Hundreds of attendees from around the globe descended on Cape The city, South Africa, for the yearly Africa Tech Competition.
Now in its twenty seventh occasion, this occasion marked a record-breaking turnout, with over 15,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors, 6,500 attending firms, and 500 audio system from greater than 130 nations.
This three-day tech birthday party at Cape The city World Conference Heart was once humming with innovation, power, pleasure, and motion. International leaders, marketers, policymakers, and tech fans got here in combination from November twelfth to the 14th to talk about the hour of tech and innovation at the continent.
Audio system at Africa Tech Competition held at Cape The city World Conference Heart, 12-14 November 2024(photograph credit score: Greg Lumley)
Africa Tech Fest: Africa’s Biggest & Maximum Influential Tech Tournament
The competition hosted 5 key occasions, together with AfricaCom, AfricaTech, and the inaugural AI Height Cape The city. Every of those spotlighted the tech sector’s enlargement throughout industries. Energetic Panels, workshops, and fireplace chats eager about brandnew applied sciences like Synthetic Understanding (AI) and their affect throughout telecom, healthcare, monetary products and services, authorities, and past. The vigorous discussions coated the whole thing from connectivity infrastructure and AI to mission capital, range, and gender fairness.
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“Africa Tech Fest is all about making connections,” stated one industry exhibitor. “It takes the Africa Tech Fest in Cape Town to introduce businesses from the same area to each other.” For just about 3 a long time, this competition has been the go-to tournament for the ones in tech, telecom, and virtual products and services, offering an unequalled platform for networking, collaborations, and partnerships.
Scorching Subjects: Connectivity and Virtual Get entry to for the AI Year
Connectivity was once a big focal point of the competition. Hour Africa’s tech increase is swiftly underway, rural and faraway grounds nonetheless face top information prices that prohibit virtual get entry to. South Africa, as an example, ranked 136th out of 148 nations in cell information affordability in 2021, in line with the Alliance for Inexpensive Web.
Africa Tech Competition held at Cape The city World Conference Heart, 12-14 November 2024 (photograph credit score: Greg Lumley)
The South African Minister of Communications and Virtual Applied sciences, Solly Malatsi, emphasised the pressing want for collaboration throughout authorities and personal sectors to create inclusive ICT answers imaginable. He additionally emphasised how the virtual divide impacts financial inclusion. Analysis signifies that each and every 10% build up in broadband get entry to can spice up GDP via as much as 1.38%. The competition’s exhibitors additionally showcased state of the art connectivity answers. MBV-T, a Unlit, female-owned broadband supplier, is tackling accessibility via providing inexpensive web starting from $17 to $100 according to date in hard-to-reach grounds. In the meantime, government-owned Sentech offered FreeVision, a globally obtainable distant streaming platform containing African content material.
UrbanGeekz’s Gugulethu Nxumalo at the garden reporting at Africa Tech Competition
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The robust name for collaboration throughout governments, non-public operators, NGOs, universities, and tech distributors to in a position Africa for the AI-driven hour was once echoed a number of instances. Inclusive ICT calls for a concerted struggle to harmonize requirements, foster native ability, and foyer for sustainable insurance policies.
From apparatus producers and cloud suppliers to startups and content material creators, all avid gamers have a job in remodeling industries and growing agile, environment friendly, and sustainable ecosystems. Solly Malatsi emphasised the wish to cope with the virtual divide, in particular as Africa prepares for an AI-enabled financial system.
Addressing The Gender Hole In Project Capital
With collaboration on the center of the competition, there was once a wish to cope with inclusiveness. The panel “Empowering Female Founders: Narrowing the Gender Gap in Venture Capital,” tackled one in all Africa’s important investment demanding situations. In spite of vital strides, handiest 7% of all mission capital in 2023 going to female-led startups in Africa. Ayanda Siboto, the partnership supremacy at ABAN, captured the consultation’s spirit, pronouncing, “Diverse teams drive diverse deployment.” The dialogue underscored that Africa’s VC ecosystem will have to prioritize inclusivity to similar this hole. This may also be achieved via increasing networks, mentorship, and pushing again on stereotypes.
For African ladies, in particular Unlit feminine founders, restricted get entry to to mentorship and investment networks left-overs a barrier. With handiest 13% of feminine leaders in mission capital, audio system voiced the use of systemic exchange, no longer merely appointing feminine VCs however fostering an inclusive VC soil and pipeline. As audio system instructed, celebrating a success ladies in tech may just support shift attitudes and encourage the upcoming flow of feminine marketers.
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A Platform for International Avid gamers
The Africa Tech Competition is a perfect access level for firms taking a look to fracture into African markets. Attendees international got here to grasp Africa’s distinctive tech wishes, fix with native innovators, and discover alternatives in some of the fastest-growing tech ecosystems. As the development wrapped up, it was once sunny that Africa was once in a position to circumstance the worldwide tech dialog.UrbanGeekz’s Gugulethu Nxumalo at the garden reporting at Africa Tech Competition.
UrbanGeekz coated this occasion’s Africa Tech Competition in our newsletter, and also you gained’t wish to leave out our in-depth recap. Make sure you subscribe for extra unique updates on occasions like this. You’ll additionally catch our competition highlights on social media. We’ve shared reels of the bustling climate, dynamic panels, and groundbreaking shows that made this occasion’s competition unforgettable.