Team Profile

  Executive Director | Tel: +27 12 6634062

Gracian began his career in the world of electronics engineering in 1987 and worked as a Computer Engineer for 3 years in Zimbabwe. By 1994, he found himself in the marketing and distribution of highly sophisticated industrial electronics on a regional scale in Southern Africa. His passion for marketing led him to pursue a career in the field, qualifying as a Chartered Marketer (SA) and graduating with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Thames Valley University (UK) in 2000. He took charge of the sales and marketing division of Africa Online (Africa's leading ISP) from 1997 to 1999.

He, in March 1999 successfully pioneered Africa's outreach and training in the use of TEEAL which has taken him to almost every part of the continent. His passion for the use of agricultural scientific knowledge via the electronic media has seen him devoting his life, heart and soul to bridging the digital divide that separates Africa from the rest of the world. Gracian, current member of the HINARI-AGORA management team, has been an invited participant in international, regional and national-level policy meetings that address information capacity building in Africa. Gracian is a part-time DPhil doctoral student at the Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria in South Africa.

CEPD Manager/Programme Officer | Tel: +27 12 6634062

Eradication of poverty and suffering in the world is one of the vision and ambition that Blessing is working at through the provision of agricultural, health and environmental sciences information. She is a dedicated young lady who holds a Bachelor of Science Honors degree in Library and Information Science and is currently studying towards a Masters in Development Communication. Blessing heads the Continuing Education & Professional Development (CEPD) programme at ITOCA South Africa and has a great passion for the use of new ICT tools. She is also involved in the training and outreach for Research4Life, TEEAL and PROTA programmes across the region.

Assistant Programme Officer | Tel: +27 12 6634062

Mercy holds a BSc Information Sciences degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Higher National Diploma in Secretarial Studies. She worked as a secretary for 12 years. Mercy joined ITOCA as a Secretary in 2006, and was promoted to the rank of Assistant Program Office in 2010. She strongly believes “Lifelong Learning” is the key to keeping up-to-date with changes happening in the information age.

Assistant Programme Officer | Tel: +27 12 6634062

Michael Chimalizeni graduated with a Bachelor of Science Honors from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe in 2005. Since then he has been involved in Scientific and Technical Information (STI) dissemination through electronic library resources.He now contributes to ICT/ICM capacity building projects for librarians, researchers and academics in Sub-Saharan Africa through his training work with ITOCA. Michael is also an MInf candidate in the Department of Information Science at UNISA, South Africa and serves the South African country chapter of The Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA).

IT Officer | Tel: +27 12 6634062

Chipo is a Bachelor of Business Management and Information Technology graduate from Catholic University in Zimbabwe. She is a new generation IT specialist who posseses a unique mix of experience, knowledge and skills and she joined ITOCA as an IT officer in 2008.

In William Pollards' words Chipo thinks "Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit".

Finance and Administration | Tel: +27 12 6634062

Tammy joined ITOCA in 2011 and coordinates all finance and administration work at ITOCA. She has extensive experience with accounting and finance having worked for over 20 years in the motor industry in South Africa.

ITOCA West Africa Representative | Tel: +234 8023256354

Dele is the ITOCA Representative in West Africa. He has done outreach and training work for TEEAL program in West Africa for the past six years and has visited virtually all countries in the sub-region.

Dele obtained his B. Sc. (Agric.) (Hons.) degree in 1972 from the University of Ibadan (UI), Nigeria. He proceeded to Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U. S. A. for postgraduate studies immediately after graduation from UI and he obtained the M. S. (Plant Pathology) and Ph. D. (Plant Nematology) degrees in 1975 and 1977, respectively. He is currently a Professor of Nematology in the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Assistant West Africa Representative | 

OKE, Abiola (Ms.), MPhil. Entomology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Abiola is involved in the outreach and training for Research4Life programmes and TEEAL in the West African Region. Ms Oke has several publications in reputable local and international journals in the areas of biological studies and integrated pest management. She has had several years of teaching and research exposure on pest control of horticultural crops.

ITOCA East Africa Representative | Tel: +254 726334230

Pamela holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. She has done outreach and training on TEEAL and Research4Life programmes in East Africa since 2006. Before joining ITOCA as the Representative for the East Africa region, Dr. Marinda worked as a lecturer at Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology in Kenya. At ITOCA, Pamela is working within the framework of the "Scientific Information for Agricultural Education in Africa project".

She believes that it is important to empower researchers, faculty and students with the essential skills that would enable them to maximise on the benefits that AGORA, HINARI, OARE and TEEAL offer. In turn, this will contribute to enhancing the quality of research, training and education in SSA and other developing regions of the world.

Dora Saru Nyambu

Administrative Assistant | Tel: +254 722288887

Dora is currently studying towards a B.A. in Development Studies at Mt. Kenya University.She also holds an Advanced Diploma in Community Development & Project Planning at Premese Africa Development Institute. Before Dora joined ITOCA, she worked for a local Women organization called KEPAWAE (Kenya Professional Association for Women in Agriculture and Environment) based at the University of Nairobi, Kabete Campus as an Assistant Program Officer. Dora joined ITOCA in August 2009 as an Administrative Assistant.

Administration Officer | Tel: +263 4 744611

Asalia Beans holds a Bachelor of Technology in Business Studies (Honours) Degree. She joined ITOCA in October 2007, as a Financial Administrator. She also plays an important role in the promotion and follow-up of TEEAL in Zimbabwe. Her job includes organising and facilitating workshops for TEEAL.