Herman Kojo Chinery-Hesse, renowned tech entrepreneur and founder of theSOFTtribe, Ghana’s oldest and largest software company, has died. He passed away on September 16, 2024, following a cardiac arrest. Chinery-Hesse’s legacy lives on and will inspire generations of tech innovators across the African continent and beyond.
Dublin-born Chinery-Hesse was widely regarded as one of Africa’s leading innovators, earning him the nickname, the “Bill Gates of Ghana.” In 1991, Chinery-Hesse founded theSOFTtribe, pioneering the country’s domestic technological development journey.
theSOFTtribe was the brainchild behind many innovative products including a mobile-based community security system (Hei Juior!!!), government payroll systems, ERP systems and nationwide utility billing systems, and electronic payment systems and point-of-sale systems.
However, the tech guru’s influence would soon spread beyond software development into education and governance. Under his Chairmanship, the company launched African Echoes, a project aimed at producing African audiobooks, allowing Africans tell African stories to the rest of the world.
Herman Kojo Chinery-Hesse’s tech-based accomplishments have earned him several honors and recognition, including the GUBA Award for Exceptional Achievement, the Mobile World Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ghana Millennium Excellence Award for IT. Chinery-Hesse was also the first Africani recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus of Texas State University.
Regarded as one of Africa’s Top 20 Tech Influencers, Chinery-Hesse has spoken at prestigious institutions like Harvard Business School, Oxford University, and Wharton. He has also featured in top media platforms like Forbes Africa, CNN, Aljazeera, and BBC
Herman Kojo Chinery-Hesse is survived by his family and a legacy of transformative technological developments that can only set the bar for Africa’s budding tech innovators.
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