#55FORWARD: Meet the Ambassadors creating a connected Africa

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For 2014, Social Media Week Lagos introduced the #55FORWARD campaign as a way to bring all of the continent into its February activities. The campaign, focused on highlighting the work of innovators from each of the 55 African nations, was an opportunity to really show this year’s theme “A connected Africa is the future” at work.
To do this, we put out a call for ambassadors, who would represent their country at SMWL. The response was great and we received applications from people living in 15 different countries on the continent and a few from those living in the diaspora.
In the end we selected 17 ambassadors from nine different countries plus one from the diaspora to present their work both online via Google Hangouts and live and direct at Social Media Week in Lagos.

#55FORWARD ambassadors Frédéric Tapé, Sharon Obuobi and Philip Ogola (from left to right), speak with Al-Jazeera reporter Femi Oke (far right) during the #55FORWARD salon session at Social Media Week Lagos, February 2014.
Below are the inaugural ambassadors for #55FORWARD. We think they are pretty phenomenal.
We will be introducing you to their projects and offering a few masterclasses with them later in the year. But you can get to know them now by clicking on their names to say hello!
Côte d’Ivoire
Frédéric Tapé (AMN Co-Working Space)
Bacely YoroBi (SocialSpot)
Democratic Republic of Congo
Ndiaga Seck (UNICEF DRC)
Ghana
Sharon Obuobi (African & Afro-Diasporan Art Talks)
Ato Ulzen-Appiah (Ghana Think Foundation)
Kenya
Philip Ogola (TimeOut Media Ltd)
Benard Adongo (Kijicho Interactive Limited)
Madagascar
Andriankoto Ratozamanana (Habaka Madagascar Innovation HUB)
Senegal
Fatou Binetou Dia (UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office)
Karima Grant (ImagiNation Afrika)
South Africa
Rushay Booysen (Fingo Festival)
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Tanzania
Paul Bomani (AIM Group)
Hafiz Juma (AIM Group)
Zambia
Mazuba Kapambwe (The Fest Gurus)
Mukuka Mayuka (circa1964)
Diaspora
Tayo Akinyemi (Afri-labs)
Watch this space to learn more about our ambassadors as we start preparing for Social Media Week Lagos 2015!
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