Yinka Adegoke oversees all business coverage for the world’s leading music magazine brand. Most recently serving as Reuters senior media correspondent Yinka has broken major stories and written in-depth financial analysis on the television, music, and new media industries. As former editor of New Media Age (London) Yinka covered the early days of the digital media revolution and has been a regular writer on media and music business for national newspapers including The Guardian and The Financial Times.

In 2011, Seyi Akinwunmi became the Chairman of Lagos State Football Association (LSFA), formalising an exciting and bold vision on how to take football forward in Lagos. With the help of his board, he rebranded the LSFA and created the “Eko Football” brand with a vision to transform football in Lagos state (and by extension, Nigeria) by covering all areas of the game including education, human capital development, infrastructure, youth development, professional football and the business of football.

Ayo Alli is a sports, digital & social entrepreneur. He’s been involved in several media start-ups at a senior level – Trace Magazine, SCORE4africa, and purplepin.com. He has worked extensively across the media business from magazines and TV/film production to the music, arts, and sports industry. Alli is also an agent licensed by the English FA and works with several players in the Premier League. Most recently, he worked in business development for Goal.com and mobile social network Eskimi. Alli is currently working on a start-up in the digital space that will launch in 2013 – stay tuned!

Bolanle Austen-Peters is the Founder of Terra Kulture, an educational and recreational organisation set up in 2003 to promote the richness and diversity of Nigerian Languages, Arts and Culture. As a lawyer, Bolanle has worked with the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, New York, Ethiopia and Namibia. She returned to Nigeria in 2001 as a Consultant to UNDP, Lagos, Nigeria.

Briant Biggs is the head of global mobile strategies at Roc Nation, where he serves as the brain trust behind all mobile applications. Roc Nation is a premier full service entertainment company and record label focused on artist, songwriter, producer and engineer management, music publishing, touring, merchandising and film and television production. In 2004 Briant successfully launched Swagger Wireless to provide marketing, promotions and production services for urban mobile content programs. He is an industry thought leader, regularly appearing on panels across the globe to offer his insights into the future direction of mobile applications across various industries.

Wiebe Boer is Chief Executive Officer of The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF). TEF is charged with the mission of driving Africa’s economic development by enhancing the competitiveness of the African private sector. Born and raised in Jos, Nigeria, his vision is for The Tony Elumelu Foundation to be the benchmark for 21st century African philanthropy. In his capacity as CEO of the Foundation, Dr. Boer is also a director of Mtanga Farms, Tanzania; a member of the advisory board of Digital Divide Data (DDD) Kenya, and serves on the board of the African Grantmakers Network. He also serves on the Nigerian Minister of Agriculture’s Steering Committee for National Youth Employment in Agriculture.

Tonye Cole is Executive Director of the Sahara Group and is responsible for new ventures and business development as well as enforcing corporate ethics and compliance. The Sahara Group functions as a management entity for companies within Nigeria’s vast energy sector. Tonye also manages and spearheads the Group’s upstream exploration and production activities in West Africa. An accomplished architect, he has a passion to see youths making a positive impact.

Matthew Dawes has a passion for understanding the impact of technology, complex stakeholder-developer relationships and delivering international, industry leading conferences.  Dawes is a world traveler – he has worked as an analyst and consultant in the defense industry, maximized the potential of mobile telecommunications for Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, and in 2009 started All Amber, a UK-based conference company. Since its inception, All Amber strives to enable the growth of the mobile industry in Africa by supporting young and ambitious entrepreneurs, concentrating on innovation and facilitating business relationships within countries, across the continent, and with international stakeholders.

Juliet Ehimuan is the Country Manager for Google Nigeria. Her career started at Shell as Performance Monitoring and QA Supervisor. Following that, she worked as Program Manager at Microsoft UK for six years, initially managing Strategic Projects for MSN EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). She received the Microsoft ‘Ship-IT’ award for successfully launching the MSN online subscription business in Europe. She later became Business Process Manager for the MSN International. She left Microsoft in 2005 to start SI Consulting Ltd UK, providing collaborative programs that connect African Business leaders with their global counterparts.

Dayo Elegbe is a new media veteran with over 11 years of experience delivering digital marketing strategies and solutions for some of the world’s leading brands (Heineken, British Airways, Ericsson Enterprise, News International, Coca Cola, Nigerian Breweries). He has led  a number of ground-breaking teams that have shaped digital marketing thinking both in Nigeria and abroad. Dayo was one of the founding members of the digital marketing group Agency.com, at one time the largest interactive marketing agency in the world, and ran one of the very first mobile marketing campaigns in the UK. Dayo’s company developed and delivered the marketing platform that was the basis for the highly successful ‘Etisalat 9jillions’ campaign. He is chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association Nigeria, and CEO of Webliquid Africa.

