Absa Bank Kenya CIO Moses Okundi voted top tech guru in Africa

PHOTO: From L-R: dx5 CEO and Co- Founder Kelly Bentley, Moses Okundi, Chief Technology Officer (CIO), Absa Bank Kenya, Angela Waliaula, Network Infrastructure Engineer, Absa Bank, Kenya and Vincent Ngai, Head of Change, Absa Bank, Kenya, Angela Waliaula, Network Infrastructure Engineer, Absa Bank, Kenya.

Moses Okundi Chief Technology Officer (CIO), Absa Bank, Kenya has been named The CIO Of The Year 2022 at the annual dx100 Symposium and Awards (formerly CIO 100 Awards).

The CIO of the Year Award is awarded to the CIO who has deployed technology that has transformed the business.

Expressing excitement after bagging the award, the thrilled Okundi the winner from a selection of over 350 applications across Africa said, “This is just amazing. It is unbelievable. The thing about this event is the interactions; the engagements – hanging out with people who have the same challenges as you daily are just amazing. Thank you very much dx100. Thank you, everyone.”

The Digital Transformation (dx100) Awards recognises 100 organizations (and people within them) in Africa using technology in interesting, innovative ways that add business value.

Applications were reviewed, evaluated, and scored by a panel of judges led by Prof. Louis Fourie, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Knowledge and Information Technology Services at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, while the CIO of the Year was selected by industry experts, academics, business executives and former CIOs.

“Many people were merely changing from analogue to digital. What we were looking for was a real innovation. Remember that digital transformation touched your whole company. It touches the organisation, the supply chain, your customer relations, the business model – everything. It changes your business. We saw that in several companies and were impressed by that,” said Prof Fourie.

The dx⁵ Group CEO Kelly Bentley said that it was an all-around success as it converged tech leaders from across the continent. “We need to share ideas and practical steps on how we can leverage technology to help grow the continent. dx100 is a platform for innovation leaders to connect and have discussions on how to work together for the benefit of Africa. Connection is our passion at dx⁵. We are super proud of all the participants and congratulations to the winners,” she said.

Before the awards, the event involved a symposium where key technology leaders in Africa shared their thoughts on how the continent can leverage digital transformation for growth. The symposium involved discussion around different technology topics including cybersecurity, Software as a Service, FinTech, smart data, and smart infrastructure to brainstorming Ideation sessions.

Tech leaders who had all submitted their projects for consideration in the awards also got a chance to share how their firms have taken technology more seriously after seeing its effects of it. They also shared how they are working together among the C-suite to continue using digital transformation to further grow their companies and bring change to the continent.

Winning the CIO of The Year award has opened doors for previous winners such as 2018’s George Njuguna, CIO, Safaricom and 2016’s Kenneth Ogwang’ who have gone on to rise in their careers.

Here is the list of all the winners of the various awards in multiple sectors.

LIST OF WINNERS 2022

Manufacturing Sector Award      BAT Kenya PLC

Hospitality Sector Award              JAVA House Africa

Public Sector Award                      Agricultural Finance Corporation

Education Sector Award                Shule Pepe Ltd

Infrastructure Award                     Absa Bank Kenya Plc

Banking Sector Award                    Equity Bank, Kenya

Sacco Sector Award                        Stima Sacco DT Society Ltd

Health Sector Award                       Amref Health Africa

Retail Sector Award                        Naivas Ltd

Insurance Sector Award                Jubilee Insurance

Green Edge Awards                        Ministry of Water and Environment (Uganda)

Technology Partner Awards         Safaricom Plc

Overall Company of the Year       Diageo Plc – Africa

CISO of the Year                             Thelma Kganakga, Group CISO, Equity Bank (K) Ltd

CXO of the Year                               Hector Tamez, Head of Manufacturing East Africa, BAT