Dear IEEE Members,

On behalf of the pro-tem executive members, I thank the IEEE Africa Council for given us the opportunity to serve as the Pro-Tem executives, starting from 2018. Firstly, I will like to thank all the members of IEEE in Africa and solicit for more support so that we can build a strong IEEE Council in Africa.  This is because the IEEE Africa Council cannot succeed without vibrant members like you. The remarkable cooperation experience from all the Section Chairs in 2018 is commendable, more grease to your elbows in 2019.

You remember that we started to work as care taker executives last year. During this time, we have been trying to bond all the IEEE Sections and Sub-sections together so that we can achieve the objectives of the Council. In doing this, we have created a website for the Council. In addition to this, we are now live on various social media such as Facebook and Twitter. These platforms are yielding fruits already, as IEEE members across the African continent are networking among each other and are constantly updated on the happenings in IEEE globally.

This 2019, we are working hard to take the Council to a greater height. We will continue to make presence of IEEE known in the African continent. We cannot do this alone. We are hopeful that you will cooperate and work with us. Always feel free to visit the Council website: www.site.ieee.org/africa-council for upcoming events, interesting RSS feeds, EPICS and SIGHT projects in the Africa.

We will try our best to meet the expectations of IEEE members in Africa. Let us all work together to have another great year of IEEE activities in 2019.

Warmest Regards,

Prof. Gloria Chukwudebe

I am very happy to serve as the pro-tem Chair for IEEE Africa Council. Over the years, I have benefited immensely by volunteering for IEEE as Section Vice-Chair, Section Chair, and Conference Chair. I have acquired soft skills and expanded my network. The experience has positively impacted my life and professional work.

I want to express appreciation for the cooperation I have received from members of the IEEE Africa Area Committee, all Section and Subsection Chairs, and volunteers from various countries in Africa.

I thank in a special way, IEEE President/CEO, Jim Jefferies, the Region 8 Director – Margaretha Eriksson, past IEEE Presidents who created and sustained Ad-Hoc Committees on Activities in Africa (AHCAA), the Region 8 Excom, and all past and present AHCAA members.

The primary objective of the IEEE Africa Council is to provide a centralized coordinating unit for IEEE activities in Africa, whereby African Sections/Sub-Sections can achieve more, working together. It is important, however, to recall that various regions of Africa have diverse levels of development. There are regions of Africa disproportionately challenged by unemployment, extreme poverty, poor access to clean energy and healthcare, inefficient transportation and many more.

The good news is that IEEE has resources and activities that could turn these challenges into opportunities. These include a vast digital library of technical publications, a Centre for Leadership Excellence (CLE) – an online training on various topics, over 3,000 standards for the industry on ICT, Power & Energy, volunteer training workshops, paper and programming contests for students, student congresses, TISP, EPICS, SIGHT, etc. I want to appeal to all Sections and Subsections to put these activities in annual plans. The identification of activities that can be jointly hosted with the support of the IEEE Africa Council will help greatly to achieve our objectives.

You will agree with me that the present 6,000+ IEEE members and 15 IEEE Sections and sub-Sections across the 54 countries of the continent are inadequate for effecting the required change for a population of over one billion people. We will need to increase the number of IEEE members, volunteers, Sections and Sub-Sections in Africa.

I want to commend the approved 2017 – 2019 “IEEE in Africa Strategy Goals” for support of engineering education, the building of a sustainable community of IEEE members, and support of government policy development in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia. I am optimistic that with an increase in the number of IEEE volunteers, the achievements in these selected countries can be replicated in the other Africa countries.

My dear professional colleagues, I invite you all to work for the growth and progress of IEEE Africa Council. Let us use IEEE to advance technology for the well-being of African communities and the humankind in general.

Warmest Regards

Prof Gloria Chukwudebe.
Pro-tem Chair, IEEE Africa Council, 2018