Smarter Mobility Africa LIVE Speaker 2020

With over 24 years in Automotive, Kabelo Rabotho is a highly driven and versatile leader. His career in automotive began at Toyota South Africa, holding various positions in their Sales and Marketing organisation including as a Senior Manager for Marketing Planning as well as for Corporate and Government Sales.  

Before moving on to Nissan, Kabelo was the General Manager at BMW South Africa responsible for Sales and Brand Management for the MINI brand.  Here he oversaw the MINI’s brand positioning in the market as well as marketing and sales plans.

Kabelo has also served as the National Sales Manager at Absa Vehicle Management Solutions and as a Dealer Principal with Imperial Toyota. 

Currently, Kabelo is the Marketing Director at Nissan Group of Africa, leading the marketing division. In this role Kabelo oversees the development and implementation of product and brand strategies, marketing plans and material, campaigns, and digital marketing.

Yves Nono joined Bosch in 2004, holding several functional roles including research and engineering, product management and business development across the Bosch range of automotive portfolios and OEMs for various vehicle segments. He invested 7 years in Germany, thereafter spending 6 years in the USA, where he led the product management portfolio of powertrain sensors and exhaust gas treatment systems.

Since 2018, Yves Nono has taken up the position of vice president of Bosch Mobility Solutions with the African regional responsibility of leading Mobility Solutions Sales. In parallel to Yves current responsibilities, he took on the role of regional president for the automotive aftermarket, Africa regional responsibility effective, August 2020. He acts as the Africa regional managing director for the automotive aftermarket division, which is operating in more than 30 African countries and generating more than a billion rand revenue annually.

Since January 2020, he also serves as board member of the “NAACAM National Executive Committee” of South Africa. Yves holds a master degree in computer sciences engineering from the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences in Germany. In 2014, completed the General Management Program (GPM) executive education at the Harvard Business School in USA.

Abdelrahman Melegy combines software development, spatial data management, and automation knowledge to empower project management in an information systems context. He designs processes for data collection and integration in projects where data is usually scarce. He is an avid free and open-source software and open data promoter.”

Elleni Ashebir (WRI Africa), Manager for Cities and Urban Mobility Program in Addis Ababa, responsible for the overall management of Ross Center for Sustainable Cities WRI Africa work, including engaging with government and development partners.  Elleni has diverse experience in Ethiopia’s urban development sector and has worked with national, regional, and city-level government, as well as local communities and vulnerable groups to help ensure cities pursue socially equitable, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable development. Elleni is leading UNEP/UNDA project to support the Ethiopian government’s investment in NMT infrastructure and promote walking and cycling. Elleni is an Urban Planner by profession.

Enock Seth Nyamador is a GIS Consultant and Free and Open Source Software advocate. He believes and supports Open, Participatory Technologies, and communities. Having been involved in OpenStreetMap, Open Source Geospatial Foundation, Digital Transport 4 Africa, and other Communities of Practice.

He has worked on AccraMobilie3: mapping paratransit “trotro” routes in Accra, Ghana into OpenStreetMap; the Wikipedia of maps, and support related transport mapping projects across Africa. 

Jacob Byamukama is a registered engineer with over 22 years’ experience working for both private and public sector clients on a variety of projects. He has previously worked as a transportation consultant /Specialist in the United Kingdom and now he has been top management at the Capital City Authority of Kampala. He is very active and has been instrumental in the current on-going planning and implementation of several sustainable urban transport projects, contributed effectively to the National & Urban Transport policy reviews plus institutional reform, and is a member of the transport sector working group in the Ministry of Works &Transport.

He is head of the government technical team that is implementing reforms in the public transport industry and the implementation of the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Transport Masterplan. Jacob is committed to continuous professional development and is an active member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers, and the Chartered Institute of Highways & Transportation(UK).

Jane Akumu is currently the Africa focal at the UN Environment on promoting cleaner mobility programs. She joined UN Environment in 2004 and has been working towards environmentally sustainable transport in Africa mainly through the introduction of cleaner fuels and vehicles. She was instrumental in the leaded petrol phase out campaign in Sub-Saharan Africa. Today, Jane Akumu is partnering with stakeholders in the Africa region to introduce lower sulphur fuels concurrently with cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicles strategies as a means to reducing vehicle emissions and help address climate change.

Prior to joining the UN Environment, she worked for the Government of Kenya, first at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning on international trade issues, and then at the Ministry of Energy as head of the Petroleum Monitoring Unit and was responsible for petroleum policy, standards, pricing and supply management.

