Africa is going through profound shifts - demographic, economical, technological, political and environmental. These severely affect its most important resource: Africa’s 1 billion people. Africa’s economic growth (on average 6%) has not been inclusive and its people have not reaped the benefits.  With the continent’s population set to more than double by 2050, its greatest asset will be Africa’s capacity to harness its human capital.  This panel will discuss the opportunities and the challenges in maximizing human capital across Africa.

​Theme: Building a World-Class Talent Pipeline

Bahia El Oddi, Moderator

Bahia El Oddi is currently pursuing her MBA at Harvard Business School, where she received First Year Honors. Prior to that, Bahia worked at Google, managing projects to increase Google’s social impact in the cultural and education sectors through breakthrough technologies. Prior to Google, she worked as a consultant at Bain & Company in London, where she worked closely with top executives on international strategy, merger and acquisitions, and capital project improvements. She more recently led the strategy and the implementation plan of the Education Outcomes Fund in Morocco, working closely with the Ministry of Education and donors. Jointly with the Africa Leadership Academy, she was also engaged in the development of one of the first Education Accelerator in Africa aiming to support social entrepreneurs in the continent. Originally from Morocco and committed to contribute to Africa’s social and economic development, she is engaged across Harvard University in projects evaluating the impact of creativity and social & Emotional skills in education, leadership and businesses. The aim is to leverage human-centered skills to leapfrog the continent from an agricultural to a knowledge and creative economy, bypassing the destruction of industrial jobs driven by the rise of Artificial Intelligence and automation. Passionate about culture, she recently founded Dar El Oddi Cultural Center in Tetuan, Morocco. Bahia speaks English, French, Arabic, Spanish and Catalan. 

Lydie Hakizimana, Founder Happy Hearts

Lydie Hakizimana has 13 years of experience in various fields of education and in publishing, in particular. Prior to this, Lydie worked for OTF Group, a Boston based consultancy firm founded by Michael Porter among others. At OTF, Lydie advised the government of Rwanda and Gabon in the ICT, the Hides and Skin and Timber industry. Currently, Lydie is the Founder and CEO of Happy Hearts, a chain of preschools that is providing quality education to hundreds of children between the ages of 18 months and five years old in Rwanda. She is also the co-founder of Drakkar Ltd, a publishing house that serves more than 3,000 schools in Rwanda. In January 2018, Lydie was appointed as a board member of the African Leadership University in Rwanda (ALU). She also sits on the board of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS).

​Lydie Hakizimana was awarded the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellowship in 2013 and is also a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow. Lydie is a certified Montessori teacher from the North American Montessori Center (NAMC), and a 2019 MC/MPA Candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Daniel Antwi, Co-Founder People Initiative Foundation

Daniel Antwi is a Gates Foundation Goalkeeper and UNDP Africa Youth Connekt Fellow. Together with his partner, Daniel established People Initiative Foundation (PIF) which is a Pan-African youth organization that promotes and supports Africa’s youth to help them achieve their life goals. PIF is focused on several areas: employment & employability skills trainings, social impact initiatives, entrepreneurship, and agripreneurship. These initiatives are geared towards employment, empowerment, and job creation for Africa’s youth. The initiatives include Africa Internship Academy, a youth employment accelerator in Ghana, Africa Dialogues, an African thought-leadership platform, and Talents Community, Africa’s first online talent searching platform. Previously, Daniel worked in Ghana, Liberia, & Sierra Leone at Guinness Ghana Breweries and Hewlett Packard.

Michael Beeler, Founder 1Room

Michael Beeler is an entrepreneur and PhD Candidate in Operations Research at MIT. Both his research and venture, 1Room, focus on educational technology and operations management in developing countries. Michael is a past fellow of the MIT Tata Center, Legatum Center, Fulbright Science and Tech Program, and D-Pize. 1Room is a 21st Century one-room-schoolhouse designed to make quality high school education affordable and accessible to rural, remote, and disadvantaged communities, starting in Western Kenya. 1Room has developed a modular, individually-paced digital curriculum following government standards, allowing students to work at their own pace and with flexible hours under the supervision of an academic coach. The tech system requires neither internet nor a grid connection. 1Room's six-person field team is currently testing its curriculum with several public schools in Kenya.

Uyoyo Edosio, Senior Education and Innovation Expert, African Development Bank

​Uyoyo Edosio is the Senior Education and Innovation expert at the African Development Bank where she manages a pan-African investment portfolio on education, innovation, and youth employment. Over the years, she has gathered consulting and management experience across African, Europe, and Asia. As an education and innovation expert, Ms. Edosio has led many interventions, including driving the African Developments Bank’s premier innovation center of excellence (in partnership with 5 Countries and over 30 institutions) to strengthen capacities in preparing youth in courses and pedagogy for the fourth industrial revolution. Uyoyo also led the Bank’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation lab initiative through which the Bank supports the youth employment and entrepreneurship ecosystem by incubating and piloting promising new ideas.  Through her passion for youth empowerment, she also founded Young and Intentional, which is aimed at providing a platform to guide African youth toward achieving success in their chosen fields through mentorship and guidance. Uyoyo is a seasoned researcher and has been referenced over 6000 times in leading journals and textbooks. She holds a Master’s Degree in Information Technology and Management, a postgraduate degree in Investment Appraisal and Project Management, and a Bachelors in Computer Science.

More panelist announcements to come!

The human capital panel is sponsored by