25th April 2019, Lilongwe, Malawi: The Chairperson of UbuntuNet Alliance, Prof. Stephen Simukanga is pleased to announce the appointment of Malawian Engineer Dr. Matthews Mtumbuka as the new CEO of the Eastern and Southern Africa Research and Education Network effective 1st May 2019.
Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka has been appointed to the new position after satisfying a rigorous recruitment process. He takes over from Eng. Dr. F. F. “Tusu” Tusubira – the founding CEO- who was invited back to caretake the Alliance until the successor to the previous CEO, Dr Pascal Hoba, was identified.
An accomplished academic and engineer, Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka brings to UbuntuNet Alliance over ten years of senior management experience in telecommunications, academia, oil and banking technology industries. Before accepting his new role at the UbuntuNet Alliance, Eng. Dr Mtumbuka has been working for Airtel Africa in a regional role covering IT Operations and Governance and as a Special Assistant to the Chief Information Officer for Airtel Africa, a role in which he has been managing IT systems, infrastructure, billing, Airtel Money and other projects across 14 countries. Prior to that, he worked as IT Operations and Governance Lead for Airtel Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda. He also worked as IT Director for Airtel Rwanda and Airtel Malawi; Head of Technical Services at the Malawi Switch Center (MALSWITCH) Ltd; and IT Service Delivery Coordinator at Shell Exploration and Production – Europe based in Aberdeen, UK. He has taught as an adjunct Lecturer in Management of Technology at the Business School, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Professionally, Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka has served as the President of the Malawi Institution of Engineers (MIE) for two years and as Chairperson for the ConnectIT Network, an association of IT Professionals in Shell in Europe. He was Executive Director of the Malawian Initiative for National Development and President of the Oxford University Africa Society. He currently sits on boards of several companies and organisations in Malawi including NBS Bank, Nico Technologies and Responsible Safari. Previously, he served as Vice Chairperson for the Council for Mzuzu University among other university governance roles.
A registered engineer with the Malawi Board of Engineers and Rhodes Scholar, Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka received a PhD in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford in England in 2005 after graduating from the University of Malawi with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (with DISTINCTION). His PhD Thesis, titled: “MIMO Techniques for Future High-Speed Wireless Communications Systems’ – investigated techniques that would improve the rate of data transmission on the mobile phone for 4G/LTE technology and produced more than ten publications in refereed journals.
Welcoming the new CEO, UbuntuNet Alliance Board Chairperson, Prof. Stephen Simukanga said: “I personally welcome Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka to the UbuntuNet Alliance family of service providers to our education systems in member countries. On behalf of the member NRENs, the Board and staff of UbuntuNet Alliance, I congratulate Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka for this appointment and look forward to working with him.”
In accepting the post, Eng. Dr, Mtumbuka stated “I am excited about this great opportunity to contribute towards the development of technology for education and research institutions in our region. We will leverage the great work of my two predecessors to increase our product offering, grow service utilization and expand geographical reach in order to safeguard sustainability of the Alliance.”
Eng. Dr. Mtumbuka becomes the first Malawian to be appointed CEO of UbuntuNet Alliance which is headquartered in Lilongwe, Malawi.
About UbuntuNet Alliance:
UbuntuNet Alliance is the regional Research and Education Networking organisation for Eastern and Southern Africa. It plans, builds and operates UbuntuNet, the regional high-speed internet network dedicated to research and education in Eastern and Southern Africa. The Alliance also promotes and supports the integration of advanced ICT services and tools in research, teaching and learning, taking advantage of the opportunities that come with the Internet.
The Alliance was established in the latter half of 2005 by five established and emerging National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), namely MAREN (Malawi), MoRENet, (Mozambique), KENET (Kenya), RwEdNet (Rwanda) and TENET (South Africa). The Membership region of the Alliance spans across Eastern and Southern Africa, covering 26 countries. Currently, 16 countries have joined the Alliance and are at different stages of development. The Alliance is incorporated as a Trust in Malawi and has its secretariat in Lilongwe, Malawi.
For further Press Information:
Hastings Ndebvu
Communications Officer
UbuntuNet Alliance
hastings.ndebvu@ubuntunet.net
Twitter: @UbuntuNet
www.ubuntunet.net