Charlie Martial Ngounou is the founder and president of AfroLeadership, a civil society organization specializing in local governance, local finance and the promotion of public data. Charlie is the francophone Africa Expert for the Association Internationale des Maires Francophones (AIMF), for management information systems (public budgeting, public accounting, taxation, etc.) and digital strategies. Charlie provides his vast experience and expertise in data rights, digital rights and economy, and the public sector to serve the government of Cameroon and other francophone Africa and international organizations. A renowned African open data expert, he is a member of the Steering Committee of the Communauté Afrique Francophone des Données Ouvertes (CAFDO). He is the coach for open governance of the National Programme on Governance, under Cameroon Prime Minister Services. He is part of the African Data Leadership Initiative (ADLI) launched by Future State, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Smart Africa. Charlie is the Chairperson of the Global Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network (Global CSAYN), a UN ECOSOC global network of young volunteers promoting climate smart agriculture, with activities in more than 100 countries in the world, mainly in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Charlie holds degrees in computer science, in theology and a master’s in management science. He is currently pursuing a PhD in public policy. Charlie is passionate about promoting governance, transparency, accountability and holds various professional certifications in eGovernment, open government, public finance, decentralization and local governance, fiscal transparency, taxation and Internet governance. He is excited to bring these interests and experiences to PLACE. He sees PLACE as a way to put a critical resource (data) in the hands of local and national governments so they can improve people’s lives which is his ultimate goal.