2017 Tutu Fellow Natalie Jabangwe was a panelist in a high-level panel discussion on Innovation and technology at the United Nations General Assembly on 18 September. The discussion formed part of the UN's attention to a range of Sustainable Development Goals that it hopes to see implemented by 2030. The goals include inroads into poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, clean energy, responsible consumption and others. Innovation and technology are seen as mechanisms by which the goals can be reached.
Other panelists on the panel included the Prime Minister of Lesotho, the Undersecretary of State for International Cooperation, Colombia's Minister of National Planning, the Finnish Foreign Trade Minister, New Zealand's Ambassador, and Switzerland's Special Envoy for Global Sustainable Development. Jabangwe is the youngest woman to run a mobile money business in Africa, called EcoCash, and is backed by telecom giant, EcoNet Wireless. With a background in software engineering along with her management experience, she is able to straddle both tactical and strategic elements in technological innovation.
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