Keynote Speakers
Speaker Registration Link: https://www.xcdsystem.com/IEOM/attendee/index.cfm?ID=2LQLkeY
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Conference Welcome and Opening: Tuesday, April 4, 2022, 9:45 – 10:00 am
Prof. Anne Lungowe Sikwibele
Acting Vice Chancellor
University of Zambia
Lusaka, Zambia
+40 years’ experience in higher education sector including +10 years in education management and leadership in Zambia and Botswana. Hold the distinction of being one of the first 6 women Professors in Zambia.
Board and committee experience:
My service in chairperson, board and committee member roles, focusses on HR, governance, audit & risk and finance committees in academic, international development and non-governmental organizations that address diversity, inclusion, and specifically, gender policy.
Organizational leadership:
I’ve contributed academic and administrative leadership to the tertiary education sector (Zambia, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, India, and Swaziland) and served on university and academic committees and global forums relating to education, education policy, education technology & gender.
Policy, advisory and consulting:
Through +40 commissioned consultancy reports and research studies I’ve guided educational policy, management and administration and mainstreaming gender and poverty on the educational policy agenda.
Partnerships and stakeholder engagement:
I invest in and nurture stakeholder relationships and create partnerships to achieve synergistic goals. Through alumni events, SADC, African Union and Commonwealth partnerships, and relationships with corporates, I’ve helped reduce fiscal burden to students and university, facilitated knowledge and skills transfer, gained access to resources and supplementary funding.
Thought leadership:
My thought leadership focusses on education policy, gender and poverty, human rights and social development in education, online and distance learning and higher education in developing countries. I’ve authored and edited numerous books, textbooks and booklets, chapters on education, conference books and monographs for the World Bank and UNESCO, refereed and non-refereed journal articles, and research reports.
Opening Keynote I: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 10:00 – 10:40 am
Douglas Mboweni, Ph.D.
Group Chief Executive Officer
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited
Harare, Zimbabwe
Dr Douglas Mboweni is the CEO of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the country’s leading provider of telecoms services and has over 20 years of executive management experience in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry. Under his stewardship, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has leveraged innovation in the face of difficult economic conditions to grow its subscriber base from two hundred thousand in 2002 to over twelve million today, commanding market share of above 65%.
Dr. Mboweni was instrumental in the promotion of local mobile financial services through EcoCash, up to the unbundling and listing of its parent company, Cassava Smartech on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. He was also part of the team that set up and launched Mascom (Botswana) and Econet Wireless Nigeria amongst various roles assumed in the Econet Wireless Global group. In recognition of his leadership and success, Dr. Mboweni has won several national and international accolades including the coveted Institute of Directors Zimbabwe, Director of the Year in 2005 and 2013 as well as the Zimbabwe Institute of Management, Manager of the Year in 2004.
Dr. Mboweni graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Business Leadership from the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) in 2019. In his doctorate thesis, he proposed the Leadership-Driven Resilience Model (LDRM), which theoretically proffered possibilities for business leaders to develop sustainable coping strategies in response to extreme business operating environments. He is also and is a holder of a Master’s in Business Leadership (UNISA), and a BSc Mathematics & Computer Science degree from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).
Besides his many career accomplishments, Dr Mboweni is a published author of A Dusty Road To Success: Principles of an extraordinary life, an inspirational piece intended to motivate people to discover their purpose and unleash their God-given greatness. He is a visiting Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg since 2018 and has been a panelist at the African Executive Coaching Council as well as the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Society (IEOM) conferences. In his spare time, Douglas facilitates a number of youth mentorship programmes in the community. Dr Mboweni is married to Sarudzayi and they are blessed with 3 children.
Keynote II: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 10:40 – 11:20 am
Dr. Lubinda Haabazoka
Director
Graduate School of Business
University of Zambia
Lusaka, Zambia
Dr. Lubinda Haabazoka is a Director at the University of Zambia’s Graduate School of Business. He is the immediate past President of the Economics Association of Zambia. He has also worked as Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in Economics, Banking and Finance. He has a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Economics, with a focus on Banking, from Rostov State Economics University, Russia.
