of Black Engineers.

I believe IHAV will solve a lot of challenges in Africa and the world as a whole because it has a vision and it is acting on it.

Volunteer of the week

Name: Francis Oko Armah
Age: 21
Profession: Advocate
Nationality: Ghana
Hobbies: reading,writing, singing, exploring.

Oko Armah as known by many, is a native of Teshie, a town located at the shores of Accra in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Earlier had his basic education at  Teshie St. John School and completed at Teshie Anglican basic school where he had a Basic Education Certificate. He was then awarded a scholarship as a brilliant but needy student in the LEDZOKUKU KROWOR MUNICIPALITY IN ACCRA to further his education in Presbyterian Senior High School-La Accra, where he had his secondary School education. Oko Armah is very passionate in using writing as a tool for creating change in his community, especially with issues concerning children and young people. In 2009, He joined the Children and youth In Broadcasting-Curious Minds Ghana, a youth-led advocacy group that basically uses the media to address issues of interest to young people and also to empower them. Since then, he has been involved in many advocacy and capacity building platforms in Ghana. Also volunteered for the Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES) Ghana in their first ever YES GHANA CONFERENCE in 2012.Francis enjoys good Ghanaian music and little of Spanish mix. He also adores children and loves to spend quality time with them.He draws inspiration from the Most High God, his dad Mr. Fredrick Armah, Mr. Kingsley Obeng-Kyereh, Esi Yankah, John Armah and a host of others. He covered Ghana's elections for IQ4NEWS online and is currently a scholar in the upcoming world congress on post-secondary education as he hopes to break the barriers affecting post-secondary education in
Africa.

Oko Armah plans to study Journalism at the tertiary level to explore more social issues on the African Continent in making the world a better place for all children and young people. Strongly believes in the ability of young people to create the change that they so wish for.

ITS NOT TOO LATE!!!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!!

Hello visionaries, we are ready to select 5 people who couldn't register or complete their application, to still have the opportunity to join us at the conference.

How to go about it?

All you have to do is to tell us about a vision you had and how you went about it to make a change in your community. Add pictures if any, and give us a step by step procedure that others can follow through to change their surroundings and communities too.

So?

Just send it as a word attached document to  ihavafrica@gmail.com
Hurry!!! you have up to 25th May to send your entries...

                                                       Volunteer of the week.

Name         :  Jonathan Adzokpe

Nationality: Ghana

Profession : Petroleum Engineer

Jonathan Adzokpe is an aspiring Ghanaian and African for that matter. Having completed his Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and made a first class, he was chosen to be a Teaching Assistant in the department.

Thereafter, he gained a scholarship from the World Bank to study a two-year Master of Science degree in petroleum engineering at the University of Stavanger where he presently is. As a talented writer, he has two-yet-to-be-published books, “Bring Out The Eagle In You” and “Your Association May Be Killing You”. Jonathan also hosts a motivational radio talk show program dubbed 'Motivational Arena'. The program is aired live online every Saturday from 10:00 to 11:00 GMT on Nash Radio, a Russian based radio station at www.radionash.com.

Jonathan is an agribusiness entrepreneur aside his speaking, writing, and profession as a petroleum engineer. He’s also a co-founder of Money Trust Microfinance Services; a financial institution based in Ghana.He is currently a columnist at ghanaweb.com where you can find his articles. It is his hope to by the grace of God help transform and position Africa for her divine greatness.Jonathan is a very staunch Christian. If you ask him what his favourite quote is, he will tell you “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.” This was quoted by Stephen Grellet, a prominent French Quaker missionary.

                                        Volunteer of the week

Name: Pearl Enyam Akosua Akude

Age: 24yrs

Profession: Civil Engineer

Nationality: Ghanaian

Hobbies: Reading& watching movies

I was born in the Greater Accra Region though my roots hail from Peki in the Volta Region and Kwabeng in the Eastern Region of Ghana. I had my basic education at St Theresa’s Junior high School and continued to Aburi Girls Secondary School where I pursued Science which kick started my dreams to becoming an Engineer. I graduated from KNUST in 2011 with a BSc in Civil Engineering, a profession I’ve practiced till date. Currently I’m in the Civil Engineering consulting field which specializes in structural design.

I’ve had the opportunity to work as Teaching and Research Assistant for the Provost of the College of Engineering, KNUST. I have also worked on several occasions with the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE) and the Ghana Geotechnical Society (GGS) in the organization of various seminars and conferences aimed at educating and exposing young engineers to upcoming technologies in the field.

