Children’s Day celebrated with vigour and enthusiasm
End of 2022-2023 academic year
The last day of school for the Aga Khan Academy Maputo will be 7 June. Students' pickup time is 2:00 pm.
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Bill O'Hearn newly appointed Head of the Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa
Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa Library Wins First Place in Maktaba 2015 Awards
Teachers from California State University, Northridge visit Aga Khan Academy Mombasa
“Creating leaders”: Impact of an Aga Khan Schools education
During his time at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa, Ham Serunjogi (Class of 2012) – CEO and co-founder of African fintech giant Chipper Cash – realised the importance of staying connected to something larger than himself and giving back to the world. This fuelled his remarkable success, and recently, the Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree was selected to serve as an advisor to the US President on African diaspora engagement.
“A big part of it was that I was in the residential programme,” Ham says. “My roommates and my house parents were a central part of my experience; they practically became family to me.”
Originally from Uganda, Ham became a part of the Academy’s residential programme, where students in Grades 6-12 from around the world live on campus and participate in different activities and leadership opportunities.
“The group of friends I had on the floor we lived on,” he continues, “I value those friendships deeply.”
Ham credits his dorm parent, Mr Bardai, as a large part of his amazing experience at the Academy.
“Mr Bardai was absolutely the best and looked out for me,” he said. “We remain close to this day.”
Along with his residential parents, Ham fondly recalls teachers such as Mr Kassam, who incorporated meals in his English lessons as they were described in books the students read in class, which encouraged the kids to bring in their own dishes for a potluck.
“We had a really fun time in class with Mr Kassam.”
Ham also recollects his role as President of the Academy’s Student Representative Council, which allowed him to lead the secondary school students and work closely with his peers and teachers.
“The Academies as a whole aim to instil in their education the notion of creating people who are leaders that can come back and help develop their local communities,” he explains. “The idea of being a net positive contributor to society – that was something I learnt strongly.”
“The more I think back on the ways the Academy made sure we were connected to the community, with the events we did outside of the Academy with other community members, that was a key reminder to not stay in an isolated group of privileged people or with people that aren’t connected to something larger than ourselves,” he explains.
“That really resonated with my time over there.”
From Kampala to Mombasa to Iowa
After completing the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme at the Academy, Ham’s journey leaped to another continent when he moved to Iowa in the US to study economics at the prestigious Grinnell College.
He was ready for the adventure, thanking his move to the Academy in Mombasa from his hometown in Kampala, Uganda as an insight into what it is like to move away.
“[My time at the Academy] was the first time in my life I lived away from home,” he says. “It was like a nice trial period before moving further away.”
“I was excited to move to Grinnell, to Iowa, for all the big and small things like seeing snow for the first time,” he reflects. “Just being around a new environment, new culture and a new group of people was very exciting.”
The creation of Chipper Cash
Following his graduation from Grinnell and a two-year stint at Meta (formerly Facebook) came a pivotal stage in Ham’s life. In 2018, he and his co-founder Maijid Moujaled established Chipper Cash, a financial technology, or fintech, company offering several products and services to people in Africa, such as local and cross-border payments, cards, stocks, airtime and data, and bill pay.
“I wanted to make an impact on my local community with what I know best,” Ham says. “I wanted to create a solution that might solve a problem for people in Uganda.”
The CEO met his co-founder at Grinnell, who wanted to create a similar solution for the people of Ghana, where he was originally from.
“It was easy to align our thinking because we wanted to start the company to check some boxes – what needs to be done and where?”
Chipper Cash now has over five million customers operating in countries including Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda and the US. It has been featured in several global financial publications as well as news channels including BBC, CNN, Quartz, Apple and Forbes, in which Ham was named as one of the honourees of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Finance List of 2023.
Serving on the US President’s advisory council
In September 2023, Ham was appointed to serve on the Inaugural President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States. The Advisory Council is tasked to advise the US President on a range of issues, including how to strengthen relations between Africa and the US, promote trade and investment, and build educational exchanges.
“I definitely pinch myself every night just to make sure I’m not dreaming,” he laughs. “If you’d ask me at any point in my life if I would ever be an advisor to the US President, there’s no way I’d have thought that’s possible.”
Ham highlights what he is most excited about for his role as an advisor.
“One, it’s an incredible group of people to be a part of,” he says. “And two, in today’s world, Africa is the fastest growing continent and they’re strong partners with the US. We will help advise the President to form policy and help drive US-African relations and investment further.”
