The pursuit of collaborative success.

At the sidelines of the last World Economic Forum on Africa in 2019 B.C. (Before Coronavirus), my good friend and newly appointed Heavy Chef Foundation chair, Lukhanyo Neer introduced me to Fred Roed & the crew. This multi-stakeholder dialogue and the months-prior Davos conference on “Achieving a Single African Market” affirmed my establishing of the research and management consulting firm, Unpacking Africa 4.0 #WEF #AfricaWeWant

Thabo Mbeki Foundation & Heavy Chef 4th Industrial Revolution in Education report launch & panel discussion

My Chumy, Lukha convinced me to moderate a Thabo Mbeki Foundation curated phenomenal panel around education and the 4th Industrial Revolution (South Africa’s context) as part of a reflective report his team and my edu Kanea co-founder, Zinhle Mkhabela authored. #Education #Kanea #4IR #AfricaWeWant #DSYInspireSessions

H.E. Thabo Mbeki, ministers, dignitaries, panelists, and Heavy Chef guests. #DSYInspireSeries

Fast-forward to an exploratory partnership between Heavy Chef x Unpacking Africa podcast during Covid-19 imposed lockdown now 2020; moderating conversations with former president H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo on the promise of industrialized agriculture at-scale in Africa, Brenthurt Foundation’s Prof. Greg Mills lessons learned from his book The Asian Aspiration to engagement with pre-billion-dollar-valuation of GB Agboola’s Flutterwave, futurists Dion Chang & the erudite Brownyn Williams on what is next in tech & beyond; and other phenomenal guests. #UnpackingAfrica #HeavyChef

Heavy Chef recipe loading…#CollaborativeSuccess

Over this weekend, it has been a privilege to honor Heavy Chef’s invitation to share my recipe on a professional (and in some ways personal) life hack on fostering, engaging with, and participating in relevant “Communities.”

May you find communities that support you.

May you engage with communities that validate you.

May you be enamored by communities that embrace you.

May you be vulnerable to find communities that challenge you.

Ultimately, may you be open to the unexpected opportunities that local, regional and international communities avail to you.

Heavy Chef crew Fred, Zsuzsa, Randall & Gamor

If you are looking to plug into a leading community of entrepreneurs from South Africa to the world, check out my peoples www.heavychef.com and our recipes. #Community #EliuGift #TeachGamor #GamorLegacy

#ShamelessPlug Do join our KukuZafest Podcasters community to amplify voices through podcasting here.

“Your work is your own private megaphone to tell the world what you believe.” — Simon Sinek

Be well, be safe, be loved.

Originally published to Unpacking Africa newsletter’s 15,000 + subscribers on March 30, 2021.

 

Happy Africa Day

Conversations that Matter.

As we celebrate the strides towards a consolidated African economy community and recognize the many strides made in the past;

Kwame Nkrumah’s speech at the OAU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia circa May 24th, 1963

I’m reminded of the power of ideas that lead to insightful conversations that push movements to become institution-bound and operationalized for the Africa we want.

Looking onward; I am excited to share The Pathfinders conversation I shall be having with H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo & Dr. Greg Mills on June 9th, 2020 where I shall be irreverent with much-needed community interventions exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Pathfinders: Dr. Greg Mills, HE Obansanjo, Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor

To join in kindly click this link for more information. Fee waiver for SMEs & students!

Heavy Chef and Fred also invited me for a deep-dive conversation ahead of the event, to get a flavor of my thoughts and submissions on what our what-next looks like click play:

Heavy Chef: African Culture Is Key To Unlocking Innovation” Podcast Host Emmanuel Gamor

A bit of what I shall be sharing is a culmination of conversations that I have been privileged to have with amazing African professionals in the fields of entrepreneurship, tech, healthcare, and most recently education on the Unpacking Africa podcast.

Unpacking Africa: Learning Journeys

Guests on the Learning Journeys episode: Fauzia Issaka a development professional, Zinhle Mkhabela an M&E professional as well as Kwabena Boateng, host of the HBCU African American Homecoming.

