Silicon Xchange 2025
A highly curated, AI convening connecting Africa’s top builders and diaspora talent with the capital, global tech leaders, and policy makers needed for scale.
7:00 AM – 9:30 AM
CEO Breakfast (Invite Only)
Deploying AI at Scale in African Enterprises
Featuring:
Oji Udezue — Investor & Product Leader
Emmanuel Lubanzadio — Africa Lead, OpenAI
Cecilia Makundi — Business Transformation Lead, Zelwen Partners
Catherine Muraga — MD, Microsoft ADC & Engineering Director, Microsoft
Eston Kimani — CEO, ChatSasa
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Registration & Networking Breakfast
9:30 AM – 9:40 AM
Welcome Address - Silicon Xchange Team
Intro to founders + product narrative (Tonee Ndungu)
9:40 AM – 9:50 AM
DemoX — Live AI Product Showcase
Africa’s sharpest deployable AI products.
Rama Afullo — CEO, Satlyt
Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda — CEO, Vital Audio
9:55 AM – 10:15 AM
Keynote Address
The Intelligence Infrastructure: Building a Global AI Economy
Emmanuel Lubanzadio — Africa Lead, OpenAI
10:15 AM – 10:30 AM
Opening Remarks & Chief Guest Address
Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak — Principal Secretary, State Department for Science, Research & Innovation
10:40 AM – 11:20 AM
Founder–Founder Roundtables (Early Stage)
For founders moving from idea → traction.
Led by:
Rama Afullo — Satlyt
Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda — Vital Audio
Daniel Mukisa — Ridelink
Ola Fadiran — ChipMango
11:20 AM – 11:30 AM
Coffee Break
11:35 AM – 12:15 PM
Panel 1 — Why AI Is Existential for Africa
Moderator: Dr. Shikoh Gitau — CEO, Qhala
Panelists:
Emmanuel Lubanzadio — OpenAI
Oji Udezue — Product Leader & Investor
Lorna Omondi — Google Research (ML/AI) Africa
Cecilia Makundi — Zelwen Partners
12:15 PM – 12:25 PM
DemoX — Live Product Showcase
Daniel Mukisa — CEO, Ridelink
Ifeanyi Arinze — CEO, Leaptra
12:35 PM – 12:40 PM
MC Ashley on Stage — Policy Panel Intro
12:40 PM – 1:25 PM
Founder–Founder Roundtables (Growth Stage)
For founders scaling teams + cross-market traction.
Led by:
Pulkit Srivastava — Investor & 3× Founder (Moderator)
Tesh Mbaabu — CEO, Cloud9
Sonia Kabra — Co-CEO, BuuPass
Rose Goslinga — Co-Founder & President, Pula
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Lunch
2:30 PM – 3:20 PM
Policy Panel — Building Africa’s Innovation Infrastructure
Moderator: Rachel Osendo — Head of Policy, Qhala
Speakers:
Enos Weswa - Country Director, UK-Kenya Tech Hub
Dr. Tonny Omwansa — CEO, KENIA
Amb. Philip Thigo — Special Envoy on Technology (TBC)
Daniel Mainda — CEO, Nairobi International Financial Center
3:25 PM – 3:35 PM
DemoX — AI in Africa 2025 Recap + Showcase
Led by Qhala
3:35 PM – 3:50 PM
DemoX — Live Product Showcase
Ola Fadiran — CEO, ChipMango
Hilda Mwangi — CEO, Algoricum
Tom Kinyanjui — CEO, Neural Labs
4:00 PM – 4:50 PM
Investor Panel — Where Investors See Real Opportunity in Africa’s Next Cycle
Moderator: Abigail Okumu — NaiBAN
Panelists:
Vladimir Dugin — Managing Partner & CEO, E3 Capital
Martin Karanja — Director, GSMA Innovation Fund
Laurie Fuller — Partner, Raiven Capital
Mike Mompi — Managing Partner, Enza Capital
4:50 PM – 4:55 PM
DemoX — Live Product Showcase
5:00 PM – 5:45 PM
Diaspora Capital Panel — The Next 12 Months
How diaspora talent & capital will reshape Africa’s innovation trajectory.
Moderator: Ashley Njoroge — Founder & CEO, Silicon Xchange
Panelists:
Jermaine Craig — Founder, Kwanda
Roseline Njogu — Principal Secretary, Diaspora Affairs
Victoria Olayide Adesanya — Founder & GP, VOA Venture Partners
5:50 PM – 6:10 PM
Closing Remarks + Photo Ops
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Rooftop Networking After-Party
Side Events — December 8 (Antler Office)
Workshop I — AI Product Leadership & Velocity
Oji Udezue — Product Mind (Ex-CPO Typeform; ex-Calendly; ex-Twitter)
How to build differently in the age of AI + product architecture to ship faster.
Workshop II — Research to Commercialization
Gabriel Leavell — Synapse Global Ventures
Enos Masinde Weswa — Country Director, UK–Kenya Tech Hub
Operationalizing the Blueprint™ Accelerator: moving academic IP into fundable commercial pilots.
Time: TBD