KIW Team

Dr. Tonny K. Omwansa is the current CEO of Kenya National Innovation Agency and member of ISACA, IEEE, the Board of Trustees of Kenya National Research Fund and the National Commission of Science, Technology, and Innovation.

He has been involved in the technology start-up ecosystem in Africa for the past 10 years, founding and running various entrepreneurship programs and accelerators, across different sectors including fintech and mobility. These include the University of Nairobi’s C4DLab, the TUMI Start-up Accelerator, the CISCO Edge Accelerator, the Africa Mobility Initiative (AMI) and the Nairobi Innovation Week (NIW) Start-up program.
He has also been a mentor and member of jury of other start-up programs (e.g. the Zambezi and PIVOT competitions). He has been a faculty member at Strathmore University and the University of Nairobi.

Dr. Omwansa created the Nairobi Innovation week, mobilizing over 50 partners from the public and private sector and academia to enhance the local innovation ecosystem.
Dr. Omwansa is interested in the design, adoption, and impact of innovative low-cost, and appropriate technologies in developing countries. He has been conducting extensive research and consultancy projects for the past 15 years on technology, innovation, financial inclusion, and mobile transactions, for various clients ranging from government institutions, international donors to multinationals (Kenyan government, Mastercard Foundation, Microsoft, World Bank, USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GSMA, Rockefeller Foundation). He, therefore, produced numerous products, reports, and publications, including a book: “Money, Real Quick: Kenya’s Disruptive Mobile Money Innovation” in 2012.

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Sheena Raikundalia has over 12 years of experience in the legal, financial services and impact investment sectors in Europe and East Africa, and over 5 years’ board experience with a non-profit. She is currently the UK-Kenya Tech Hub Director at the British High Commission focusing on developing the Kenyan tech ecosystem, driving digital skills and creating partnerships. Before joining the Tech Hub, she was a senior advisor with Intellecap’s Kenya office, where she provided strategic advisory services to financial institutions, start-ups, corporations, development agencies and NGOs across the African market. She is also a non-executive director with Inuka Africa, a micro-finance institution with 34 branches spread mainly in agricultural counties in Kenya. She is a U.K. qualified solicitor with a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Bristol and an MBA from Lord Ashcroft International Business School.

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Florence Kimata was an SME Advisor at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives seconded by the World Bank Group where she served as Senior Consultant. Her role was to provide guidance and technical support to the Ministry in the implementation of SME development programs within the Kenya Industrial Transformation Program targeted towards creating an enabling environment to accelerate industrial development.

Florence has over 10 years experience in Commercial and Investment Banking and is an experienced Financial Structuring Consultant having advised on a number of projects spanning from agriculture, real estate, education and hospitality. Prior to venturing into consultancy, she served as the Senior Investment Officer at the East Africa Regional office of Proparco, the Private Sector Bank of the French Agency for Development. While at Proparco, she appraised and structured financing facilities including lines of credit and equity investments in various Financial Institutions, Private Equity funds and Corporates in the sectors in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Florence also worked with Fina Bank(now GT Bank) where she was part of the team that implemented the SME Banking Solutions.

After graduating from Kenyata University, Florence undertook her MBA coursework studies at the University of Nairobi and Project Management Practitioner Certification Studies at the University College of London.

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Philip Thigo is a Technology, data & public policy expert. He is the Senior Director for Africa for the Thunderbird School for Global Management, a Technical Advisor at the Presidency on Data and Open Government and Senior Consultant for UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa. He was recognised by Apolitical as one of the World's 100 most influential people in digital government in 2018. He is currently a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Regional Action Group for Africa. He is an Advisory Board Member of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Nairobi Hub, MercyCorps Agrifin Initiative, SwahiliPotHub and the Chair of the Board of Mtoto News, an award-winning digital platform based in Kenya that uses technology to make children and their issues visible. He was recently appointed as regional ambassador for the Global Block Chain Business Council for Sub Saharan Africa. Philip was honored at the 50th Anniversary of the Academy of Achievement as Delegate.

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