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Meet our ITOCA team
We envision an improved quality of life and sustainable development, in Africa through enhanced research and education, through an excellent work effort of our excellent team.
Gracian Chimwaza
Executive Director
Gracian is the founding director and Executive Director of ITOCA. He
holds a
PhD in Information Science from the University of Pretoria (South
Africa)
and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from Thames
Valley
University (United Kingdom). He has an electronic engineering
background. In
the last 20 years, Gracian has led extensive capacity development
and
research projects in many African countries focusing on digital
libraries,
knowledge exchange, data management, e-resources access, and
information
literacy programs. He serves on the Research4Life Executive Council,
and
is
on several journal editorial boards. He has been an invited speaker
in
many
international, regional and national-level policy meetings that
address
ICTs, knowledge sharing and capacity building in Africa.
Mercy Moyo
Senior Programme Officer (Research & Training)
Mercy is an experienced library and information science specialist
who
holds
a Masters in Information Sciences from University of South Africa
(UNISA)
and is currently studying towards a Doctorate in Philosophy –
Information
Science. Mercy joined ITOCA in 2006 and has moved up to the rank of
Senior
Program Officer. She has worked on most of ITOCA’s Projects
including
AGORA
– AGRIS, Research4life, Friends of Chitambo, TEEAL, TAE, DAAD and
CEPD
projects. Mercy is exceptionally experienced in the areas of
capacity
building, information & knowledge management, data and metadata
management,
project management, research and has high coordination and
administrative
skills.
Amanda Makwangwaidze
Finance and Admin Officer
Amanda is passionate about the betterment of self and this aligns
well
with
ITOCA’s tireless work to enhance research and education in
Sub-Saharan
Africa. She was a board member for ITOCA for six years and this
ignited
a
desire to work directly on the day to day activities aimed at
capacity
building in Sub-Saharan Africa. Amanda joined ITOCA in 2008. She
works
in
the Financial, Training as well as Administrative functions of
ITOCA.
She
holds a Bachelor in Business Science from Monash University and is
currently
working towards her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from
Hariot
Watt University- Edinburgh Business School.
Chiedza Manuel
Digital Marketing Officer
Chiedza has experience in the visual arts field and joined ITOCA in
2017
as
a Digital Marketing Officer. She holds a Bachelor in Fine Art from
the
University of Cape Town. Amongst other things Chiedza has a
background
in
photography, curating as well as design. She is involved in managing
ITOCA’s
social media presence, marketing relevant projects online as well as
aiding
in capacity building projects.
Monicca Mohlamonyane
Assistant Program Officer (Research & IT)
Monicca believes in the design, development and implementation of
computer
networks for data processing and communication. Monicca is an
Assistant
Program Officer (Research & IT Systems) who holds a Bachelor degree
in
Information Technology from Belgium Campus. Monicca joined ITOCA in
2018
and
is involved in IT related projects, research skills training and
data
coding
projects.
Marcia Mabhula
Assistant Program Officer (Research & Training)
Marcia joined ITOCA in 2018 as a Assistant Program Officer (Research
&
Training). She holds a Bachelor in Library and Information Science
(honours)
from the University of Fort Hare. She is an experienced library and
information professional who is of the strong view that more
resources
need
to be dedicated in fighting against the existing information gap
especially
in Sub Sahara Africa. Marcia is currently involved in a number of
capacity
building projects at ITOCA.
Tammy Erasmus
Finance and Admin Officer
Tammy joined ITOCA in 2011 and is responsible for Accounting 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.
Prof. Bamidele Fawole
ITOCA West Africa Representative
Dele is the ITOCA Representative in West Africa. He has done
outreach
and
training work for the 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 at
the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.