We are pleased to announce the election of new members to the AfriLabs Board. AfriLabs now has a new Board Chair, a new Board Secretary, a new Francophone Representative and a new Board Member.
At the 2021 AfriLabs Annual General Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, the AfriLabs community exercised their rights as registered members of the network and voted in new AfriLabs board members. This came on the heel of a very interactive campaign season, as nominated candidates had engaged with the community and shared their plans to move the organisation forward.
AfriLabs new Board Chair is Moetaz Helmy, the co-founder of the District Spaces and kmt house in Cairo, Egypt. Moetaz Helmy is an African serial entrepreneur and founder of multiple development projects and businesses on the national and regional levels. Helmy earned a bachelor’s degree at the French University in Egypt in 2010, as well as a master’s degree from Mulhouse University, both in Mechanical and Production Engineering. In 2013 he graduated from Nantes University in France with a Master in Business Administration. He is currently the Executive Director of Rollo Africa, one of the biggest business simulation projects on the continent, powered by the African Union, UNDP and AfriLabs.
Moetaz was previously the Board Secretary before his election as Board Chair. He is taking over from Rebecca Enonchong who was Board Chair for two tenures (2017-2021).
“I am excited to be handing over to Moetaz who has over the years showed his passion for innovation on the continent. This is the standard – that we can change leadership but the vision remains the same, and I know the community will be expecting a certain level of continuity and even better representation of them in the Boardroom” said Rebecca at the Board handover meeting.
Other elected board members include Linda Kwamboka from Kenya as Board Secretary. She was previously a Board Member from 2019 – 2021. She is also a member of the board at MFarm and iLab Africa.
Elodie Nonga, founder of WETECH, Cameroon was elected as the Francophone Representative on the AfriLabs Board. Steve Tchoumba of Cameroon (Manager of ActivSpaces) was also elected as a Board Member alongside Daniel Chinagozi from Nigeria (founder of Innovation Growth Hub) who retained his seat. Kudzai Mubaiwa from Zimbabwe (co-founder of iZone Hub) also retained her seat as AfriLabs Board Treasurer.