The 2023 organizing team comprise of experienced professionals spanning different industries including health, education, banking, energy across all parts of Africa.
Operations and Logistics Team
Chris Agape Ajah (MD)
Co-Director
Chris is a medical doctor and health financing specialist with a focus on creating sustainable health policies on health access for underserved groups. A member of the Nigerian Young Professionals In Public Health, he is passionate about health equity and has spent most of his career developing strategies for successful execution of health financing mechanisms and the adoption of digital health technology.
Mahmud Abdullahi
Coordinator
Mahmud has a first degree in Political Science, and a decade of experience in telecoms, banking, and public service. He is passionate about transformative governance in Africa, and is currently studying for the Master of Public Policy (MPP).
Lucie Loridon
Coordinator
As part of this role, I will be organising the catering and the security for the summit!
I am particularly interested in the role of women’s empowerment in African Development and how strong female leadership can bolster better health, educational and diplomacy outcomes. Particularly, looking at this in post-conflict state reconstruction.
Hellen Mawunyo Akosua Diaba
Coordinator
Hellen is interested in communication, development, project management, women’s health and creative Arts. She has vast experience from her professional life working in different capacities with NGOs as a project manager, project coordinator, business development trainer and creative artist.
Sekinah Oladosu
Coordinator
Sekinah is a Coordinator with the Operations and Logistics Team. She graduated from the University of Essex with a BSc in Economics, with a focus on Development Economics and Political Economics. After this, I worked as a Research Analyst in a financial services company. My interests lie in alleviating suffering and poverty for vulnerable people across the globe, with a particular interest in African Development.
Finance and Sponsorship
Jefferson Agbai
Co-Director
In recognition of his activities as a change agent, Jefferson has received over five international awards including a highly prestigious World Bank award. He currently runs a financial services firm focusing on low income women clients in Sub Saharan Africa and is an awardee of the MasterCard scholarship for Rethinking Financial Inclusion Course at the Harvard Kennedy School. He also holds an MBA in Corporate Strategy and Economic Policy from Maastricht School of Management, also pursued studies in Multilateral Governance at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and others from the International Training Center of ILO, Turin – Italy.
Maya Neel
Coordinator
After graduating from the University of Georgia in December 2017, Maya moved to Washington, DC to serve as the Policy and Advocacy Intern at Search for Common Ground, a peace-building organization working to end violent conflict and build healthy, safe, and just societies. She then transitioned to working at Population Services International (PSI), an INGO dedicated to bringing quality healthcare closer to those who need it most. During her tenure at PSI, she provided program management, financial, and budget support to country offices in West and Central Africa, South Sudan, Liberia, Madagascar, and Myanmar, with projects ranging from sexual and reproductive health, WASH, HIV/TB, and malaria.
Uchechukwu Ogechukwu
Coordinator
Uchechukwu Ogechukwu (Uche) is passionate about Clean energy and has a background in climate science and local manufacturing in Nigeria. His works focus on improving renewable energy and electric mobility penetration in developing countries; considering the poverty level, developmental economies, and technology adoption cost by promoting local manufacturing in the clean energy sector.
He is a Co-founder and Chief Business Officer at Greenage Technologies, a Nigerian start-up using local solar Technologies to address electricity access gaps in over 26 states in Nigeria.
Michael Ekwomadu
Coordinator
Michael is currently doing an MSc in International Development Management at the LSE and holds an LLM in Intellectual Property and Maritime Law. His research interests focus on the strengthening of institutions and organizations for achieving international sustainability goals. Michael has worked as a management consultant providing both organizational development and change management service to both private and public sector organizations across several sectors (such as oil & gas, energy, agriculture, transport, and healthcare).
Speakers and Content
Elmer Aluge
Co-Director
With years of experience designing, implementing and evaluating health programs in Sub-saharan Africa, Elmer is focused on improving policy that enables disability and vulnerable population inclusion in development indices.
Nour El Yacoubi
Coordinator
Nour joined LSE after completing a BA in Development Studies and Social Anthropology at SOAS, University of London. She has experience working in civil society organisations, research and consulting, particularly on gender and social inclusion issues in Morocco, where she is from. Nour is especially interested in how innovative public policies and digitalisation can foster the political empowerment of youth and women in Africa.
Victory Osarumwense
Coordinator
Victory has a first degree in accounting, is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria, has passed the CFA level 2 exam, and has four years finance experience where she traded fixed-income securities and developed Sub-Saharan African Treasury strategies for Nigeria’s top bank She also runs an economic literacy platform called Financial jagajaga and enjoys performing poetry. She is interested in working to develop financial and economic policies that will drive economic resilience in Africa.
Simbo Olatoregun
Coordinator
Simbo is a Heleniak Scholar studying for a Master of Public Policy at LSE. She has a decade of experience in the digital technology sector and prior to LSE, worked at Meta and Google to deliver digital access/equity programs for women and youth across the continent. An alumna of the WEF Global Shapers Community, Simbo was listed as one of 50 Corporate Women to watch in Nigeria in 2020.
Aloysious Tumusiime
Coordinator
Aloysious is passionate about education and creating innovative workflow strategies focused on poverty alleviation for social and economic development. He is a storyteller who believes in impactful storytelling’s power to inspire positive change in communities.
His career goal is to contribute towards creating broad policies and systems in the development and humanitarian space, accounting for the unique development needs of the underprivileged in accessing quality education and relevant entrepreneurial skills and opportunities to thrive.
Media and Marketing
Agatha Akidi-Akora
Co-Director
Agatha works in the UK government and has spent most of her career delivering the Prime Minister’s priorities. She is now working on policy innovation across government alongside her part-time studies at the LSE. Her research interests include African women’s sexual & reproductive health both in the UK and on the continent. She has led research projects and supported initiatives focused on African women’s health, wellbeing and career development.
Hope Imuetinyan
Coordinator
Hope is a research and development practitioner with experience in evaluating youth interventions across Africa. She is a believer in the authenticity and uniqueness of the African experience who is passionate about projecting their lived realities through her work. Hope is interested in Africa political economic growth and sustainability.
Nadine Whelpton
Coordinator
Nadine’s primary research interests focus on the importance of including the African experience in framing international sustainability goals and has worked together with NGOs and Think Tanks on educational development projects in East Africa. She has also been involved in sustainable marketing campaigns that draw attention to ‘sustainable’ practices which have life-threatening implications for African citizens (such as electronic waste dumping or cobalt-mining for battery powered vehicles).
Nkechi Deborah Adeboye
Coordinator
Nkechi is an MSc student on the Development Studies Programme. She comes to LSE follow two years working as a software engineer within the finance industry. Alongside this she holds eight years of experience in various third sector organisations, working on issues such as gender-based violence, economic inclusion and access to education. During her BSc in Business Management and Economics she developed an interest in the areas of women’s equality, gendered labour markets, gender-sensitive budgeting and policy.
Fome Owuasu
Coordinator
Fome is a final year politics and international relations student. Outside of her studies, she is a content creating and also co-hosts her own podcast where she discusses topics ranging from politics, media, education, race and issues affecting young people. Fome has an interest in youth activism and engagement levels in regards to African development. She is also interested in ESG, particularly environmental and sustainable strategies in Africa.