Aseri Katanga
ASERI KATANGA, the London-based Vice President of BUDEFO, pursued a diploma in business in the UK and later a degree in Economics and Computing at Kingston University. After graduating he was employed by B & Q Plc, the biggest DIY Company in Europe. After working for the company for 21 years, he was awarded employee of the year (B&Q Hero Award) out of 37,000 employees in 2006. Apart from being paid £10,000 he was given one year off to go to Tanzania to live his dream – to open 24 IT centres in one year. B&Q donated 1200 computers plus all logistics and some support staff. Thus Aseri went to Tanzania to make a film to demonstrate how one can transform the lives of others through such a simple dream.
In his tireless pursuit to bring change to Africa, Aseri organized donations of computers from the UK and distributed them to schools in Tanzania and beyond under the banner of COMPUTERS-4-AFRICA. He also worked with other charitable organizations like School Aid UK, which provides science text books for schools in Tanzania; Lab Aid International which donates science lab equipment to many schools in Africa, including Tanzania; Britain-Tanzania Society and Tanzania Development Trust, both of which provide small grants to organizations in Tanzania and for which Aseri is a project officer.
He also works hard for the villages in Ishozi, Ishunju and Gera wards (TIDESO), and through links between Sweden and Ishozi, he undertook programmes such as tree planting, dental clinic, sawmill and above all exchange visits between Tanzania and Sweden. He won recognition for outstanding service by Tanzania’s Ministry of Home Affairs in 2013 and was also invited to Buckingham Palace by Her Majesty the Queen to be recognised for his service to mankind in the Commonwealth.
Aseri Katanga is an activist who dedicates his life and time in demo farms, education and technology transfer from the West to Africa. One of his famous mantras: “One day all African children will be able to tell the difference between a mouse and a mouse”.