The people behind the platform.

Hirut Woldemariam Teketel is a Professor of Linguistics at Addis Ababa University and most recently served as Under-Secretary-General of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC). She holds a PhD from the Institute of African Studies at the University of Cologne, Germany, and is an internationally recognized scholar, policy leader, and institutional reformer with over three decades of experience in academia, government, and international cooperation.

She previously served as Vice President of Addis Ababa University and as a Cabinet Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, leading the ministries of Culture and Tourism, Labor and Social Affairs, and Science and Higher Education. Throughout her career, she has championed higher education reform, indigenous knowledge systems, research, multilingualism, and inclusive development.

Professor Hirut has published extensively and delivered keynote lectures worldwide on linguistics, language policy, education, leadership, and women's empowerment. In recognition of her distinguished contributions to scholarship and public service, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities by the University of Oslo in 2021.

Sajith Kaimal is Founder and Chief Executive of multiple startups. A technologist and entrepreneur, he has spent his career building products at the point where new technology meets everyday life — as an engineer, as an inventor with multiple patents to his name, and as Chief Product and Technology Officer in roles spanning product strategy, platform architecture, and applied AI. He formerly headed technology products at Amazon, Cisco, and multiple startups, from first line of code to market; today his work centres on applying cutting-edge agentic AI to hard problems at global scale — systems that reason, decide, and act for hundreds of millions of people.

His ventures include Astra Landing Enterprise and Kanaka Agro Farms, Massachusetts-based companies that connect intelligent platforms, sustainable agriculture, and global markets. Both are GPS private-sector partners.

Sajith believes the next decade will be remembered as the moment AI stopped being a tool of the few and became infrastructure for the many. The Global South will not be a market for that intelligence — it will be its author.

Paulo Pan is Associate Director for Business and Sports Partnerships at the Global Platform for the South (GPS). He is Founder & CEO of Beyond Africa Group, a senior executive with over 20 years of experience on the African continent and 25 years of experience in international relations between different nations, conducting business in multi-sectoral areas.

He is a senior business consultant for Africa at the Global Food Security Fund and leads the “Sports & Education for Everybody, Anywhere” initiative in partnership with UNESCO.

Dr. Shumete Gizaw is a senior executive, policy practitioner, researcher, and academic with more than two decades of leadership experience across government, international organizations, academia, research, and development. His work sits at the intersection of strategic leadership, public policy, digital transformation, innovation, institutional development, and sustainable development, with extensive experience in Ethiopia, Africa, and the Global South.

He has held senior leadership positions at national and international levels, including Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, State Minister of Innovation and Technology, Director General of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), and Under-Secretary-General for TIDE at the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC). Across these roles, he has advised senior decision-makers, led complex institutional and policy initiatives, and contributed to national and international development agendas.

His expertise encompasses digital transformation, emerging technologies, cybersecurity, innovation ecosystems, technology policy, and governance. He has worked to advance technology-enabled public services, strengthen institutional capabilities, and promote policies that connect technology and innovation with inclusive and sustainable development.

Dr. Shumete is an Associate Professor at Addis Ababa University. He holds a PhD from Addis Ababa University, an MPhil from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and a bachelor's degree from Dilla/Debub University, and has authored numerous scientific and policy-oriented publications.

Throughout his career he has built partnerships with governments, intergovernmental organizations, development partners, universities, and the private sector. His particular interests include Africa's digital transformation, human capital development, and South–South and Global South partnerships — connecting vision with impact to create lasting institutional, social, and economic value.

A Jamaican diplomat, policymaker, entrepreneur, and organizational management professional, currently serving as Jamaica’s High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago and Permanent Representative to the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).

Her experience spans diplomacy, public policy, international development, entrepreneurship, and South–South cooperation. She previously served as a Senator in Jamaica, as an Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and as the founder and Managing Director of a company operating in Rwanda.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Minister of Economy of Cabo Verde; former Ambassador to the United States, Canada, and Mexico; and currently co-founder and managing partner of IHABA, a business development and advisory firm.

He also contributed to the Africa Innovation Summit and played an important role in advancing Cabo Verde’s renewable energy strategy.

Professor Rossana Valéria de Souza e Silva holds the position of Executive Director of the Brazilian Universities International Cooperation Group – GCUB since 2008. She holds a PhD in Education from the State University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Brazil and completed her Postdoctoral studies in Educational Sciences at Université Paris 8, France. Professor Rossana is a retired professor from the University of Brasília – UnB.

She is a Senior Advisor at the China–Latin America Cultural Exchange Center in Beijing. She is an Invited Researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and former President of the Governing Council of the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean – UNESCO-IESALC. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean – UDUALC.

Professor Rossana has worked in the field of International University Cooperation for nearly 30 years. She served as a consultant for the Organization of American States – OAS, within the Department of Human Development, Education and Employment. She was awarded the French Government distinction L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques for her contributions to Brazil–France University Cooperation.

She served as Special Advisor for International Relations at ANDIFES – the National Association of Federal Institutions of Higher Education, and as Director of International Relations at the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. For her work in promoting International University Cooperation, she received the 2018 Annual Award from the Brazil–Turkey Cultural Center and, in 2019, was declared an Honorary Guest of the city of Ambato, Ecuador.

