South African innovator Siya Xuza among confirmed speakers at Misk Global Forum

One of South Africa’s leading young innovators, 28-year-old Siya Xuza, is among a long list of confirmed speakers at a global conference for thought leaders set to take place next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Xuza — who will attend alongside speakers such as LinkedIn co-founer Allen Blue and former Italian president Matteo Renzi — has won several science awards and in 2010 he was awarded a Fellowship to the African Leadership Network. In 2011 he also became the youngest member to ever sit on the African 2.0 Energy Advisory Panel.

The Harvard engineering graduate founded Galactic Energy Ventures, an investments holding company developing and investing in smart energy solutions for emerging markets.

The Misk Global Forum will take place between 15 and 16 November in Riyadh Saudi Arabia

The forum is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between 15 and 16 November.

Now in its second year, it will see top global thinkers gather with young innovators, academics and policymakers to discuss how to navigate the new opportunities and challenges presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The forum will cover four main themes, namely around living, learning, working and contributing. In addition, the Global Youth Index, an annual report on how confident and prepared the youth from 21 nations are about the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be unveiled at the forum.

Read more: Inaugural Global Youth Index report to be unveiled at the 2017 Misk Global Forum

A list of confirmed speakers e-mailed to Ventureburn shows that Xuza is one of two African thought leaders set to speak at the conference alongside Sustainable Development for All chairman, Kenyan Evans Wadongo.

While more speakers are yet to be announced, the list of the other confirmed speakers is:

Sal Khan (US): Khan Academy founder
Ronaldo Mouchawar (UAE): Souq.com CEO
Arif Naqvi (Pakistan): Abraaj Group CEO
Matteo Renzi (Italy): Prime Minister of Italy (2014 to 2016)
Nanxi Liu (China-US): Enplug founder and CEO, Nanoly Bioscience, Fortune 2015 10 Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs
Jonas Kjellberg (Sweden): Skype co-creator
David Kenny (US): IBM Watson and Cloud Platform senior vice president
Allen Blue (US): LinkedIn co-founder
Yosuke Matsuda (Japan): CEO, Square Enix (Final Fantasy)
Khalid Al-Khudair (Saudi Arabia): Glowork founder and CEO, Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, Ashoka Fellow
Franco Dragone (Belgium-Italy): Dragone founder and artistic director
Siya Xuza (South Africa): Galactic Energy Venture founder and managing director, Intel Science Prize winner
David Rosenberg (US): Aerofarms founder and CEO , Co-chair Circular Economy Taskforce, World Economic Forum
Adam Aron (US): AMC Entertainment CEO and president,
Michelle Levy (France/Brazil): Melissa Shoes CEO
Pierre-Alain Masson (France): SeedstarsWorld Co-founder
Abdulla Elyas (Saudi Arabia): Careem Co-founder
Gopi Kallalyil (US): Google chief evangelist of brand marketing, Author of The Internet to the Inner-Net: Five Ways to Reset Your Connection
Princess Reema bint Bandar (Saudi Arabia): Vice president of women’s affairs at the General Sports Authority
Abu Qader (US): 18 year-old entrepreneur, Glialabs CTO (develop solutions to identify breast cancer tumors)
Olivier Harnisch (Germany): Emaar Hospitality Group CEO
Sabrina Pasterski (US): Hertz Foundation Fellow, Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature, Harvard Forbes 30 Under 30 All Star List
Evans Wadongo (Kenya): Chairman, Sustainable Development for All, Aspen New Voice Fellow, 2013 MIT Innovator Under 35, 2010 CNN’s Top Ten Heroes