Congratulations to Dr Tshilidzi Madzivhandila who was appointment as a member of the Interim Advisory Board (IAB) of Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) in his capacity as the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Mission of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN). His expertise and commitment will play a critical role in steering DE Africa’s strategic direction during this transitional phase as the program work towards long-term hosting arrangements on the continent.
The two years appointment commenced on 1 February 2025 and will be maintained until a full governance review is completed and the transition to a permanent hosting, governance structure and hand-over is complete.
As an IAB member, Dr Tshilidzi Madzivhandila and other fellow IAB members’ role is to provide leadership, strategic guidance, oversight, and accountability to ensure that DE Africa continues to fulfil its vision of delivering routine, reliable, and operational earth observation services for the continent. His contributions will support DE Africa’s mission of empowering African nations with data-driven insights for sustainable development, in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.
Selected from more than 500 nominations, other IAB members are:
- Ms Alison Rose (Co-chair): Chief of Space Division, Geoscience Australia
- Dr Oliver Chinganya: Chairperson, Zambia Statistics Agency Board of Directors
- Dr Mmboneni Muofhe: Deputy Director-General: Socio-Economic Innovation Partnerships (SEIP)), Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI)
- Dr Aggrey Agumya: Executive Director and Head of Mission, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)
- Dr Jane Mukarugwiza Olwoch: Founder, One Earth One World
- Prof Kamal Labbassi: President, African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE)
- Mr Matthew Pennells: Director for Global Community Engagement, Esri Inc
- Ms Njeri Maina: Co-Founder and Director of Business and Partnerships, DEN Limited
On the 06 and 07 March 2025 DE Africa held a successful in-person inaugural IAB meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. At the meeting IAB members were introduced and the DE Africa program (together with 2024 Annual Report, 2025 Annual Workplan, Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Framework and Impact Stories Videos) was presented to IAB members.