Nmadili Okwumabua

Founder, CPDI Africa and Lecturer at the University Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Nmadili Okwumabua is a cultural designer, urbanist and educator in African architecture and community planning. Her passion for design is rooted in a vision where communities in Africa and the Diaspora are developed with new architectural languages that preserve heritage, and are culturally and environmentally sustainable. In 2005, she founded Southern Sahara USA, an international consultancy specializing in the research and development of this new architecture.

Nmadili Okwumabua attended the University of Tennessee and Georgia State University, where she pursued undergraduate studies in architecture and urban studies. She holds a masters degree in African and African American studies from Clark Atlanta University, where her research centred on the evolution of modern vernacular architecture in Nigeria. In 2013, the fruits of these efforts gave birth to the Community Planning & Design Initiative, Africa, (CPDI Africa), a research-based, culture-inspired initiative created to develop new African architectural languages though design competition. Believing that the redevelopment of Africa's built environment should be as it has always been, built as a collaborative effort between the community members and designated master builders, Ms. Okwumabua engages participation from the design community throughout the African Diaspora, for the accomplishment of the CPDI Africa vision.

Nmadili Okwumabuas work in African and black culture architecture has been studied worldwide, via her lectures as a lecturer and visiting professor, annual design workshops and the Art of African Architecture, a curated exhibition of winning designs from CPDI Africa bi annual design competitions. She has presented research papers in over sixty international conferences, universities and professional associations. Her work in African American & Diaspora studies builds upon Africanisms, cultural retentions rooted African design philosophies for preserving and developing black communities. In 2021 Okwumabua launched the Global Studio for African Centered Architecture (CPDI Africa GSACA), an academy for teaching this new pedagogy in architecture. Practitioners and students are awarded certificates post completion of intense research and scholarship led by distinguished, tenured built environment professionals.

Ms. Okwumabuas career as a built environment professional spans over 27 years, she is a licensed Realtor in the state of Georgia and Certified Property Manager with Broll CBRE South Africa. Nmadili Okwumabua lives in Atlanta Georgia and Abuja Nigeria, where she offers international consultancy services in urban design, hospitality, and real estate asset management, passionately sharing her vision with the future shapers of African and global built environments.

Issa Diabaté

Architect, Managing Director at Koffi & Diabaté Architectes

With a Master's degree in architecture from YALE UNIVERSITY, Issa DIABATE is Managing Director of Koffi & Diabaté Architectes (founded in 2001 with Guillaume Koffi) and co-founder of Koffi & Diabaté Group.

His previous experience with the group includes internships with internships with several renowned agencies: Goly Kouassi, Devrouax and Purnell, Jean Nouvel and Cattani, and SAU Guillaume Koffi.

Over the years, Issa Diabaté has been deeply involved in urban issues in Africa, and has taken part in a number of initiatives aimed at changing the local urban context. (notably through projects and mentoring of young architects).

His aim: to highlight the creative solutions needed to build the African city of tomorrow, as applied in the Koffi & Diabaté approach. He has addressed these subjects at various international conferences and publications (Columbia University, Ted Talks, Afritekture Munich, DESIGN INDABA, University of Johannesburg...).

Member of the Côte d'Ivoire Order of Architects, Issa Diabaté is also active in the world of design. Runner-up at the 2017 Biennale d'Art Contemporain, Issa DIABATE collaborated with the IKEA group to create the "ÖVERALLT" collection, the first designed by African designers. by African designers.

Issa DIABATE is a Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite Culturel in Côte d'Ivoire.

The work of Agence Koff & Diabaté Architectes has been presented at international exhibitions at the Milan Triennale, the Louisiana Museum of Denmark and the 18th International Architecture Exhibition Architecture Exhibition in 2023.

Taman Mhoumadi

Consultant, Climate and Innovation Trainer and Speaker, Singer and Actress

Tamaa ("hope" in comorian) is a young French-Comorian singer and comedian living in Dakar. Taman Mhoumadi, her civic name, is also Consultant, trainer and speaker on climate and innovation topics.

She has been comitted to fight against climate change for more than 5 years now, in Europe and Africa through different kinds of projects on innovation, public policy and art.

Her ambition is both to give tools to African climate project leaders and to link her commitments to her artistic practice.

Mohamed Zoghlami

International Consultant in Strategy and Development, Co-founder of Afric'Up and Africa in Colors, Specialist in creative industries and the Metaverse in Africa, Africa 2020 Season Expert Committee

Mohamed ZOGHLAMI is a Consultant in Development & Strategic Analysis - Specialized in Creative Industries in Africa - Co-founder of Afric'Up the first African startup summit, of Africa in Colors digital platform and African event dedicated to digital creative industries in Rwanda, and of Africa Metaverse Museum, the first immersive cultural, educational and gaming space in Africa.

He is Honorary Chairman of CAVIE - Centre Africain de Veille et d'Intelligence Économique and Vice-Chairman of the Agence africaine & francophone de l'intelligence artificielle (AFRIA). He has worked in European institutions and headed Externans International, a firm specializing in development and cooperation with emerging countries, particularly in the Mediterranean and Africa.

Mohamed ZOGHLAMI has been the digital creative industries expert for the Africa 2020 Summit organized in France on African cultures. He is a shareholder in 3D Netinfo, Africa's first creative digital coding school, and DigiArt Living Lab, the continent's only creative innovation center.