She is the author of articles and book chapters on Higher Education and University Internationalization, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Scientific Journal KazNU, Kazakhstan, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of UNESCO-IESALC’s journal Higher Education and Society. She is also the author and coordinator of several international programs and courses for undergraduate and graduate students, professors, and researchers.

Prof. Samir Shaheen is Vice Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) in Kigali, Rwanda, and Head of Integral Health at the Global Platform for the South (GPS). He is Professor of Paediatric Orthopaedics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, and Head of Paediatric Orthopaedics at Soba University Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan. He works in Arabic, English, and German.

He holds an MBBS and an MD from the University of Khartoum, a Diploma in Sport Medicine from the Heidelberg Orthopaedics University Clinic in Germany, and is a medical educationist (JMHPE). His specialist training includes orthopaedics at the University Clinic, Heidelberg; an AO Fellowship at Ulm University Clinic for Trauma, Hand, Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery; orthopaedics and rehabilitation, prosthetics and orthotics technology at Münster University; and trauma and paediatric orthopaedics at the University of Khartoum and Ulm Orthopaedic University Clinic.

Prof. Shaheen has published widely in orthopaedics, paediatric orthopaedics, rehabilitation technology, and medical education, and serves as a reviewer and editorial board member for journals in Sudan and internationally. He is a member of the Assessors for Accreditation of Medical Schools at the Sudan Medical Council and President of the DAAD Alumni Association Sudan (DAAS).

His former leadership roles at the University of Khartoum include Head of the Orthopaedic Department, Director of the Educational Development Centre (Medical Education Unit), Secretary of Academic Affairs, and Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor. He has also served as Head of the Orthopaedic Board at the Sudan Medical Specialization Board and as Deputy Head of Orthopaedic Speciality of the Arab Board.

A specialist in national-level strategic planning, research, and finance, Mr. Liban Mugabo holds dual master’s degrees in Economics and Public Policy and possesses strong professional experience in the public, private, and NGO sectors.

Currently, Mr. Mugabo is the Managing Director of Safe Gas Rwanda, Rwanda’s biggest LPG gas company by volume. He has also worked with Goldman Sachs, and held a position as Senior Policy Analyst and Interim Deputy Head of the Strategy & Policy Unit at the Office of the President, Rwanda.

Other past experience includes Senior Program Analyst at the William J. Clinton Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Initiative and Senior Analyst for On the Frontier (OTF) Group, as well as work with the Rwanda Investment & Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA) and other private-sector and Rwandan government offices.

Mr. Mugabo is also a regular columnist with Rwanda’s largest English-language newspaper, The New Times, where he provides strategic perspectives on socio-economic issues facing the country. A fluent speaker of English and Kinyarwanda, he is a native speaker of Swahili and possesses a strong ability to speak, read, and write in French.

Syed Muhammad Mohsin is dynamic and result oriented with more than 35 years of experience and a successful track record of performance in mega and multibillion projects. He has superior interpersonal skills, capable of resolving multiple and complex problems with innovative solutions. He has extensive interaction experience with government institutes and is well versed in government policies, regulations, and laws. He has immense experience in leading private-public organizations with best technical and management practices from the private sector, introducing systems for operations management and setting up visionary projects from scratch with a change management approach for the benefit of the country.

As a government employee, he has served as Chairman of 12 industrial zones in all provinces of Pakistan, was President of the Technical Educational and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Punjab, and a member of the Pakistan Air Force Board Kamra, a manufacturing unit.

Syed Muhammad Mohsin completed an MS in Electronics Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles (USA) in 1980, and a B.Sc. in Electronics Engineering from the University of Engineering, Lahore (Pakistan) in 1976. He is a commercial Pilot License holder, and he owns Hybrid Technics Private Limited and Hybrid Aviation Private Limited, Lahore (Pakistan). His businesses also run research and development sections and have been manufacturing electronic parts and circuit boards for the industrial sector and international investors such as Honda and Sulzer Ruti in Pakistan.

Dr. Arega Yirdaw is President and CEO of Unity University in Ethiopia. Throughout his career he has dedicated himself to education, public diplomacy, and business leadership, serving as Board Chairperson, President, or member of institutions including HERQA (now the Ethiopian Training Authority), the Ethiopian Quality Award, Ethiopian Civil Service University, the Ethiopian Private Higher Education Association, the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce, the Grand Renaissance Dam National Committee, the Ethiopian Mining Association, the Ethiopian Eye Bank, and Abrehot Library.

He holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Organizational Leadership, and Higher Education from Addis Ababa University (AAiT), Cranfield Institute of Technology (UK), PWU-California, and Fielding Graduate University (USA). He also completed specialized leadership programmes at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in North Carolina, which awarded him its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010 — the first in Africa.

Dr. Arega spent ten years at Ethiopian Airlines as an engineer, supervisor, and manager, and two decades in the United States with Boeing, Weston Hydraulics (Borg Warner), and HR Textron. He then organized, rehabilitated, and led MIDROC Technology Group — twenty-seven multi-sector companies and institutions, including Unity University — as CEO for two decades, laying the foundation for the sustainable growth of MIDROC Investment in Ethiopia.

He is a member of the UK Royal Aeronautical Society and the Ethiopian Mechanical Engineers Association, and the author of books including The Role of Governance in Quality of Education in Private Higher Institutions, Managing Organizational Structure, Managing Gold Mine Production and Operation, and Assessment Methods for Structural Modification on High-Time (Aging) Aircraft. He believes in lifelong learning, integrity, and "people-first" service.