Thanks so much to the community members who have subscribed and left a 5-star review (for the international discovery of the podcast) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Anchor. To those who haven’t yet — kindly support my efforts. It takes less than a minute.

Ameyaw Debrah | George Britton | Oral Ofori had kind words to share about the pod here, here, and here.

“The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the superimposed influences that keep us apart.” — Kwame Nkrumah

Be well, be safe.

Originally published to Unpacking Africa newsletter’s 15,000 + subscribers on May 25, 2020.

In adjusting to this “new normal” I have found it comforting to hear from peers also navigating through these hours-days-weeks-all-meshed-in-one virus prevention routines. With a myriad of different government regulations on lockdown and economic recovery, it is equally important to ask what is happening in our education ecosystems affecting the millions of us in continuous learning and teaching programs with a global impact on the lives of millions of children across the world…

Learning Journeys: this episode engages 3 African professionals, 2 of whom are Ph.D. candidates: Zinhle Mkhabela, a Measurement and Evaluation practitioner in South Africa, Kwabena Boateng, a collaborator on Pan-African education ecosystems in the United States and Fauzia Issaka, an International Development consultant & doctoral student in the United Kingdom.

🎙Unpacking Africa podcast is available on Apple Podcasts Spotify & Google Podcasts

We get to hear their prospects on the challenges the pandemic has presented in their own academic lives — as well as their students; pain points in digital access on educational systems; and the opportunities in future-casting post-Covid educational journeys that highlight solutions among likely allies. With cross-collaborative programs with universities on the African continent and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States of America as a primary example. While you listen to this edition, you might as well grab a cup, lean back, and lean into their intriguing insights.

www.4irAfrica.co | @4irAfrica_

Be safe, be well, be loved.

Originally published to Unpacking Africa newsletter’s 15,000 + subscribers on May 12, 2020.

EdTech 🚨 Live at the EdTech Africa 2019 conference: buzz words “gamification” “3-D printing” “online platforms” “Data-driven” “manipulatives” “21st Century” and our all time fav “4IR” have joined us 💕@EduKanea #MosquitoClaps

Presenting on Digital Education & Vocational Training TVET in South Africa, Emmanuel Gamor

Team edu Kanea co-Founders Zinhle Mhkabela & Emmanuel Gamor

During the 2-day event, I facilitated a session to an experts-only audience on The Digital Education & Vocational Training in the South African context. It was an honor to be listed with the world's leading experts in Education Technology.

1000 World Class Experts, Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor, edu Kanea

#DSYInspireSessions such an honor to speak with fellow educators, researchers, teachers and practitioners on 21st Century Education & 4IR on the sidelines of #AF19 #WEF #WEFAfrica19 💡 Kanea #GamorLegacy

Panelists on 21st Century Education and the 4th Industrial Revolution

🇿🇦 South Africa former President Thabo Mbeki on the sidelines of WEF spoke up against #XenophobiaInSouthAfrica and characterized recent events particularly as heinous crime against specific black shop owners that are being made to be #Xenophobia #AF19

Panelists with former President Thabo Mbeki & South African Minister of Education Angie Motshekga

I am a proud product of Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, one of the top secondary schools in West Africa. After that, there's very little else I'm proud of in the current Ghanaian education sector.

Let's take one metric, of course not the be all end all, but passing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results are a requirement for admission into tertiary institutions/colleges/universities.

Of all the students who took the 2013 WASSCE exam: "...68, 062 students of the 242, 162 candidates had grades between A1-C6 in at least 6 subjects (including English & core Mathematics which are requirements for admission into tertiary institutions)."

 That's only 28.11% of students who sat for the exams passed. Not excelled people, (C's included) passed. That's a failing grade however you look at it.

At this month's Accra Discourse hosted by the World Economic Forum, Global Shapers Accra Hub

Kobby Graham, lecturer at Ashesi University and  Elorm Awittor, lead for Ghana Education Network & organizer of TedXCapeCoastED shared their thoughts with us at September's #Accra Discourse

Fred Deegbe presenting gifts to panelists: Kobby Graham

Participant asking questions

Attendees at the September Accra Discourse