I am a firm believer in the fact that everyone has the right to dream and be given the chance to make that dream a reality for himself and to help his fellow man create the opportunity to dream too. It is in this sense of increasing responsibility to inspire and be inspired that I find the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worth reiterating, that in the mist of our difficulties “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you, my friends, we have the difficulties of today and tomorrow”…yet “I still have a dream….”. Africa has a lot to offer to the global economy and this lies on the shoulders of its youth. We the youth of Africa have a responsibility to change the society in which we live. This we can achieve if we graduate from being mere consumers to being manufacturers. Therefore I’ve always sought the chance to offer my support in the best way I can to a worthy cause such as the IHAV foundation and I say without any doubt that many young minds and lives will be transformed through this foundation.

                                                      Volunteer of the week

Name:                       Samuel Kwame Darko

Age:                           25

Hobbies:                    Reading and Football

Profession:                Real Estate Agent,

                                   iHav Africa

Country:                    Ghana

Role in Ihav:             Budget Committee member

I am a Real Estate Agent graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where I obtained my first degree in BSc Land Economy.

Spent my childhood in Tema, where I had my junior and secondary education. I attended the now Tema Senior High School which really helped me come out of my reserved and quite nature into a more sociable and experimental person.

In 2009, I had the opportunity to represent Ghana at the World University games in Belgrade, Serbia, which really exposed me to the outside world in regards to diverse culture and thinking. The passion and interest I have for volunteering now was actually acquired at these games in Belgrade. Witnessing students collaborate with the elderly to organize an event as big as the Olympics really caught my attention and interest.

After that event I also wanted a platform to be a part of something similar here in Africa where such things as volunteering aren’t common. I therefore seized the opportunity to join iHav as a volunteer to be a part of the change Africa desperately needs.

I am convinced that to change the future of Africa, we must first change the mindset of young Africans in college and outside college today. Being a strong believer in the ideology of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, I know that change that Africa needs must start now and so I joined iHav.

Finally, I love football very much, sometimes I play and most of the time I watch the game on television. I am a Christian, an active member of The Church of Pentecost and I believe that with the Almighty God in the iHav boat we will smile at Africa’s challenges.

“The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you will get action”- Malcolm X

Social Networks:

Facebook       Kwame Samma

Twitter        @kwame samma

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN AFRICA and IHAV 

The challenge of youth unemployment has become a long standing song the world is singing. Simply put, the number of available jobs does not suffice the hands ready to work.

The challenge of unemployment is even more widespread in Africa. The continent is said to have about 60% of its youth ranging from 15 to 24 years as unemployed.

Despite robust economic growth of about 4.9% as predicted by the World Bank, they are yet to translate into job creation.

Many interventions have been implemented in various countries in an attempt to reducing youth unemployment. Notable among these are the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) and the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Program (LESDEP); both interventions put in place by the government of Ghana, a country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

However, one key sector that the continent has failed to take full advantage of is agriculture. In a speech delivered via video conferencing by Mr.Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, he is quoted to have said, “To reduce poverty and make sure these growth numbers reflect in the livelihoods of the people, governments need to invest more in agriculture.” He further said, “Much of the region’s growth has been led by high commodity prices, resilient domestic demand, and increase in foreign direct investments and not in agriculture and the informal sector.”

This therefore goes without saying that agriculture, which is reported by the World Bank to employ about 65 per cent of Africa’s labour force and accounting for about 32 per cent of Gross Domestic Product has been left unattended to.

A rigorous attempt at reducing youth unemployment and creating wealth in the continent requires extensive investments in agriculture.

WHAT iHAV SEEKS TO DO

iHAV Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation that has been established to support youth development through capacity building and employment generation.

This year (2013), iHAV will be organising its first project conference from the 24^th to 27^th of July under the theme: “The African Youth, Agriculture, and Entrepreneurship.” We hope to assemble 100 carefully selected youth and speakers across the continent to address the issue of youth unemployment, and how entrepreneurship and agriculture will contribute to this menace. The conference will be held for 4 days and nights.

WHAT WE WILL DO DIFFERENTLY

Several of such conferences and seminars are organised on a regular basis across the continent. Most of these seminars have ended without any action to bring ideas into fruition. But what we’ll do differently however is to implement three outstanding proposals delivered by the participants. The selection process will be done by a jury of judges who are well vested in the fields under consideration.We’ll also monitor the implementation of these proposal to the letter.

iHAV is Africa’s hope of contributing to employment and wealth creation. And it seeks to achieve these feats under the visionary leadership of its Founder and CEO, Christabel Ofori; a Ghanaian and chemical engineer by profession whose key interest is to helping the under-privileged of society.

Article written for iHav by Jonathan Adzokpe 

Picture source - www.google.com/unemployementinafrica/images

Meetour volunteer of the week...

ASAMOAH-BOADU KOFI

PROFILE

AGE:  22

Hobbies: VIDEO GAMES, PROGRAMMING, SOCCER.

