Achiever finalists announced

Johannesburg, 06 Nov 2007

The African ICT Achievers programme, instituted by ICT research and consulting house ForgeAhead, has named the finalists for its 2007 awards.

The top 43 entrants were selected from over 300 nominees across 20 African countries.

This year`s finalists in the ICT Achievers Awards will hear the judges` final decision at the annual awards gala event, on 17 November, at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg.

This year, there was a tie in points in the Top ICT Business Woman in Africa category, so there are four finalists competing for the award. More than half of this year`s finalists represent countries outside of SA.

The finalists

* Top ICT Company in Africa
Omniacom, in Tunisia; Accenture, in SA; and Dimension Data, in SA.

* Top ICT SMME in Africa
True African, in Uganda; Jolis Intercom, in Uganda; and Three Mice Interactive Media, in Kenya.

* Most Transformed Company in Africa
Accenture, in SA; Verizon, in SA; and Bytes Technology Group, in SA.

* Top ICT Workplace Provider in Africa
IBM, in SA; Accenture, in SA; and Integr8 IT, in SA.

* Most Innovative ICT Company in Africa
Integr8 IT, in SA; SMS Media and Electrogaz, in Rwanda; and Yeigo Communications, in SA.

* Top Civil Society/NGO to bridge the digital divide in Africa
Uganda Media and Research Foundation; Kenya ICT Action Network; and Computers for Schools Kenya.

* Top Public CIO in Africa
Mwende Gatabaki from the Kenya Tea Development Agency; Tshavu Mukhodobwane from the Department of Public Service & Administration, in SA; and Vishne Dutt Purbhoo from the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Senior Citizens, Welfare and RI, in Mauritius.

* Top Private CIO in Africa
Andrew Ssemaganda from icon-consult.com, in Uganda; Rob Sussman from Integr8 IT, in SA; and Ian Child from the JD Group, in SA.

* Top ICT Business Woman in Africa
Jyoti Mukherjee from Software Technologies, in Kenya; Sarmashni Naidu from Sage ComputerTechnologies, in SA; Angela Gahagan from Verizon, in SA; and Lenhle Daka from IBM, in SA.

* Top ICT Business Man in Africa
Brian Longwe Munyao from InHand, in Kenya; Allan Cawood from Dimension Data, in SA; and Rob Sussman from Integr8 IT, in SA.

* Top ICT Educator in Africa
Kelvins Eghosa Aghayedo from the FutureNigeria Project, professor Johannes Cronje from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and professor Venansius Baryamureeba Makerere from the University of Uganda.

* Top ICT Youth Innovator in Africa
Kelvins Eghosa Aghayedo from EntriFlex Solutions, in Nigeria; Rafiq Philips from idrive.co.za, in SA; and David Duarte from Cerebra, in SA.

* Top ICT Young Entrepreneur in Africa
Kelvins Eghosa Aghayedo from EntriFlex Solutions Int`l, in Nigeria; Brian Longwe from African Internet Service Providers Association, in Kenya; and Jaco Gerrits from Dynamus Technologies, in SA.

* Excellence in Journalism in Africa
Ansbert Ngurumo from the Highway Africa News Agency, in Tanzania; Gervais Henrie from Seychelles Digital; and Rebecca Wanjiku from Highway Africa News Agency, in Kenya.