Colin Gayle purchased the Africa rights to the Billboard Music platform in 2012. Launching in 15 countries, the company will monitor both music and advertisement and will develop consumer insights for the continent. Born in London and raised between Kingston, Jamaica and the suburbs of New Jersey, Gayle enjoyed the rewards of seeing the world and experiencing different cultures at an early age, thus fueling his passion for developing new business’ at home and abroad. That passion, along with dedication and hard work, afforded him the opportunity to excel in different mediums including, artist management, international marketing and branding, music publishing and television production. He has worked with artists from Michael Jackson to 50 cent, and has organized events with FIFA World Cup and programming for the Grammy’s.

Marcus Glover is deeply committed to transforming societies on a global scale through next generation thinking, innovative products, breakthrough campaigns and philanthropic efforts. Over the span of his career Glover has developed some of the most game-changing campaigns in advertising for major brands such as Coca-Cola, Blackberry and Reebok. Glover teamed up with music industry veteran, Derek Jackson, to create the GLU Agency, where Glover serves as President and Chief Creative Officer overseeing day-to-day growth of their international campaigns. GLU Agency’s objective is to create responsible marketing and advertising campaigns in order to empower communities all over the globe.

Abasiama Idaresit is an online media expert and founder of Wild Fusion – one of Nigeria’s foremost digital marketing agencies. With operations in Ghana and Nigeria, Wild Fusion is Google’s first Adwords Certified Partner in West Africa and winner of Sowambe Awards for Best Nigerian Digital Agency 2011. Having worked with some of Nigeria’s top FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), telecom, and banking brands, Abasiama is recognized as leader in digital marketing in Nigeria. A Certified Google Analytics/Adwords professional and a pioneer member of Mobile Marketing Association West Africa, Idaresit has been instrumental in driving marketing technology adoption and penetration in the region.

Dr. Akudo Anyanwu Ikemba founded Friends of the Global Fund Africa (Friends Africa) in 2006 as an African voice in support of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Through her leadership, Friends Africa has been able to mobilize over 560 million US$ to countries across Africa for the purpose of integrating family planning and HIV services. Anyanwu Ikemba serves on the board of Roll Back Malaria and the Nigerian arm of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). She is a member of the Nigerian Leadership Initiative and is a World Economic Forum 2012 Young Global Leader. Akudo holds a Doctorate degree in medicine from Tufts University, a Masters degree in International Public Health from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology from Lehigh University.

Kola Karim is the Group Managing Director/CEO Shoreline Energy International Ltd, a leading energy and infrastructure company focused on Africa. In 2012, Shoreline ventured into upstream oil & gas exploration, food, cosmetics, retail, entertainment and technology. Karim is a Young Global Leader 2008 Award Honoree, a pioneer and active member of the Global Agenda Council on Emerging Multinationals of the World Economic Forum. He plans to establish a firm corporate portfolio of pioneering business operations that will positively contribute to the development and commercial improvement of sub-Saharan Africa.

As a successful TV host, entertainment personality, radio presenter and producer, Uganda’s Leslie “Lee” Kasumba is no stranger to the spotlight. A staple on the Afro-pop music scene, Leslie has been influential in bringing contemporary African music -whether from Cape Town or Kenya- to the forefront. Before her appointment as head of Channel O Africa in 2011, Lee was a regular contributor to BBC World Have Your Say and BBC World Service shows which have a listenership of over 1 million and are syndicated to parts of Europe, America, Africa and the Carribean.

Emma Kaye is known for her dynamic work in the African animation, entertainment, and new mobile media industries. Currently, Kaye is the founder and CEO of a mobile application called Bozza. Bozza enables communities to tell their stories from the inside out. Focused on contextually relevant made-for-mobile content, Bozza is rooted in townships across Africa, allowing friends and communities to see and share life through local music, videos, photos, a market place and more. Among other honors, Kaye was selected as one of the top five most influential Women in Africa within the field of Science and Technology for 2011.

