Dr. Pantami, Aboyeji, Adekanmbi, Others to speak at MTN’s Scholarships Event

Federal Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Nigeria, Dr Isa Ali Pantami will join Dr Omobola Johnson, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and other seasoned professionals at MTN Foundation‘s scholarships event on Thursday, November 12, 2020.

Other speakers at the event include Chief Transformation Officer, MTN Nigeria, Olubayo Adekanmbi, and Chief Commercial Officer, Mixta Africa, Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani. They will be speaking on the theme, “Insight. Influence. Impact.” in a fireside chat moderated by Nigerian TV presenter,  Bolanle Olukanni.

MTN Foundation is holding an award/induction ceremony for incoming and outgoing scholars of its scholarships event scheme and the speakers have been strategically selected to share insightful and impactful stories to inspire awardees towards greater excellence.

Dr Isa Ali Pantami is the first Minister of Communications and Digital Economy after the redesignation of the Ministry’s Name to include responsibilities for creating and formulating Policies for a sustainable Digital Economy for Nigeria. He received an award as the “ICT Promoter of the Year 2017” in London by “The Nigerian” in recognition of his positive contributions to the ICT revolution in Nigeria, youth empowerment & good governance. Within little less than 3 years of his stewardship, he has received over 110 awards and recognitions both within and outside Nigeria.

Dr. Omobola Johnson, a senior partner at TLcom Capital LLP, an engineer and experienced ICT professional, previously served as Nigeria’s Minister of Communications Technology. She focused on the launch and execution of Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan, and also supported the development of the Nigerian technology industry. She is a Trustee of the World Economic Forum’s Future of the Internet Initiative, a Founding Chairperson and Trustee of Women in Management in Business, and serves on the board of a number of leading Nigerian and multinational corporations.

Olubayo Adekanmbi is driven by a vision to build an AI-first society where Artificial Intelligence is effectively deployed to solve local problems. He is a leading expert in Data Science, Advanced Analytics, Business Transformation, Marketing and Strategy, with 19 years of cognate industry experience from the two largest economies in Africa (Nigeria &South Africa).

Co-Founder, Andela and former Managing Director, Flutterwave, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is an entrepreneur of public interest. He co-founded Andela – Africa’s largest engineering organization with over 1000 software engineers and has received investment from Mark Zuckerberg and Google Ventures amongst others. Iyinoluwa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies from the University of Waterloo; and sits on the board of several institutions including Paris’ Share Africa Project, Rainbow Educational Services Limited and Filmo Realty.

Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani on the other hand is a leading and prominent African energy expert and finance executive. She provides financial and strategic advisory services to the public and private sector in oil and gas and power and has built a track record of helping to finance, invest in and successfully scale businesses across Africa’s energy sector.

With the vast experience of the professionals scheduled to speak at the event, beneficiaries of MTN’s scholarship scheme can expect to learn life-long lessons that will offer insight and inspire them to become persons of influence and impact in the society.

The MTN scholarships event scheme is an annual scholarship award that seeks to recognize and reward qualified high performing students. It is made up of the MTN Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme and the MTN Scheme for Blind Students.