Brian Munyao Longwe

Connecting the Unconnected. Combining innovation, experience and technology to deliver locally relevant internet services.

The USAID funded Malawi Next Generation Early Grade Reading Activity (Malawi NextGen) solidified and built on earlier contributions to the implementation of Malawi’s National Reading Program (NRP) towards improving the delivery of high-quality early primary reading instruction in all Malawian primary schools. Supported the Ministry of Education in strengthening digital infrastructure and data-driven decision-making for early grade reading outcomes. Led the design and implementation of a data lakehouse architecture integrating student assessment, school profile, and coaching data into a centralized platform. Developed data pipelines for automated ingestion of teacher-entered assessment data via mobile and tablet-based electronic forms, with seamless integration to EMIS through custom APIs. Created interactive dashboards and data visualizations to support school- and district-level decision-making, including tools for monitoring National Reading Program performance and publishing annual school report cards. Delivered training materials and job aids to enhance local capacity in data collection, analysis, and quality assurance, ensuring broad accessibility and sustainability of tools across central and decentralized education stakeholders.

Established the company operations including staffing, organizational development, business development, stakeholder management, government relations (Public Private Partnership) and service delivery. SimbaNET Malawi Limited is a licensed network service provider based in Malawi operating an inland Virtual Landing Point and fiber optic network that connects Malawi to submarine cables that service the African continent via Tanzania and Zambia. SimbaNET serves Malawi with high speed internet and data connectivity thereby bringing in affordable, high quality internet and data connectivity to the landlocked country.

SimbaNET Malawi Limited is a licensed network service provider based in Malawi operating an inland Virtual Landing Point and fiber optic network that connects Malawi to Tanzania and Zambia and provides access to submarine systems that serve the African continent with high speed internet and data connectivity thereby bringing in affordable, high speed internet and data connectivity to the landlocked country.

Internet Now! is a revolutionary project that seeks to generate employment and income for rural communities in the North of Ugandaby through the establishment of "service & employment centers" that are connected to the Internet via high speed broadband. The facilities in these communities will provide residents with employment opportunities through impact sourcing (microwork), additional income through enhanced agricultural knowledge and information as well as various other value added such as financial services, mobile money etc...

Proactive Technology Professional with day-to-day hands on and strategic experience in technology, entrepreneurship, business development and general management positions and proven experience in multiple countries across Africa. Effective public speaker, communicator and team builder with planning, organizational, and negotiation strengths, as well as the ability to lead, reach consensus, establish goals, and attain results. Additional management and technical experience in the mobile payments space.

As Event Director, planned, coordinated, fund-raised and executed the first ever DEMO Africa event (which took place in Nairobi in October 2012) http://www.demo-africa.com. DEMO is a launchpad for technology startups that showcased 40 the most innovative technology products from 16 African countries and linked the entrepreneurs with investors and global media. The event has run in the USA for past 21 years, and came to Africa for the first time in 2012.

As Group Chief Technology Officer at Mobicash, Brian oversees the ongoing R&D, innovation and rollout of new technologies for the company's payment platform. He is also responsible for implementation activities in the various country operations across Africa and other parts of world including Asia, Latin America etc

Sales and promotion of Palm-OS based personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Smartphones in Africa. Targeted development of Palm-based applications for the African market.