“Policy is going to affect billions of people, and if we do our job well, we’ll make a positive impact on the world. If that’s all I ever do in my life, I’ll be very happy with myself.”
Giving back to the Academy
Ham feels fortunate to be in a position where he can give back to the place that started it all. The alumnus consistently provides the Academy in Mombasa with support by coming back to address graduates, creating videos and content to promote the Academy, or even donating to support current and future students.
“It’s a special place to me,” Ham describes. “I was fortunate enough to give the 2021 graduation commencement address, and the theme of my remarks was the realisation of the opportunities I’ve been lucky to receive, and the best way to repay them is to help repair the world.”
Imtiyaz Hariyani (Class of 2014): From Hyderabad to Abu Dhabi and beyond
Imtiyaz Hariyani credits the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad with giving him more than just the academic skills he needs to succeed at the undergraduate level. In his words, it has also provided him with “the ability to thrive in a pluralist society and function in an intellectually and culturally diverse setting.” This is particularly fitting for Imtiyaz as he has had experiences in various parts of the world: he has just finished in degree in Biology at NYU Abu Dhabi and has undertaken opportunities in Mombasa and Lisbon. He is working towards a career in research in Molecular Biology or Bioinformatics.
Imtiyaz is from Pune, India and first heard about the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad in Feburary 2012 – he distinctly remembers making the decision to attend. His parents attended a seminar conducted by the Academy in Pune but they hesitated to ask Imtiyaz if he would be willing to study all the way in Hyderabad. For Imtiyaz, who had grown up at home and was attached to his family, their uncertainty was justified. And yet, he replied, “Why not?”
“Undeniably,” says Imtiyaz, “that day has shaped my career and is the reason for my academic progress and journey to NYU Abu Dhabi.”
At AKA Hyderabad, Imtiyaz was introduced to the merits of a global education and the International Baccalaureate programme. He quickly became familiar with an educational style quite different from what he had experienced in middle school: instead of rote learning, the Academy focuses on understanding concepts in a hands-on, practical manner. Imtiyaz believes that this approach to teaching, along with an emphasis on extra-curricular activities under the banner of Creativity, Activity and Service, led him to redefine what it means to be educated.
The Academy in Hyderabad offered students outlets to shape the school’s future. “In the senior school’s first year of establishment, we also received the opportunity to initiate activities that would turn into legacies,” Imtiyaz recalls. With a classmate, he transformed his passion for cricket into the AKA Hyderabad Cricket League, now in its sixth season. “As an alumnus who returned to the Academy three years after graduating,” he reflects, “I was immensely proud to see how the students have respected and maintained the legacies set by the Class of 2014 and have contributed to uplifting their standards to an extraordinary level.”
After graduating from the Academy, Imtiyaz took a gap year and was offered a five-month internship at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa. There, he tutored students in various subjects, supported the cricket team, and mentored a group of Middle Years Programme students.
Imtiyaz’s internship in Mombasa was the beginning of his global experiences in the past few years. “Mombasa was the first time I had left my country in twelve years and the fact that I was going to a new continent knowing nobody was intimidating at first,” he remarks. “Fast forward two and half years – it has become an essential part of my life.”
Last summer, Imtiyaz pursued a research program in Lisbon, the city which is host to the Global Seat of the Ismaili Imamat. There, he celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of His Highness the Aga Khan, the Imam of the Ismaili Muslim community and founder of the Aga Khan Academies, which he thoughtfully describes as “the perfect occasion to rejoice and reflect upon life after the Academy, and to express our gratitude to the Imam who has served the worldwide community for sixty years and has contributed to uplifting the quality of countless lives globally.”
Currently, Imtiyaz is working as a Research Assistant at NYU Abu Dhabi. Imtiyaz attributes his desire to seek the best in his university education and to learn first-hand about other countries and cultures to his experience at the Academy in Hyderabad and the vision of His Highness the Aga Khan.
“The spirit that the Academy embedded in me has allowed me to emerge as a global scholar with the support of my family and lifelong friends that I made in Hyderabad and elsewhere,” he explains. “From Pune to Portugal, I believe this journey is a result of His Highness’s tireless efforts in the field of education, and the Academies which have implemented this vision with great success.”
By Natasha Pirani
AKA Dhaka celebrates Victory Day
