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This is a first for us. Traditionally, we host the CIO Of The Year on the December/January cover, and since all save one (Congratulations again to Jaine Mwai, the CIO Of The Year 2020), have leaned strongly and faithfully towards the male side, and majority of those who make our covers tend to be men, I thought men were already appreciated and celebrated.

Save for that part where it turned out to be the opposite. While the November issue 2022 had 45 Most Influential Women In Digital Transformation Africa showcased women who had been discovered by some measure, the men, surprisingly, proved to be a little more obscure. They were harder to find, which I found rather peculiar because, like most, I thought they would be at the forefront all over the media.

Inspired by the women’s list, the men’s list is more than just the flip side of that issue. It has its own unique identity. For instance, men are not that great at building their personal brands. And it seems a lot of men are not ushered into a mentorship that compels them to step out of the shadows. As Moses Okundi said, he and his team do not expect recognition. They just does the work. It felt good to be appreciated.

The men were assessed as follows:

- A leader who directly contributes to the growth and strategic direction of their organisation.

- A leader who has continually driven innovation; the kind that inspires the wider tech community

- A role model who inspires the next generation.

- A leader who has contributed to the general development of the ICT sector

- A leader who doors have opened for over the past year owing to his overall contribution to the tech community and industry from February 2022 to February 2023 November.

The impact these men have had on digital transformation is not to be trifled with. They have shaped institutions, with some of them creating said institutions. Their careers and choices have had a ripple effect across the continent in ways that cannot be overlooked. The one thing that struck me though, is the absence of mentorship. These men are regarded as role models. They, in turn, need to take on the younger generation under their wings and guide them into growth. Actively. One of the bigger challenges for digital transformation is reskilling and upskilling, finding and retaining talent. There is no better way to do this than by growing your own team, bringing them up with you under a watchful eye. Steering them gently when the go astray. Or smacking them with the cold hard truth. Whatever works!

Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman, Econet Group and Cassava Technologies. (Zimbabwe)

Strive Masiyiwa is a visionary leader and a trailblazer in the business world. Based in London and hailing from Zimbabwe, he is the Founder and Executive Chairman of South Africa’s Econet Group and Cassava Technologies.

Cassava Technologies is one of Africa’s leading technology companies with a portfolio that spans Africa’s largest open access cross-border fibre broadband network, interconnected carrier neutral data centres, solar renewable energy, cloud and cybersecurity, fintech, and on-demand digital platforms.

In 2020, Cassava Technologies took bold steps to drive digital transformation in Africa, with initiatives such as the building of its first data centre in Rwanda and expanding its Nairobi facility to an additional 15MW of IT load. Additionally, Cassava-owned Liquid Intelligent Technologies partnered with Raspberry Pi to digitise education in Kenya and launched operations in Nigeria to further the digital transformation journey in the region.

Masiyiwa’s impact extends beyond his own companies, as he sits on the boards of numerous organisations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Netflix, National Geographic Society, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Global Advisory Boards of Bank of America and Stanford University. He is also a mentor to the next generation of African entrepreneurs and as a key opinion leader, he utilises his platform on Facebook to drop pearls of wisdom. He boasts over 5.7 million followers. His LinkedIn numbers are over 38,000 followers.

Masiyiwa’s influence and impact have not gone unnoticed, as he has been recognised as one of the world’s most influential people by Bloomberg, one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2020 by New African Magazine, and one of Mail & Guardian’s 100 Africans of the Year for 2020. Furthermore, he has been named in Fortune Magazine’s list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders in 2014, 2017, and 2021. He is, in all ways, the digital transformation giant in Africa and beyond.

Kamal Budhabhatti Group CEO, Craft Silicon (Kenya)

Kamal Budhabhatti is the Group CEO at Craft Silicon, a company which provides banking and payment technologies across Africa and emerging Asia. Moreover, he is the founder of Little, a pan-African ride, delivery, health, and payments platform, now emerging as a super app.

Despite the challenges of running a taxi-hailing company in Africa, Budhabhatti has managed to grow Little into one of Africa’s largest ride-hailing service companies serving East (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia) and made inroads into West Africa by launching into Senegal, Cameroon, and Ghana last year.

Budhabhatti is also a big advocate of green energy. Last year, Little ventured into electric vehicle mobility with its Little e-Bike, powered-assisted bikes, and scooters. These electric bicycle rentals are a first for Nairobi where air pollution and motor vehicle traffic are problems.

Under Budhabhatti’s leadership, Little has so far managed to deal with common challenges affecting the taxi-hailing sector such as competition from global companies such as Uber, the high cost of acquiring and retaining drivers, and the issue of ensuring safety for both drivers and passengers.

Wael Elkabbany, General Manager, Africa Regional Cluster, Microsoft (Egypt)

Wael Elkabbany directly contributes to Africa’s digital transformation agenda. When Microsoft formed Africa Regional Cluster (ARC) subsidiary in July 2022, it appointed Elkabbany as its General Manager. ARC was created to drive strategic initiatives across Africa to accelerate digital transformation and economic prosperity.

He stepped into the ARC role from managing Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office (ATO) formed in 2021 to enable growth and fuel investment in the company’s essential development areas which include digital infrastructure, skilling, small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The ATO reports to Elkabbany as part of the ARC leadership team.

Last year, ATO opened two offices in Nigeria and Kenya to provide local solutions with global scalability as well as provide employment opportunities and further enhance technology in Africa.