Quote of the Day by Anne Githuku-Shongwe

October 11, 2016 Melanie Hawken

“I learned through working with the UN that the greatest return on investment comes not from ‘fixing’ a problem but from shaping new mindsets amongst youth, .... I wanted to help forge mindsets that are not limited by current circumstances, but can re-imagine and re-create new possibilities.”

- Anne Githuku-Shongwe is the newly-appointed Representative for UN Women's South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), which is responsible for women's empowerment and gender equality in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia, as well as South Africa, where the office is based. Anne is an award-winning social entrepreneur and founder of youth-development digital innovation organization Afroes Transformational Games. She has a Masters’ degree in International Development from The American University; a postgraduate certificate in Social Innovation from the University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business, and a certificate in The Art of Large Scale Systems Change for Social Entrepreneurship from Harvard University. Anne also brings to her role 20 years of experience as a senior international development professional with the United Nations Development Programme, during which she pioneered innovative and successful approaches to combating HIV and AIDS, as well as Public Sector Capacity Development.

Quote of the Day

February 5, 2016 Melanie Hawken

“If you want to reach African kids and do it at scale, it can only be through mobile phones, .... With over three hundred million young Africans on mobile phones, imagine the possibilities if we could reach them and inspire them with really powerful messaging!”

- Anne Githuku-Shongwe is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Afroes Transformational Games - a company that builds mobile game-based learning platforms out of South Africa and Kenya. Anne's vision is to revolutionise learning in Africa with a focus on delivering positive Africa-focused mobile phone entertainment to the youth market across the continent.

Anne Githuku-Shongwe - The startup story of a social techpreneur aiming to revolutionise education in Africa

December 13, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Anne Githuku-Shongwe, founder & CEO of AFROES Transformational Games

Anne is literally a game-changer in every sense of the word, empowering young people in Africa to learn, engage, and challenge existing perceptions of the continent through mobile gaming.

Quote of the Day

October 24, 2014 Melanie Hawken

"The mobile market will continue to grow in Africa. We are already the second largest market after Asia. The use of mobiles games could help people to move from a place of apathy to a place of hope. My belief is that there is a huge potential that these games can and are already helping young people to learn critical skills and knowledge."

Anne Githuku-Shongwe named an African Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the World Economic Forum on Africa

October 13, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Source: World Economic Forum | October 5, 2013

Anne Githuku-Shongwe has been named among five social entrepreneurs as African Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2013 World Economic Forum on Africa, taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. The awards were conferred by Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in the presence of President Jacob G. Zuma, Donald Kaberuka, Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, David A. Lipton, and Naveen Jindal.

Entrepreneur Advice from Anne Githuku-Shongwe: Your content must be locally relevant

October 13, 2014 Melanie Hawken

What’s the secret to your company's success in tapping the youth market in Africa? ....

"You need to make a combination of on the one hand creating locally relevant content that delivers a message, but also make it fun and attractive. If you make a game that’s boring, you’re dead in the water. We also co-designed the games with the youth users themselves through community based Design Labs to ensure that the games are relevant for the local market."

- Anne Githuku-Shongwe is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Afroes Transformational Games - a company that builds mobile game-based learning platforms out of South Africa and Kenya. Anne's vision is to revolutionise learning in Africa with a focus on delivering positive Africa-focused mobile phone entertainment to the youth market across the continent.

Entrepreneur Advice from Anne Githuku-Shongwe: Surround yourself with people you can trust

June 5, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Find people you can trust and who will support you in the early stage of your venture…

“Opportunities for new business have come from my ‘circle of influence’….people whom I have met or been connected with somehow. Interestingly, most of these have been women.”

Video: Anne Githuku-Shongwe speaks on Women economic empowerment in Africa at WEF Africa 2014

May 9, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Source: CNBC Africa | Published on May 9, 2014

Women empowerment in Africa has still got a long way to go and the economic emancipation of women is a continuous effort. CNBC Africa speaks about gender empowerment to Essential Medicines analyst, Olajumoke Adekeye, fellow leading woman and CEO of Afroes Holdings, Anne Githuku-Shongwe and Ndidi Nwuneli, founder of Leap Africa.

In the Spotlight: Anne Githuku-Shongwe named one of two female warriors of social innovation

February 19, 2013 Melanie Hawken

Source: Global Envision | February 19, 2013

Anne Githuku-Shongwe was one of two leading ladies who were recognized last week for using supreme social innovation to connect youth with technology.

Video: Mobile games that change culture: Anne Githuku-Shongwe at TEDxSoweto 2012

November 20, 2012 Melanie Hawken

Source: TEDx Soweto 2012 | Published on November 20, 2012

Anne Githuku-Shongwe uses the power of digital games to unlock the potential of young Africans throughout the continent. A mother of three children, she argues passionately and eloquently that it is through play and simulation that we can shift their most limiting belief systems and mental models.

Video: Anne Githuku-Shongwe interviewed by the African Leadership Academy

October 25, 2012 Melanie Hawken

Source: African Leadership Academy | Published on October 25, 2012

Anne Githuku-Shongwe discusses the topic on 'Leadership' with the African Leadership Academy.

Making African mobile games educational, but also cool and fun

October 16, 2012 Melanie Hawken

Source: IICD | October 16, 2012

African games for change guru Anne Githuku-Shongwe attended the cross media event PICNIC in Amsterdam at IICD’s invitation. Five questions for the founder of social African game enterprise Afroes....