He is non-executive director for several companies in Zambia. He is author of several academic books and over 30 research papers in international peer reviewed journals. He has also facilitated and presented papers at high level conferences including high level side meetings at the United Nations General Assembly, Atom Expos and International Atomic Agency events in Europe and Africa. He is the founder of the National Economic Summit in Zambia.
He is a regular commentator on national and international economic issues with CNN, Bloomberg, Financial Times, DW, SABC, Russia 24, CCTV, ZNBC, among others.
Keynote III: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 11:20 am – 12:00 pm
Dr. Manuel Woschank
Deputy Head – Chair of Industrial Logistics
Montanuniversitaet Leoben
Austria
Manuel Woschank received a Ph.D. in Management Sciences with summa cum laude from the University of Latvia (Latvia) and the Habilitation in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Montanuniversitaet Leoben (Austria). He is currently Deputy Head of the Chair of Industrial Logistics at the Montanuniversitaet Leoben and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business, Management, and Economics at the University of Latvia. He was a visiting scholar at the Technical University of Kosice and the Chiang Mai University. His research interests include the areas of production planning and control, logistics 4.0 concepts and technologies, behavioral decision making, and engineering education.
Keynote IV: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 12:00 – 12:40 pm
Dr. Christopher E. Borroni-Bird
Founder of Afreecar LLC
Former Vice President, Strategic Development of Qualcomm
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Dr. Christopher Borroni-Bird is Founder of Afreecar LLC and an expert on sustainable and affordable mobility for ALL the world’s people. This builds on his 25-year career leading advanced mobility initiatives at several major organizations as well as volunteering in sub-Saharan Africa.
At Afreecar he is a senior advisor on future mobility to McKinsey and is also sought out to provide independent technical due diligence on future mobility solutions and companies in vehicle autonomy, connectivity and electrification. Separately, Afreecar is also developing an e-kit that power assists non-motorized vehicles while also transforming them into mobile power sources, which has many applications in both the developing and developed worlds.
He served as Waymo’s Chief Engineer for Future Vehicle Programs and has been a Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab. From 2012 to 2017, he was Qualcomm’s VP of Strategic Development, responsible for wireless automotive solutions. Prior to this, he led GM’s Electric Networked Vehicle (EN-V), the world’s first drivable vehicles to demonstrate today’s accepted vision of future mobility (and extensively deployed at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo). He led GM’s Autonomy, Hy-wire and Sequel “skateboard” electric vehicle concepts, now widely adopted by the Auto Industry, and has 50 patents. He is co-author of “Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century”, with Larry Burns and the late Bill Mitchell (MIT Press, 2010). Before joining GM in 2000, he led Chrysler’s gasoline fuel cell vehicle development. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame as a Young Leader in 2000 and was one of Automotive News’ inaugural “Electrifying 100” in 2011.
Keynote V: Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 12:40 – 1:2 pm
Dr. Mncono-Liwani Buyiswa
Corporate Services & Traction Motors Operation Executive
Gibela Rail Transport Consortium
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Keynote VI: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 10:00 – 10:40 am
Dr. Charles Mungule
Director
Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission
Lusaka, Zambia
Title: The Role of Collaboration in Fostering Sustainable Entrepreneurship Development in Developing Countries
Dr. Charles Muwe Mungule has extensive experience of more than 30 years in entrepreneurship and business development, organizational and private sector development, strategic management, project design and implementation, fisheries/aquaculture sector, research, lecturing, and is highly qualified in Finance and Investment Management.
He has a PhD in Entrepreneurship with a bias in Corporate Entrepreneurship from University of Pretoria, Masters of Arts in Economics from University of Zambia, Bachelor of Arts in Economics from University of Zambia. He is currently pursuing Master of Science in Finance and Investment Management from University of Salford (UK) scheduled to graduate before end of 2022. His key competences include entrepreneurship skills development and new venture creation; cooperative enterprise and SME business development, capacity building; value chain analysis; gender integration; women and youth empowerment; public-private partnerships, privatization and commercialization, market and economic assessments.
