GeoAI for a Climate-Resilient Africa

Dr. Girmaw Abebe Tadesse leads the co-development of AI solutions with governments, UN agencies, academia and non-profits — spanning climate resilience, food security, and public health. He currently co-leads a large-scale AI-driven agriculture initiative built with Kenyan stakeholders. Recently appointed to the UN Secretary-General's Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, he is an active leader in several pan-African AI communities. His research has appeared in leading AI journals and conferences, contributed to 24 international patent filings, and been featured by outlets including the BBC. Prior to Microsoft, he was a Staff Research Scientist at IBM Research Africa and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford. He holds a double doctorate from Queen Mary University of London via the Erasmus Mundus Joint Double Doctorate Programme.

Jonathan Shock is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town, where he directs the UCT AI Initiative. His research spans theoretical physics, reinforcement learning, and computational neuroscience, with a focus on understanding intelligence as a dynamical and physical process. He is particularly interested in reinforcement learning, multi-agent systems, and theory-driven AI for science, exploring how mathematical structure — from statistical mechanics to dynamical systems — can inform the design and analysis of learning systems. He completed his PhD at the University of Southampton in 2005 on applications of string theory to quantum chromodynamics, followed by postdoctoral appointments in Beijing, Santiago de Compostela, and Munich before joining UCT in 2013.

One of Africa's leading voices in AI, inclusive innovation, and digital transformation. Through EqualyzAI he is pioneering voice-first, agentic intelligence in local languages, dialects, and accents — with or without internet. With 24+ years of executive and technical experience across MTN, MTN Group, and Airtel Africa, he has impacted over 300 million people across 30+ African markets. He co-facilitated Nigeria's National AI Strategy and has contributed to global efforts on AI safety, governance, and responsible innovation with GSMA, Meta, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, the Tony Blair Institute, and the UK AI Safety Institute. He served as senior adviser to the International Scientific Report 2025 on Advanced AI Safety led by Yoshua Bengio. Five solutions he led were selected among the UNESCO/IRCAI Top 100 AI Projects for Social Good, and he received the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Grand Challenge Award. PhD, University of London. He has trained 500,000+ young Africans through Data Science Nigeria and authored Africa's first AI book for children.

Mouhamadou Lamine Kebe is the co-founder and CEO of Tolbi, an agritech startup leveraging satellite imagery, AI, drones, and IoT to deliver climate-smart advisory services for smallholder farmers in West Africa. His work demonstrates how GeoAI technologies can be translated into operational decision-support systems that directly benefit agricultural communities. His experience deploying AI-enabled agricultural tools in real-world African contexts offers valuable insights into the practical challenges and opportunities of scaling GeoAI for climate resilience.

Pauline Okeyo is a geospatial professional with over 15 years of experience, currently serving as a Senior Solution Engineer at Esri for the Central Asia, Middle East, and Africa region, supporting organizations in applying GIS to address business challenges and advance sustainable development goals. She works with education, non-profit, and government institutions at national and regional levels. Previously she managed the training and services portfolio across five countries as Professional Services Manager at Esri Eastern Africa, and earlier worked in biodiversity management for the Kenya government. She holds an MSc in Geospatial Information Science, a BSc in Geography, and certifications as a Project Management Practitioner, CompTIA CTT+ Trainer, and Enterprise Geodata Management Associate. She is passionate about mentoring early-career professionals.