She has a good network of diverse partners and stakeholders in the environment, energy and transport areas in Africa, as well as experience in supporting policy development in countries. She has been involved in various studies in the region on air quality management, health and financial benefits of cleaner mobility.

Jane Akumu holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Carleton University in Canada.

Temesgen Gebrehiwot Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Philosophy of Doctorate in electric electronics and communication in south Korea, Founder of ETTA solutions PLC company involved in developing different mobility and fintech systems from the first taxi-hailing app to e-commerce and payments system. Passion for making a difference through technology and research. Interested in assisting development and infrastructure development in Ethiopia/ Africa. 

Prof. Blessing Chitsenga is the Group CEO of 12k Energy Group. Founded by Prof. Blessing, 12k
Energy Group has grown into a multi-national company headquartered in Johannesburg, South
Africa, working across Africa & the Middle East and celebrating its 10th Anniversary. 12k Energy
Group is a diversified multi-sector conglomerate with divisions focused on renewable energy,
electric mobility, retail and sustainable housing. 12k Green eMobility is the division dedicated to
the electric mobility and electric vehicle infrastructure sector.

Prof. Blessing is an inspirational leader whose his vision for the future of Africa is succinctly
described in 12k Energy Group’s prime directive “No More Darkness”. He has made it his life’s
mission to leave a lasting legacy through the betterment of the world for future generations. His
business principles are best described by five words; Name, Value, Integrity, Vision and
Relationships. He believes in honesty and openness as a basis of the trust and security that is
required of stakeholders in working towards a future that is sustainable and beneficial to all.

Having spent his entire career in entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial roles Vincent has honed his
skills like innovation, strategy, and change specialist; he believes in creating businesses that will
leave the world economically, sustainably, and technologically better than before. The vision of a
global energy infrastructure that consists entirely of renewable energy sources within our lifetime
is a future that he believes in. A future that encompasses renewable energy, energy conservation, and electric mobility, thus eliminating a large amount of the contributory factors to greenhouse
gas emissions and climate change. Playing his small part in this larger picture is the mission to
which he has now dedicated himself.

Wim Elshout is ABB’s Group e-Mobility Solutions Area Manager for Latin America, Africa, Middle East and the Asia Pacific since January 2017. In his role he is responsible for business development, project execution and service of ABB’s e-Mobility solutions for electric cars, buses, and trucks in his region.

Wim is responsible for ABB’s technology partnership with the fast growing e-Mobility Service Providers and vehicle OEMs in ABB’s emerging and overseas e-Mobility markets. Together with these partners Wim introduced the first endto-end charging solutions for electric vehicles in these markets, overcoming critical challenges presented by next-generation charging demands.

Wim grew up in the Oil and Gas industry where he spend 20 years of his career in various service and business development roles in the US, Asia and Europe. After 20 years in the industry, he decided to make the change to contribute to the energy transition and the change in global mobility.

Tshepo Kgobe is Seasoned Senior Executive who is also a Certified Project Management Professional and Multidisciplinary Engineer with more than 21 years of extensive experience in managing complex projects and operations with diverse technical requirements in Infrastructure, Energy and Mining. Tshepo has also held diverse positions that are not related to engineering including BBBEE, Transformation and Corporate Social Investment.

Tshepo is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA), responsible for the everyday running of the agency. In this role, Tshepo is responsible for Technical Services, ICT and Knowledge Management, Marketing and Communication, Risk Management, Legal and Compliance Services, Corporate Services, including Human Capital and Facilities. In this role Tshepo is responsible for the implementation of the strategy of the GMA. Tshepo previously held the role of Senior Executive responsible for all Technical and Project services in GMA. GMA is the Agency that manages the Concession Agreement for the operation of the Gautrain on behalf of the Gauteng Provincial Government and is also responsible for the expansions and the extensions of the system.

Tshepo has diverse experience earlier in his career before joining the GMA. He was an Executive Director on the board of a large international consulting company and currently uses that experience on the board of two companies that are dedicated to supplier and enterprise development. Tshepo brings a wealth of experience in Program and Project Management, as he has been in the Rail and Mega Project space for over 21 years. Tshepo as a young man in 2005, was one of the first few engineers to join the Gautrain at its infancy stage, to see the design of the system until Financial Close and the signing of the Concession Agreement.

Tshepo is a seasoned visionary Senior Executive with a strong history of driving business expansion through projects; managing and sustaining client relationships, and efficiently managing cross-functional business operations.

Bernard PEILLE is the Managing Director of Alstom Southern Africa. Bernard joined Alstom in 1989. Bernard has led and managed several Alstom sites in different countries focusing on design, industrial site development, management of rolling stock, service and project management for high speed, regional and urban trains.