Webinars

Jason Tando is a world-traveling entrepreneur and minimalist with a strong focus on innovation. A passionate advocate for Bitcoin, he has dedicated himself to promoting its broader adoption. Over the years, he has traveled to all seven continents and more than 140 countries as a digital nomad. Jason is a co-founder of several startups, with two successful exits under his belt. In 2024, he emerged from self-imposed retirement to help co-found Tando, an app designed to make Bitcoin as easy to spend as mobile money in Africa, starting with Kenya. With Tando, Jason is working to demonstrate that Bitcoin is more than just a store of value—it’s a transformative financial tool.

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Yvonne Kagondu is a financial economist and software developer with a bachelor of business science in financial economics from Strathmore University and a software development certificate from Moringa School. She has extensive experience in Kenya’s financial sector and the Blockchain ecosystem. Her career began at the Kenyan Commercial Bank Group as an intern before joining Google Digital Skills for Africa in quality assurance. Her interest in Blockchain led to consultancy roles with leading firms such as Aeternity, KuBitX, Paxful, and Token Minds. Yvonne also founded the Kenya Blockchain Ladies DAO to promote inclusivity for women in tech.

Evelyn Nyadwera is a Professor of economics at Pennsylvania State University DuBois and a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. Her research focuses on international economics, technological change, and international development. She has published in leading journals, including The World Economy, International Labor Review, Journal of Economic Issues, and Feminist Economics.

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Esther Tawia is the founder and executive director of Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) in Ghana. She holds a masters in international politics from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Over the last decade, Esther has worked to expand civic participation and gender equality in Ghana and across Africa. She founded the West Africa Young Women Political Leadership School, which operates in several countries, including Nigeria and Ghana. Her work at the Gender Centre for Empowering Development earned her the women’s political rights award in Africa at the celebration of the Maputo Protocol’s 20th anniversary in 2023.

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Abena D. Oduro is an Associate Professor in the department of economics at the University of Ghana, Legon. Her current research focuses on women’s economic empowerment, gender and trade policy, employment security, poverty, inequality, and vulnerability analysis. She has published works on gender-responsive budgeting, intimate partner violence, gender and asset ownership. Additionally, she serves as an associate editor for Feminist Economics. Oduro is a member of the International Association for Feminist Economics and was its President from 2021 to 2022. She is also affiliated with the African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Reseach.

Professor Geci Karuri-Sebina is a scholar-practitioner focused on the intersection of people, place, time, and technological change, with a particular interest in the global south. She is an associate professor in digital governance at Wits University in Johannesburg, an adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town’s African Centre for Cities, and a principal at the School of International Futures. Geci also serves as the organiser of the Civic Tech Innovation Network. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in computer science and sociology, dual master’s degrees in architecture and urban planning, and a PhD in planning and innovation studies at the University of Witwatersrand.

Al Kags is the executive director of the Open Institute, an organization dedicated to fostering open governance, citizen engagement, and data rights across sub-Saharan Africa. Recently recognized as an Ashoka Fellow for his pioneering contributions to social innovation, Al is a steadfast advocate for transparency in government and data rights across Africa. Al chairs on the board of Publish What You Fund and was previously a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. His leadership extends through numerous key roles, including as a former member of the Global Open Data Working Group, co-chair of the Kenya OGP Working Group, and chair of the Kenya Open Data Taskforce.

Joseph Phiri is a journalist at the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) with over eight years of experience in the media industry. Throughout his career, he has garnered more than ten prestigious media awards, reflecting his commitment to excellence in journalism. In June 2024, Joseph was honoured by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for his outstanding reporting on labor migration in the Southern African region. More recently, in September, the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) recognized his work with the Best Governance Reporting Award.