Claudine Moore is a talented award-winning international Public Relations Executive and founder of C Moore Media, a boutique International Public Relations firm. Born and raised in the UK, and based in the US for over a decade, Claudine leverages her vast international PR experience, and diverse global network to aid, brands, companies, government organizations, fellow entrepreneurs, start-ups and non-profit organizations. Claudine has worked with some of the world’s best know brands and organizations such as Hewlett Packard, L’Oreal, HSBC, Nike and Coca-Cola. In addition she has held senior US regional leadership positions at some of the world’s most prestigious Public Relations and Advertising/Marketing agencies such as McCann Erickson (MRM), Grey (G2) and Hill & Knowlton Strategies. In 2010 Claudine was placed on UK Powerlist: Britain’s Top 100 Most Influential Black People, and in 2011 she was honored on The Network Journal’s ’40 Under Forty’ US High Achievers. Claudine is passionate about leveraging PR, branding and marketing communications to aid the development of Africa.

Stephen A. Newtonhas over 12 years experience in the online/digital space, and has served as the CEO of E-commerce Platforms South Africa with MIH Internet, a division of Naspers; MD & VP for inMobi Africa, Head of Google South Africa, Head of Google Analytics EMEA, VP for the Advertising Exchange EMEA for DoubleClick, and was a founding member, and General Manager of Hitwise in EMEA. Stephen has working experience in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Asia. Stephen holds a Doctorate in Law from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French from University of Washington, Seattle.

Chika Nwobi is founder/managing partner of L5Lab which focuses on incubating high potential mobile and internet companies in Africa. L5Lab portfolio companies include Jobberman.com – West Africa’s most popular job’s portal and Cheki West Africa – operators of market leading cars websites in Nigeria and Ghana. Chika is also a co-founder of Kamdora a fast fashion ecommerce business in Nigeria. Before L5Lab, Chika co-founded and ran MTech, one of the leading mobile content companies in Africa with operations in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ivory Coast. Chika has also consulted for Ford Foundation and IFC (World Bank) in use of mobile technology to solve micropayments challenges in Nigeria.

Ojoma Ochai is Assistant Country Director, British Council Nigeria. In this role, she heads up the Arts and Creative Economy Programme for the council in Nigeria to build skill, networks and other capacity that promotes the growth and collaboration potential of the sector. She works with government, civil society, support organisations and the creative sector itself in this role. Ojoma is also a member of the British Council’s Regional Leadership Team in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). As a member of the UNESCO Pool of Experts on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, Ojoma is involved in UNESCO’s efforts to support African Governments with technical assistance to help them develop Cultural and Creative Economies on the continent. She was nominated Young Person of the Year in Nigeria by The Future awards in 2010.

Dayo Ogunyemi is the CEO of 234 Media whose activities include  aggregating, developing, financing, marketing and distributing film and other content to mass-markets in Africa and the rest of the world. His experience in media includes roles as a DJ, radio station GM, music journalist, music producer, entertainment and IP lawyer, strategy consultant, and financier. Dayo’s involvement in the confluence of media, technology and society goes back 2 decades to 1991, when he founded Naijanet, the first Nigerian Internet community. Working with the UN ECA, Dayo has helped drive technology policy in Africa, developing and drafting e-commerce and e-payments policy and legislation for ECOWAS and the East African Community.

Mayo Okunola is the General Manager for DStv and DStv Mobile Nigeria. Since 2010, under his leadership DStv has launched DStv Mobile. Drifta, Drifta USB, Walka 3.5, Walka 7.0 and the iDrifta. As the former GM for GOtv, Mayo introduced the brand in Nigeria and launched the service in Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Lagos. With over sixteen years of global experience in the Telecommunications, Entertainment and Media industries Mayo has worked with Orange Business Solutions, Turner Broadcasting System, AT&T, the GSM Association (GSMA) and MultiChoice. A seasoned Executive Manager with strong global experience, Mayo is a leader in terrestrial broadcasting services and advertising in Africa for the entertainment and telecom industry.

Taj Onigbanjo is a consummate sales & marketing professional with a focus on digital services – IT, telecoms, and media. With 15 years of telecom experience, he is an entrepreneurial spirit who focuses on delivering digital services throughout Africa and the Middle East. As CEO for African Digital Media, he delivers premium content to the corporate and entertainment sectors with special interest in social media trends, digital media, mobile money  and “E”- enabled living.

