Susanne envisioned a NextGen university to educate a new generation of leaders. She undertook the almost impossible task of building a modern university from the ground up. By exciting individuals and large corporates for her idea, Susanne raised enough funding for the first phase of this project. Within only 18 months she managed both the construction of a nucleus facility with award-winning architect Francis Kéré and the full accreditation of the university.

The Burkina Institute of Technology (BIT) leaves the inefficiencies and shortcomings of the existing education system behind. BIT boasts an infrastructure unheard of in Burkina Faso, as well as incredibly small classes and English as the language of instruction. Susanne uses technology to bring state-of-the-art education to Sub Sahara Africa. A partnership with edX, a high-quality online course provider, allows BIT’s students to benefit from world-class courses.

BIT’s education combines this knowledge with a focus on application. Together with the Technical University of Munich, she developed a cutting-edge computer science program that allows students to earn a bachelor of science. Now a second bachelor in electrical engineering with a focus on solar energy is being initiated. Susanne ensured that both programs strongly emphasize entrepreneurship through dedicated lectures, group projects, and internships.

Susanne shapes a new generation of Burkina Faso as the founder and president of BIT.

Sié Levi Yannick KAMBOU is a Digital Systems Design Engineer graduated. KAMBOU is a young entrepreneur in engineering field and serve as company manager. He’s someone who pledge for Young people’s leadership and personal development. KAMBOU joined BIT as Head of Computer Science Department and is motivated to give the best of him to help BIT to reach his goal.

Diébédo Francis Kéré was born in 1965 in Gando, Burkina Faso and studied at the Technical University of Berlin. Parallel to his studies, he established the Kéré Foundation (formerly Schulbausteine für Gando e.V.), and in 2005 he founded Kéré Architecture.

His architectural practice has been recognized nationally and internationally with awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2004) for his first building, a primary school in Gando, Burkina Faso. Kéré has undertaken projects in varied countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, Germany and Switzerland. He has held professorships at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Swiss Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio). In 2017 he accepted the professorship for “Architectural Design and Participation” at TU München (Germany).

Kéré continues to reinvest knowledge back into Burkina Faso and other sites across four different continents. He has developed innovative construction strategies that combine traditional building techniques and materials with modern engineering methods.

Kéré’s work has recently been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Architecture Museum in Munich and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (both in 2016) and his work has been selected for group exhibitions such as: Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010) and Sensing Spaces, at the Royal Academy, London (2014).

Eric Zidouemba is Professor of marketing and management. He has taught in different business schools in Burkina Faso and Senegal. In addition to pursuing his academic interests, he is also active in management and marketing consulting as well as executive and organizational development in Burkina Faso.

Rodrigue W. Kabore has 10 years of experience working in Burkina Faso. He worked for a private enterprise for 2 years and spent 8 years working for the government. Recently, he has been the director of promotion of the digital economy. He has now accepted the responsibilities of his current role as Dean of BIT.  He has been teaching in higher education for over 4 years with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies. He received his master’s degree in 2013 and his doctor title in 2018. To him, innovative technologies occupy a vital place in students’ training, especially focusing on entrepreneurship.

Maxime Bako is an IT engineer and believes that programming allows us to create something out of nothing. When programming we are not limited to physical constraints; if you can imagine it, you can create it with enough thought and effort. The idea of developing software that can intervene in several areas such as education, management, health, agriculture, livestock and other is fascinating. Being able to contribute to the improvement of the important areas for Burkina Faso’s development is a great motivation. And the computer programming problems and challenges, constant learning, and satisfaction that come from programming make him love it. No matter where you are in the world and who you are, as long as you have a computer you can program and make a change.

Aissatou Ouedraogo is a communicator, specializing in communication for development. She graduated from the University “new dawn university” of Ouagadougou. Since then she has been doing internships, first in the mobile phone company Orange Burkina, then with the team of Marie Stopes Burkina as an assistant to the Marketing and Communication Director. She has therefore acquired experience in commercial negotiation techniques, public relations, organization of communication activities and sensitization techniques. She is passionate about any development project that aims to know the needs of the population and to help them. She has spent a lot of time in rural areas where she have been in contact with the population. She is very motivated and eager to learn and make a real contribution to development in all areas.

Dr. Seydou Ouedraogo has 20 years of work experience in Burkina Faso. After graduating as a Design Engineer in Electrical Engineering, he worked for a private company for 2 years. He taught in higher education for over 18 years, with a focus on electricity grids and renewable energies. Most recently, he was head of the Electrical Engineering department at the University Institute of Technology of Nazi BONI University in Burkina Faso. Doctor in Engineering Sciences, he is a master’s assistant in Electrical Engineering since 2019.

For him, innovative technologies occupy a vital place in students’ training, especially in the entrepreneurship area. Dr. Seydou Ouedraogo is motivated to train a new generation of leaders at BIT.

He showcases his professional skills to participate in the bachelor’s degree training program in electrical engineering and renewable energies, in order to shape tomorrow engineers, train leaders who will turn their technical knowledge into business opportunities, passionate future leaders who have strong ethical values, who are at their society’s service. Leaders who fight for their vision of a better Burkina Faso.