Dr. Mungule began his career as an Economist with Lusaka City Council where he worked for three (3) years and was responsible for undertaking business feasibility studies, project management, monitoring and evaluation, as well as assessing and instigating profitability of commercial enterprises of the Council. He then worked for Zambia Privatization Agency as Senior Technical Officer, European Development Fund (Wildlife Project) – Zambia as Commercial Manager, Premier Consult CC – Namibia as Managing Director, German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) Lusaka as National Expert – Water Sector, Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) as Director for Empowerment Programmes, Muwe Consultants Limited – Zambia as Managing Director, Graduate School of Business, University of Zambia as Adjunct Lecturer.
Until now he has for the past three (3) years been serving as Principal Lecturer & Portfolio Manager for Master’s degree programs of Botswana Accountancy College (The Botswana Business School).
Keynote VII: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 10:40 – 11:20 am
Dr. Michael N. Mulenga, PhD, MSc, BEng, MASCE, FEIZ, REng
Dean
School of Engineering
University of Zambia
Lusaka, Zambia
Dr. Mulenga is a holder of a PhD in Civil Engineering from University of Alberta (Canada), an MSc. from Rutgers University (USA) and a BEng from University of Zambia. He has taught several courses in Geotechnical, Structural Engineering and Construction Management at University of Zambia since 1984, at both Undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dr Mulenga has supervised several undergraduate and graduate research works in, and outside Zambia. He also offered short training courses and has delivered papers at several workshops and seminars in and outside Zambia. He has published several papers in Structural, Geotechnical and Construction Management journals.
He has conducted several consultancy assignments in Geotechnical, Structural and Construction Management and had also served on various technical committees looking standards and the Engineering practice in Zambia. He has served at a number of Boards in Zambia (National Housing Authority (NHA), National Council for Construction (NCC), Road Development Agency (RDA), National Road Fund Agency (NRFA), Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) and Kafue Regional Training Centre (KGTRC)). He served as Technical Advisor (Bridges) at RDA and later as Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Road Development Agency (RDA). He was the Infrastructure Platform Chair for the Pilot Project for Climate Resilience (PPCR), funded by the Word Bank. Dr. Mulenga continues to contribute through teaching and research at UNZA, and as a Consultant and resource person at various fora and Technical Committees, dealing with Design, Materials and Construction, Quality Assurance, Sustainability and Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the Construction Sector. He has held several positions at the University of Zambia, from Assistant Dean to Dean of School of Engineering, and acted as Deputy Vice Chancellor at University of Zambia on several occasions.
He is member of the American Society for Civil Engineers, Fellow of the Engineering Institution of Zambia (EIZ) and is a Registered Engineer (REng) in Zambia.
Keynote VIII: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 11:20 am – 12:00 pm
Dr. Piera Centobelli
Associate Professor of Business Economics and Organization
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Naples, Italy
Piera Centobelli is Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. Piera is currently Professor of Business Economics and Organization at the same university. In 2013, Piera received with honors the MSc Degree in Engineering Management at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. In 2016, she held a Ph.D. in Technology and Production Systems at the Department of Chemicals, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering (DICMAPI) of the same university. From 2013 until 2016 she joined the Fraunhofer Joint Laboratory of Excellence on Advanced Production Technology (J-LEAPT) in partnership with Fh-IWU of Chemnitz. Her research interests focus on knowledge and technology management, operations management, logistics and supply chain management, corporate social responsibility, circular economy, triple bottom line, environmental, economic and social sustainability, decision support systems, Industry 4.0, digital transformation, digital factory.
Keynote IX: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 12:00 – 12:40 pm
James A. Tompkins, Ph.D.
Chairman and Founder, Tompkins Ventures
Chairman and Co-Founder, Tompkins Leadership
Jim Tompkins is an international authority on designing and implementing end-to-end supply chains. He has started 15 businesses that have done over $2 billion in worldwide revenue during his 50-year career while enhancing the profitable growth of numerous companies, giving him an insider’s view into what makes great companies even better.
In April 2020, he founded Tompkins Ventures, a global hands-on solutions network that helps executive teams turn Capital, Facilities, Leadership, Logistics, and Technology problems and opportunities into competitive advantage. He founded Tompkins Leadership in 2022, focusing on Executive & Board Search, Human Capital Development, Leadership Development, Organizational Transformation, and Strategy & Innovation. He previously built Tompkins International from a backyard startup into an international consulting and implementation firm.