Nnenna Onyewuchi has over a decade of experience in marketing communication. She started her career at McCann Erickson, New York, rising to the position of Vice President, Strategic Planning. While at McCann, she helped conceive Tag Ideation, a lifestyle marketing practice group, developing a set of proprietary research tools and co-designing a proprietary branding model. Since returning to Nigeria in 2004, Nnenna has worked in advertising, event planning and content development for international brands like Standard Chartered, MTV, Coca-Cola, BAT, Celtel, Motorola and Microsoft, as well as local brands such as Paga, FCMB, V Mobile, Virgin Nigeria, Cross River State Tourism, Oando and First Bank. In 2011, Nnenna and her partners took over ZK Advertising, rebranding it to Yellow Brick Road. She is also a founding partner in Blackbox, a strategic marketing consultancy.

Uche Pedro is the Managing Director and founder of BellaNaija.com. Founded in 2006, under Uche’s leadership, the website has emerged as a premier lifestyle, entertainment and fashion website in Africa, both in readership and relevance, garnering a loyal following of over five million hits per month aimed at Pan-African and Nigerian audiences.Uche is incredibly passionate development in Africa, and is involved in several non-profit initiatives related to education and entrepreneurship.

Mark Redguard is one of the driving forces behind the digital music distribution platform Spinlet. A product of varied cultures, this Jamaica-born, Rutger’s University-trained (MBA/JD) music and multi-media aficionado has carved a niche for himself in the Nigerian music industry in less than five years. Working as Chief Marketing Officer for Spinlet, Mark helped position Spinlet as Africa’s foremost digital music company. Before moving to Nigeria, Mark collaborated on projects for Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith among others. He worked on projects and represented clients with Universal Records, EMI, Sony and Warner, and clients who have won BET, BMI, SESAC, ASCAP and Grammy Awards. Mark is now focused on his one passion: working through Spinlet to help develop African talents while enthroning a distribution structure that ensures Artist can generate revenue within the digital space and expose their works to a global market.

Olaolu L. Sasore is an ICTs 4 development professional, with a focus on the use of technology in education. He has been active in the development and design of various ICTs in education projects and organizations in Africa since 1998. He has been the Country coordinator of International Education And Resource Network (IEARN) an organization which pioneered collaboration among young people using email technology since 1988.

Marc-André Schmachtel studied cultural sciences in Germany and Canada. He has worked for several cultural institutions in France and Germany, and has had different positions in the film sector. He started working for Goethe-Institut in Cameroon and did research trips to several African countries. Since November 2010 he is the Director of Goethe-Institut Nigeria. Some of his focus is the development of urban cultural space and the interaction between arts and new media.

Bevy Smith is TV’s go-to, gal-about-town for on-air commentary that’s smart, engaging and always maintains an authoritative point of view. Her insider knowledge of pop culture, entertainment and fashion has made her a sought-after speaker and a valuable talent choice for outlets such as VH1, E! Entertainment, Bravo, HLN, CBS Morning Show, Access Hollywood Oxygen, BET, Food Network and TV ONE. She has also appeared on many magazine mastheads, such as Paper, Essence, Vibe, Rolling Stone, Interview, Uptown, Latina and Glamour. She’s the founder of “Dinner With Bevy, ” a business that introduces influential guests over gatherings that have become the hottest – and hardest-to-get – invite on the social scene.

Mamadou Kwidjim Toure is the Founder of Africa 2.0. He currently works at IFC (International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group) in Johannesburg, in charge of private sector investments in the Telecommunications, Media and Technologies sector covering Sub-Saharan Africa. Over the last 12 years, he has worked on advisory assignments and various investment transactions in more than 20 African countries. More recently, he contributed to various publications on telecommunications, media, and mobile banking topics. He also was speaker at various conferences and Symposia in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Chris Ubosi has several years of experience as a media and broadcasting professional. In addition to running Beat FM, Classic FM, Naija FM stations in Lagos, he’s also passionate about setting up and managing new ventures in media and telecommunications.  He has served as a member of several committees for the Federal Government and has helped shape the policies surrounding mass communications, electronic media and ICT in Nigeria. Ubosi is a social media enthusiast in an observing capacity. He sees the potential that social media has to influence change in society and is excited by the voice social media has given the next generation.

Anderson Uvie-Emegbo has successfully led digital transformation programs for leading corporate organisations including FirstBank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa and the Ekiti State Government, Nigeria. Dr. Uvie-Emegbo serves as Adjunct Faculty, Digital Media at both the Strathmore Business School, Kenya and the School of Media & Communication, Pan African University. An innovator in African focused Digital Marketing, Leadership Marketing and Sales, his consulting firm Dymore Vision has helped managers and CEOs of leading firms across Africa create, extract and sustain superior performance and growth. Anderson is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School.