It was lights, camera, action at Durban’s artSPACE for the live taping of MTV Base Meets Bill Gates.
|||It was lights, camera, action at Durban’s artSPACE on Tuesday when the trendy city gallery was transformed into a film set for the live taping of MTV Base Meets Bill Gates.
The morning’s mood was one of excitement and nervousness as six up-and-coming young African entrepreneurs prepared for a discussion with Microsoft co-founder Gates, who is in Durban to attend the International Aids Conference.
A relaxed and cheerful-looking Gates greeted everyone warmly and quickly got down to business, chatting to the starstruck youths about their ventures.
He appeared impressed with Uganda’s Brian Gitta, 24. Inspired by his own experiences with malaria, he developed Matibabu, a smartphone-based diagnosis system.
The team behind the idea recently became the first African team to win the Microsoft Imagine Cup.
Much of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's work is focused on eradicating diseases in Africa.
“Diagnosis will be key,” he said.
Nigeria’s Martha Njeri Chumo also piqued Gates’s interest, with the DEV school – Kenya’s first coding school, which provides Kenyan youth with computer programming knowledge and skills to build sustainable solutions using technology.
Chumo founded the school when she was 19. Gates seemed impressed with its focus on empowering women and addressing gender imbalances.
Others on the panel were Chris Kwekowe, 23, from Nigeria; George Mtemahanji, 23, from Tanzania; and Siyabulela Xuza, 27, and Thato Kgatlhanye, 23, both from South Africa. Xuza founded Galactic Energy Ventures, an investment holding company that develops and invests in innovative solutions to address the energy needs of emerging markets.
Kgatlhanye is the chief executive of Repurpose Schoolbags. Her company upcycles plastic bags into school bags, with integrated solar power packs that allow them to work as study lamps.
A youth empowerment initiative, MTV Base Meets has hosted other celebrities.
It will air on MTV Base (SA) on August 5 at 5.30pm.
The Star