Jim received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, all from Purdue University. Jim is a Distinguished Engineering Alum from Purdue University and has been awarded the prestigious Frank and Lillian Gilbreath Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. He has written 31 books, including the soon-to-be-released Insightful Leadership: Surfing the Waves to Organizational Excellence, and has made over 2,000 presentations globally.
Keynote X: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 12:40 – 1:20 pm
Dr. Grace Mukondeleli Kanakana-Katumba
Executive Dean
Faculty of Engineering and the Built environment
Tshwane University of Technology
Montana, Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Kanakana-Katumba is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built environment at the Tshwane University of Technology. She served as a Deputy Executive Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at the University of South Africa. Dr Kanakana-Katumba Served as a Lecturer, Head of Department and Assistant Dean for Teaching and Learning at the Tshwane University of Technology, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment for more than ten years. Academically, She has supervised many Master’s and Doctoral students in the field of optimisation and process improvements. Her research focus areas are system dynamics modelling and smart manufacturing. She has published many journal papers and international conference papers. She has been invited as a guest speaker at many engineering conferences locally and internationally. She is a reviewer for the South African Journal of Industrial Engineering. She also hosted the first Africa IEOM conference held in South Africa, which was a success.
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Keynote XI: Thursday, April 6, 2023, 10:00 – 10:40 am
Vassilis C. Gerogiannis, Ph.D.
Professor and Head
Department of Digital Systems
University of Thessaly
Larissa, Greece
Vassilis C. Gerogiannis is Professor and Head of the Department of Digital Systems, University of Thessaly, Greece with academic subject: Analysis & Design of Systems & Projects with Emphasis on Decision Making. Adjunct Professor, Hellenic Open University. Visiting Professor, IPAG Business School (France), Siauliai State University of Applied Sciences (Lithuania), Al-Hussein Bin Talal University (Jordan). He holds a Diploma in Computer Engineering and a PhD in Software Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece. From 1992 until present, he has participated and managed several R&D projects. Author/co-author of more than 130 papers published in international journals/conference proceedings and cited in a plethora of citations. Co-author/editor of three scientific books. Member of the editorial board, guest editor and reviewer in international journals. Conference general chair, program chair and invited speaker in many international conferences. He has received the “best paper award” in three international conferences. He serves as Member of the Management Board of the Hellenic National Academic Recognition Information Centre (NARIC), Member of the Council for Research & Innovation in Thessaly Region of Greece, Member of the Management Committee of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research Institute of the Research Center IASON at the University of Thessaly in Greece, Member of the Management Committee of the Technical Chamber Central and Western Greece, Member of the Central Assembly of the Technical Chamber of Greece, Member of the Scientific Committee of Electronics Engineers in the Technical Chamber of Greece.
Keynote XII: Thursday, April 6, 2023, 10:40 – 11:20 am
Dr. Clinton AIGBAVBOA
Professor
Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying
University of Johannesburg
Johannesburg, South Africa
Clinton AIGBAVBOA is a Professor at the Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Prof. Aigbavboa is the immediate past Vice Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He has extensive knowledge in practice, research, training, and teaching. He is currently the Director, DST/NRF Research Chair in sustainable construction management and leadership in the built environment; Director of the Construction Industry Development Board Centre of Excellence; and Director of the Sustainable Human Settlement and Construction Research Centre at the University of Johannesburg. Prof. Aigbavboa has authored and co-authored more than 600 accredited journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters. He is also the author of sixteen research books that were published by Springer Nature and CRC Press. He has successfully graduated over one hundred and twenty (120) master’s students and fifty-three (53) PhD students. Likewise, he has supervised/ hosted over ten (10) postdoctoral researchers to completion and is currently hosting five (5) postdoctoral researchers. Prof. Aigbavboa has self-generated in excess of R25 million in research funding. Prof. Aigbavboa has collaborated with experts in the construction industry, both locally and internationally, to create new knowledge and provide practical solutions in the built environment.
Prof. Aigbavboa is currently a visiting professor in the School of Civil Engineering of the Shandong University, China, visiting professor, in the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and an International Visiting Scholar in the Department of Architecture of the Covenant University, Nigeria. He is also the editor of the Journal of Construction Project Management and Innovation (accredited by the DoHET) and has received national and international recognition in his field of research. He is rated by the South African National Research Foundation.
