I met this week's guest last month as a fellow AfroTalks 2025 speaker. Our collective charge for the event was to present our ideas about the "how" of Pan-African progress from mindset, to skills development to migration policy and the future of work. While I shared insights from the future of work salon series, our guest this week, David Hutchful participated on a panel discussing skills development. Born in Ghana, David is a passionate technologist, entrepreneur, educator, and design thinking expert dedicated to building tech-driven solutions in emerging markets. With over 25 years of experience in software development, he has led teams to create award-winning innovative platforms that drive business and social impact in Ghana and abroad.

As Co-Founder and CTO of Yemaachi Biotech (YC21), he is working to build the most diverse genomic database to advance precision oncology. Previously, he co-founded Bloom Impact, led technology innovation at Grameen Foundation, and worked at Microsoft Research. His expertise spans Fintech, Health tech, and Biotech, with a focus on leveraging technology for meaningful change--all topics we touch on in our conversation.

Where to find David?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On YouTube

What’s David watching?
Dept. Q on Netflix

What’s David riding and a few motorcycle clubs in Accra:
Yamaha XSR900
Ultimate Riders MC
Hotwheels Ghana MC
Biker Girls GH

Other topics of interest:
Apam, Ghana
Adukrom, Ghana
About Abelempke, Accra
What is the Africa Rising Movement about?
About Ahaspora
Why did nurses and midwives in Ghana go on strike?
Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) in Ghana
About Kasapreko
About WACCBIP - West African Centre for Cell Biology and Infectious Pathogens
GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation
+233 Jazz Bar and Grill
Empire of AI by Karen Hao

Special Guest: David Hutchful.

We are nearing the end of our Writing As Activism series @ the 2024 Pa Gya! Literary Festival in Accra. This week, Ghanaian writer and editor winning acclaim as a children's author, poet, broadcaster and novelist, Nii Ayikwei Parkes joins the conversation. Winner of multiple international awards including the ACRAG (Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana) award, his novel Tail of the Blue Bird won France's two major prizes for translated fiction – Prix Baudelaire and Prix Laure Bataillon – in 2014. Nii Ayikwei is the founder of flipped eye publishing, a leading small press; serves on the boards of World Literature Today and the AKO Caine Prize; and was chair of judges for the 2020 Commonwealth Prize. Translated in multiple languages, he has also written for National Geographic, Financial Times, the Guardian and Lonely Planet. His most recent books are The Ga Picture Alphabet and Azúcar, a novel. Currently Producer of Literature and Talks at Brighton Festival, he is also author of two collections of poetry The Makings of You (2010) and The Geez (2020), both published by Peepal Tree Press.

In this conversation, we journey with Nii Ayikwei through his works, his entreprenuership, his love for food and rum, and much more!
See Nii in converation at Pa Gya! here.

Where to find Nii Ayikwei?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On X
On YouTube
On Tik Tok
On BlueSky

What’s Nii Ayikwei listening to?
Gene Noble
Blues Man Robert Cray
The Roots
Cody Chesnutt + The Roots
and Headphone Masterpiece

Nii’s Pan-African Activism essential reading list:
Howard W. French, Born In Blackness
Mongo Beti’s, The Poor Christ of Bomba
Ama Atta Aidoo’s, No Sweetness Here
Franz Fanon, Black Skin, White Mask
You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, Zoë Wicomb
Kofi Awoonor, This Earth My Brother

Other topics of interest:
Historic Jamestown, Accra
Oto Blohum, Old Accra
North Kaneshie
Thornton Heath, UK
About Courttia Newland
Learn more about Nii’s uncle Frank Kobina Parkes
Nkyinkyim in the Adinkra
On Ghana’s Chop Bars
About Spanish-Caribbean Rum
About Rhum Agricole

Special Guest: Nii Ayikwei Parkes.