Emmanuel Afutu

Nana Osei Afrifa

With over 12 years of both local and international corporate experience, Nana Osei Afrifa brings to
the STARTUP WEEKEND a wealth of experience from the worlds of IT and Business development. Not
a stranger to startups, he successfully set up an IT Consulting firm, Vokacom in 2002 after investing
proceeds from his first consulting job in 1999 while a student at the KNUST. Having to move back to
Accra after school in Kumasi, he sold off the Vokacom franchise after numerous and persistent offers in
Kumasi.

He then began his first job with MTN Ghana (Then Areeba) as a Developer with the IT department
in 2005. Here his skills were brought to the fore during the massive rebranding from Areeba to MTN
that took the whole country by storm. His immense contribution to the development of new product
and service architecture within tight schedules and the company’s website development earned him
recognition among his peers when he was awarded with a Yello Star by MTN Ghana.

Higher education came calling and when an opportunity arose to attend the prestigious University of
Kent in Canterbury for a Certificate in Distributed Systems and Networks in 2007, Nana found himself
heeding to this call. He completed in 2008 and was immediately roped into Supatrak in Swindon, UK and
was appointed Head of Development (IT) where he worked for 3 years.

Not wanting to be a continual contributor to the brain drain syndrome, Nana came back to Ghana in
2010 and found himself swamped with consulting offers from various industries. His sense of adventure
saw him take up the role of I.T Manager at GIHOC Distilleries, Director of Corporate Affairs at the
Excellence Awards Foundation and IT Consultant with the Sterling Hotels Group owners of the plush
Fiesta Royale Hotel in Ghana between 2010 and 2011.

He finally went back to his first employers MTN Ghana in 2011 and has assumed the roles of Innovations
Manager, Contents and Portals Manager and is now the VAS(Value Added Services) Manager with
projects under his belt.

Aside the work world, Nana has shown his passion for sharing knowledge by taking up lecturing roles in
Ashesi University (2006) and the University of Applied management (2010) where he has taught Web
Design, Software Development (C++) and Introduction to Computers to various students ranging from
2nd Year to MBA students.

Nana’s role as coach at this STARTUP WEEKEND is therefore apt given his wealth of experience. This,
along with his mentoring and motivation skills will be at the disposal of potential mentees to ensure
they have a meaningful insight into entrepreneurship and how to survive in the Ghanaian business
world.

Nana is married to Florence Afrifa with whom he has a son, Papa Kojo Ahenkorah Afrifa. He likes to play
chess and watch football and TV in his spare time.

Derrydean Dadzie

Derry, co-founded Dream Oval in 2007. He’s been described as part of Africa’s emerging class of young entrepreneurs who present a challenge to Western ideas of development. He guides the Dream Oval team to deliver cutting edge mobile and internet solutions to meet the needs of businesses and the socially excluded. With vast experience in the mobile and internet software services industry, he’s been cited in diverse articles and presentations on mobile technology and entrepreneurship in Africa. He also takes time to speak at various conferences relating to mobile technology.

Regina Agyare

Regina is a young female software developer and social entrepreneur with a passion for using technology to cause a social change. She started a social business called Soronko Solutions that leverages on innovative technology solutions across different channels such as Web, Mobile, POS and ATM to solve problems. She is currently helping Small and medium Scale Enterprises in Ghana create visibility and grow their business with technology. She is also working on a technology solution that will revolutionize the way education is taught and received in Ghana and Sub Saharan Africa.

Regina has been in the technology industry for 8 years and has worked in varying positions as Product Manager for Internet Applications at Rancard Solutions, Product Manager for Ebusiness Applications at Zenith Bank and Management and Information Systems Supervisor at Fidelity Bank. Regina is passionate about getting more women to study and have careers in Science, Technology, Maths And Engineering. She also believes in young people who have brilliant ideas, passion and drive starting their own business. She loves to mentor and has been invited to speak and mentor at barcamps, technology fairs, Ashesi Events and is an online mentor with the Women's Tech Connect Global mentoring program.

Eric Crowther

Eric currently acts as Lumana’s Director of Operations in Ghana. He monitors the effectiveness of Lumana’s programs, interacts with the community, and oversees Lumana’s growth. Eric began work with Lumana as the International Fellows Coordinator in the summer of 2011. Besides managing the fellows, he headed our impact evaluation, developed new loan products, and helped Lumana extend credit to additional clients. Before coming to Lumana, he worked with microcredit and gardening programs in Mozambique, studied microcredit in The Philippines, and lived in Mexico. Eric has an MA in international development from the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.

Ato Ulzen-Appiah