Keynote XIII: Thursday, April 6, 2023, 11:20 am – 12:00 pm
Mr. Lukonga Lindunda
Co-Founder/Executive Director
Bonghive Group
Lusaka, Zambia
Lukonga Lindunda is a Startup Ecosystem Builder, Executive Director and Co-founder of BongoHive Group of Companies, in Zambia, which includes BongoHive Innovations, an award-winning innovation and technology hub changing the landscape of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region, BongoHive Consult, a digital transformation and innovation consulting firm, and Hive Co-working, a shared workspace facility.
Lukonga is a Mandela Washington Fellow and has 15 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and development partners. He began his career providing technology assistance in educational projects and programmes by building sustainable and affordable ICT infrastructure and support systems across Zambia with Education Development Center Inc. and VVOB vzw. In 2011, he founded BongoHive with three colleagues after noting a gap in the support young entrepreneurs needed to bring their innovative business ideas to life outside the usual corridors of innovation in South, West, and East Africa.
Since then, Lukonga has steered BongoHive in supporting over 2000 enterprises and has personally spearheaded public and private partnerships with local and global firms to leverage the ecosystem work that BongoHive does. Lukonga’s vision goes beyond the private sector and Zambia, having realised the interconnected path of the regions development and the complexity of creating a viable support network for entrepreneurship and innovation development.
BongoHive have been featured on global and regional media outlets such as CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, and many others. One high point of recognition was when BongoHive was chosen as the only non-development organization to be visited by the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry on his royal visit to Zambia in 2018.
Keynote XIV: Thursday, April 6, 2023, 12:00 – 12:40 pm
Mr. Steven Dihwa
Coordination Centre Executive Director
Southern African Power Pool (SAPP)
Harare, Zimbabwe
Keynote XV: Thursday, April 6, 2023, 12:40 – 1:20 pm
Lerato Nyama
Quality Management & Internal Governance Director
Siemens Digital Industries
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Title: Quality Management and Internal Governance Director at Siemens Digital Industries Software
Lerato Nyama is the Quality Management and Internal Governance Director at Siemens Digital Industries Software South Africa. She holds an Industrial Engineering degree as well as a honours degree in Management Practice. She is currently enrolled in a masters in Business Administration degree with Henley Business School/University of Reading.
Her career started off as a Digital Manufacturing Engineer and then moved on to become a Business Analyst for one of the biggest Engineering Consultancy companies in Africa. Currently her role focusses on fostering diversity and inclusion within the organisation as well as promoting digital technology within the basic and higher education space.
She is passionate about the development and empowerment of African children and has made it her personal mission to find ways in which business can support government in building and shaping a society that is inclusive, innovative, and sustainable for future generations.
Past Keynotes
- 2010 – Dhaka
- 2011 – Kuala Lumpur
- 2012 – Istanbul
- 2014 – Bali
- 2015 – Dubai
- 2015 – Orlando
- 2016 – Kuala Lumpur
- 2016 – Detroit
- 2017 – Rabat, Morocco
- 2017 – Bristol, UK
- 2017 – Bogota, Colombia
- 2018 – Bandung
- 2018 – Paris
- 2018 – Washington DC
- 2018 – Pretoria
- 2019 – Bangkok
- 2019 – Pilsen
- 2019 – Toronto
- 2019 – Riyadh
- 2020 – Dubai
- 2020 Detroit, USA
- 2020 Harare, Zimbabwe
- 2021 Singapore
- 2021 Sao Paulo, Brazil
- 2021 Haiti
- 2021 Harbin, China
- 2021 Rome, Italy
- 2021 Bangalore, India
- 2021 Indonesia
- 2021 Monterrey, Mexico
- 2022 Istanbul
- 2022 Nigeria
- 2022 Orlando
- 2022 Paraguay
- 2022 Rome
- 2022 Warangal, India
- 2022 Johor Baru, Malaysia
- 2022 Sydney, Australia
- 2022 Dhaka, Bangladesh
- 2023 Manila – Annual
- 2023 Zambia – African