Herman Chinery-Hesse

Herman Chinery-Hesse
Born(1963-11-18)18 November 1963
Dublin, Ireland
Died (aged 60)
Accra, Ghana
CitizenshipGhanaian
Education
OccupationsFounder and Chairman of theSOFTtribe
SpouseSadia Chinery-Hesse
Children2
Parents
Relatives

Herman Eamon Owula Kojo Chinery-Hesse (18 November 1963 – 17 September 2024) was a Ghanaian technology businessman and the founder of theSOFTtribe, the oldest and largest software company in Ghana. He was popularly known as "the Bill Gates of Africa". Chinery-Hesse also made the list of 15 Black STEM Innovators. In March 2019, he was introduced as the Commonwealth Chair for Business and Technology Initiatives for Africa.

Biography

Chinery-Hesse was born in Dublin, Ireland on 18 November 1963 to Lebrecht James Nii Tettey Chinery-Hesse and Mary Chinery-Hesse, née Blay. His maternal grandfather was Robert Samuel Blay, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ghana in the First Republic.[citation needed]

He was educated at the Ridge Church School in Accra and Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, Westlake High School in Austin, Texas and Texas State University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Technology.

In 1991 Chinery-Hesse co-founded theSOFTtribe, an African software house.

Chinery-Hesse was married to lawyer, Sadia Chinery-Hesse (née Clarke) and they had two children.

Death

He died on 17 September 2024, at the age of 60, after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest. He was buried at the Graceland Memorial Garden, in Berekuso, located at the foothills of the Aburi ridge, near Accra.

Recognition

Chinery-Hesse and his company have won the Ghana Millennium Excellence Award for IT, He also won the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Texas State University, the first African recipient of the award.

He was also named the Microsoft African Partner of the Year.

Chinery-Hesse was a TED speaker

He was named one of "20 Notable Black Innovators in Technology", one of Africa's "Top 20 Tech Influencers", among the 2Top 100 Most Influential Africans of our Time", and one of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" by Foreign Policy Magazine.

References

  1. ↑ "Sadia Chinery-Hesse". myenterprisegroup.io/. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 "The Judges". BBC. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Life In The Fast Lane With The Bill Gates of Ghana". Forbes Africa. 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  4. ↑ "The African Hacker". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. August 2005. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 Smith, David (25 August 2012). "New Africa: how an entrepreneur became 'the Bill Gates of Ghana'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  6. ↑ William, Wallis (10 October 2024). "Herman Chinery-Hesse, tech entrepreneur, 1963-2024". Financial Times.
  7. ↑ "Remembering Herman Chinery-Hesse: Innovation, Humor, and Humanity | Kajsa HA". 19 September 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  8. ↑ "Ghana's Chinery-Hesse makes list of 15 Black STEM Innovators". Citi Fm Online. 13 February 2016. Archived from the original on 18 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Chinery-Hesse outdoored as C'wealth Business and Tech African Chair". MyJoyonline. 22 March 2019. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "A "Very Nice Man" Goes Home". DailyGuide Network. 13 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Herman Chinery-Hesse (1963 - 2024)" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "Herman Chinery-Hesse, Africa's 'father of technology'". Daily Maverick. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  13. 1 2 Amoah - +233(0)243818256, Henry Kweku; Amoah, Henry (18 September 2024). "Council Member, Mr. Herman Kojo Chinery-Hesse Passes On". GCTU. Retrieved 23 October 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. 1 2 "Renowned Ghanaian technology entrepreneur, Herman Chinery-Hesse dead - MyJoyOnline". www.myjoyonline.com. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  15. 1 2 "First Lady mouns Herman Chinery-Hesse; signs book of condolence - MyJoyOnline". www.myjoyonline.com. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  16. ↑ "Sadia Chinery-Hesse". myenterprisegroup.io/. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  17. ↑ "Sadia Chinery-Hesse – Member - Ghana Center for Democratic Development". cddgh.org. 24 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  18. ↑ "Sadia Chinery-Hesse: Positions, Relations and Network - MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  19. ↑ "Herman Chinery-Hesse". Archived from the original on 27 September 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  20. ↑ Babantsi, Mildred Xorlali (4 November 2024). "10 achievements of the late Herman Chinery-Hesse for which he will be remembered". Pulse Ghana. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "Herman Kojo Chinery-Hesse". LSE Africa Summit. 30 March 2014. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  22. ↑ Pavgi, Kedar (28 November 2011). "The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2021.