Profession: COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Country: GHANA

Role in IHAV: IT HEAD

I am a computer science student at KNUST, GHANA.I grew up in Ghana and had my secondary school at Pope John Senior High and Minor seminary.In 2011, i exhibited at KNUST TRATECH (exhibition show) with an electronic. Pulpit, a security alarm system which is sensitive to light, touch and sound,and a light regulator with which you can turn on/off your lights with just a click on your computer.I won the most innovative student award in 2011 at the KNUST tratech.After the TRATECH, I got the chance to work with SABONAY TECHNOLOGIES branch in Ghana as a web developer and Software engineer and I still do work there. Nothing excites me the most about my course of study, than to envision a software problem and Plan a way to solve it.I always think G.I.P. - thus my motto. G stands for Guts, I stands for Integrity, P stands for Persistence.I stand with the assertion that, the best way to act on our vision is to quit talking and begin the action and if we fail, We simply can start again, but this time more intelligently.I owe my life to Christ because without Him, I am nothing and I believe i have made it this far with Him by my side.

 

Meet our volunteer of the week...

Barbara Aboagye

Profile...


I am a civil engineering student of KNUST,Ghana.I spent my childhood right in Ghana, attended various high schools and got the opportunity to start my secondary education in Wesley Girls high School.My life now is as a result of the holistic education I was privileged to receive. During my secondary education, I got the opportunity to serve as the co-coordinator of the energy conservation committee and learnt quite a lot.I realized that the major canker in Africa was not LACK but our inability to appreciate and make use of what we have.A seed was sown and I started to nurture the desire to be a social change maker.Also whiles in WGHS, I got the opportunity to serve as the public relations officer for ECO club as well as the Writers and Debators Club.A position which has in one way or the other boosted my ego,confidence and given me the opportunity to interact with quite a number of people who are now playing an important role in my life.Am a writer,a politician and an innovator.The most beautiful thing in life is something not gained but achieved with God,tireless effort and determination.I might not be a super hero but one thing am proud of is am loyal to Africa and I will do anything in my capacity to make Africa stand tall as one of the giants of this world. Eventhough am a yet to be civil engineer,I have great desire for the poor and physically challenged hence my desire to set up a SAVE A LIFE FUND to help any person in need and is low on money.Africa can only be a better place if we make a conscious effort to develop it hence my excitement when I got the opportunity to be a volunteer for the IHAV conference.I believe have made it far in life because of my confidence and desire to succeed which I love to term as “annoyingly confident”.Am not the best, I might not even me among the best.I might be a shadow of the real picture but my real joy is the knowledge that in one way or the other I helped made Africa a better place.

iHav Africa Officers Profile..

Board of Trustees

NAME: BEKIMPILO NDLOVU

AGE: 23

HOBBIES: READING,WRITING SHORT ARTICLES,TRAVELLING, PLAYING SUDOKU AND INTERACTING WITH PEOPLE OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS AND AGE BANDS

PROFESSION: ACTUARIAL SCIENCE STUDENT

COUNTRY: ZIMBABWE

ROLE IN IHAV: VICE PRESIDENT

BRIEF SUMMARY

I am a self starter, and an individual who has great appreciation for innovation. I was born and raised in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where I did my primary and secondary school studies, and currently studying at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST ZW) in Bulawayo. This has not confined me to the boundaries of my hometown or country; I believe I have attained the much needed global citizenry.

In 2009 I was awarded the prestigious Joshua Nkomo Scholarship for university study after having produced one of the outstanding performances in the 2008 National Examinations. I was invited to be one of the top 100 global students to attend the forum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in August 2012 and currently serving as a Zimbabwean Delegate to the South American Business Forum (SABF ’13) .I am also a Kairos Global Fellow, and have had the privilege to join other outstanding innovative students from across the globe at the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

I am also the International Careers Ambassador for Bulawayo and Southern African region, under the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries U.K. I strong believe in passion with practicality, and that mistakes are portals of discovery and I am open to taking initiatives. I have interests in Micro-insurance, an insurance model for developing countries, with particular reference to the Agribusiness in Africa and Healthcare. I believe this initiative is a considerable step towards reducing the global and emerging risks caused by climate change and natural disasters, water scarcity, food insecurity and pandemics affecting our continent today.

I am also of the opinion that, proper application of my Math skill can help reduce socially undesirable phenomena; this implies developing a quantitative understanding of a phenomenon thus implying the incorporation of insurance sector where possible to provide a financial solution to the problem. The inspiration behind this interest stems from the confluence between my actuarial career and the interest I have towards the economic, social and environmental sustainability. Much inspiration from Albert Einstein and Isaac Newtown, people who realized they can solve problems affecting societies through their Math skills.

I believe in education for all, and the extensive research and development particularly in the renewable energy sectors, it doesn’t necessarily need to be a conventional approach but it can be through collaboration and sound dialogue between interested stakeholders. This will enhance us towards coming up with solutions to the ills affecting global communities today and is one essential approach to avoid borrowing from the future, which is our goal at IHAV.