Announcing “An Evening in Africa 2026”: Building the Future of The Ivory Center

Join us for An Evening in Africa! Be a part of the Ivory Club of Tampa Bay’s signature charity event for a night of vibrant culture, impactful discussions, and community connection.

For over two decades, the Ivory Club has been a pillar of the Tampa Bay area. An Evening in Africa is our key annual fundraiser, directly powering initiatives that change lives locally and globally:

• Empowering Students: Annual need- and merit-based USF Endowed Scholarships (running since 1999).

• Global Education: Sending USF students to African universities through our International Exchange Program.

• Crisis & Community Relief: Supporting disaster recovery worldwide and uplifting local groups like the Tampa Bay Boys & Girls Club.

Our Vision for the Future: The Ivory Center

This year, every contribution brings us one step closer to our biggest goal yet: funding the Ivory Center. This visionary proposed African Cultural Center will be a dynamic hub for preserving heritage, sharing culture, and uniting the Tampa Bay community.

We invite you to experience an unforgettable evening with us. Your attendance doesn’t just support a great event—it helps build a lasting legacy.

Keynote Address

Africa’s Development, AI, and its Diaspora: Is the Diaspora the Key to a Global Tech Renaissance?

Over the past two decades, Africa has undergone a quiet but profound digital revolution, leapfrogging traditional infrastructure through mobile technology and a burgeoning STEM-focused academic landscape. However, as the world enters the era of Artificial Intelligence, the continent stands at a critical crossroads: Will the AI revolution further drift Africa away from global parity, or is it the ultimate catalyst for unprecedented leapfrogging? Moving from local progress to sustainable global leadership requires addressing this massive technological shift, and the African Diaspora may well be the missing piece of the equation.

In this keynote, Professor Christophe Bobda invites the audience to explore the shifting narrative of “Brain Drain” versus “Brain Gain” through the lens of emerging technologies. Drawing from over twenty years of academic and industrial engagement across the continent, he examines how the diaspora can pivot from traditional economic remittances to becoming the primary conduits for know-how, tech transfer, and strategic AI investment.

Through an analysis of current progress and systemic hurdles, the talk evaluates models for scalable, transcontinental prosperity. Can frameworks like GatorAfrica and diaspora-enabled tech startups serve as blueprints for building resilient AI infrastructure and localized data models? Professor Bobda concludes by outlining a strategic roadmap for the diaspora to fund, mentor, and actively de-risk Africa’s evolving tech and educational ecosystems, ensuring the continent is a co-creator, not just a consumer, of the global AI future.

About the Keynote Speaker

Christophe Bobda, Ph.D. Professor and Principal Investigator, University of Florida

For over two decades, Professor Christophe Bobda has been a pivotal figure in advancing higher education and high-tech infrastructure across the African continent. His work focuses on democratizing access to cutting-edge technologies, specifically in embedded systems and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), ensuring that African universities remain at the forefront of the global digital revolution.

Professor Bobda’s influence spans several premier institutions where he has consistently taught and mentored students, including the University of Yaoundé and Ecole Polytechnique in Cameroon, the African University of Science and Technology in Nigeria, the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the University of Rwanda in Kigali, as well as Strathmore University and Jomo Kenyatta University in Kenya. In 2016, his strategic vision was instrumental in establishing the Center of Excellence in Embedded and Mobile Systems (CENIT@EA) in Arusha, a project commissioned by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Beyond academia, Professor Bobda is a committed entrepreneur and catalyst for economic growth. He founded Camertronix, a development company based in Yaoundé that serves as a hub for innovation in AI, imaging, embedded systems, and security. Through Camertronix, he has provided specialized training to dozens of students and created high-tech employment opportunities for more than 50 Cameroonian engineers, directly strengthening the local technology ecosystem.

A dedicated mentor, Professor Bobda has advised more than a dozen PhD candidates recruited directly from Africa. His former students now hold leadership roles in top-tier technology firms and academic institutions across the United States and Africa.

In 2025, he spearheaded the launch of GatorAfrica, a flagship framework for collaboration between the University of Florida and its African counterparts. Under his leadership, this initiative has secured fully executed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with seven universities across Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. Through remote teaching and technology transfer, Professor Bobda continues to bridge the gap between continents, fostering a new era of engineering innovation and transcontinental partnership.

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