Distinguished Africa Lecture 2025

Monday 2 June 2025, 16:15-17:30

University of Warwick, Oculus 0.03, and online

Guest speaker: Tom Ilube CBE, Chair, African Gifted FoundationLink opens in a new window

Title: The Butterfly Effect: Transforming Africa by Unleashing the Power of Brilliant Young African Women Scientists

Africa’s breakthrough over the next 25 years will come through unleashing the exceptional ability of gifted young women scientists and technologists from across the continent. This bold vision motivated Tom Ilube to create a unique institution, the Ghana-based African Science Academy (ASA), the only school in the world designed specifically for academically gifted young women to study STEM subjects in half the time that any other school does and still achieve brilliant results. One by one, these outstanding young African women, from 20 different countries, will go on to transform the continent. For the past 50 years, African development projects have largely been driven by the assumption that only huge scale projects can have a continental scale impact. But this is not necessary true, if one views Africa as a complex system. Tom’s vision is rooted in the idea that, in complex dynamic systems, small changes can result in very large effects, as described beautifully by the Butterfly Effect that says that a flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil may set off a tornado in Texas. What will happen if a thousand brilliant butterflies, in the form of gifted young African women scientists and technologists are unleashed across the continent? We are about to find out!

Tom Ilube, CBE, Chair, African Gifted FoundationLink opens in a new window

Tom Ilube CBE is the Chair of the British education charity, the African Gifted Foundation, and launched the African Science Academy (ASA). He is also the Chair of the King's Trust UK, (formerly The Prince's Trust) and was Chair of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) from 2021-2024.

Tom is a technology entrepreneur and educational philanthropist. He is a Non-Executive Director at WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, and has previously served on the Board of the BBC and has founded several technology companies.

He is an Honorary Fellow of both Jesus College, Oxford, and St Anne's College, Oxford. His extensive contributions to education include founding and leading several schools, including Hammersmith Academy as its Founding Chair and ADA College, the UK’s National College for Digital Skills, among others.

In 2017, Tom was recognised as Britain’s most influential Black person. He was honoured with a CBE in 2018 for his services to technology and philanthropy and has received Honorary Doctorates from several universities.