The fourth edition of the Africa Tech Summit starts this February 23 in Nairobi with even more investors and start-ups of the tech Made in Africa. This dynamic confirms the growing interest for the sector on the continent.
By Dounia Ben Mohamed
The Africa Tech Summit, the main event of the African tech ecosystem, kicked off its fourth edition on February 23 in Nairobi (Kenya). The two-day event will once again bring together stakeholders in the continent’s tech space to explore the opportunities and challenges of the ecosystem, while presenting investment opportunities. « Africa tech Summit is a conference that brings together key players in the African tech scene. When I conceived the event in 2016, the idea was to meet the need of people looking to expand their network, but also the expectations of investors, startups, policy makers, » recalls Andrew Fassnidge, the organizer of the summit, who notes that « African tech has progressed tremendously in recent years. »
« African tech has progressed enormously in recent years »
Today, the Africa Tech Summit serves as a barometer of the African tech scene as well as its main promotion and networking platform. This ideal position allows to decipher the dynamics underway. « More than 4 billion euros have been invested in African start-ups in 2021. Better still, beyond the increase in investments, we are now seeing African technology companies acquire other companies, and establish themselves in new markets outside Africa (Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia). Clearly, we are in an exciting era for African tech and Africa Tech Summit helps bring these different players together, helping them do business and establish partnerships, » said Andrew Fassnidge.
Indeed, for this 2022 edition, the focus will once again be on encouraging partnerships – especially between investors and start-ups – in order to foster the development of entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. Entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, established companies and industry organizations seeking to engage with the entrepreneurship community are expected to come in large numbers to make contacts and close deals.
« Fintech remains the poster child for investment because it is necessary for most other services »
In notable trends, while 2021 was a banner year for investment in African tech startups, a movement toward diversification, both geographically and thematically, seems to be taking shape. In fact, even if fintech remains in the lead, sectors such as Edtech, e-health and e-commerce have been able to attract the favor of financiers at the time of fundraising… As for the regions in vogue, there are now, alongside the traditional heavyweights that are Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Egypt, more and more start-ups from Senegal, Rwanda and Tunisia that are making their breakthrough… » Fintech remains the poster child for investment because it is necessary for most other services. There must be a payment network and an e-commerce or logistics capacity for all these other services to be paid for, » analyzes the boss of the Africa Tech Summit, who also notes that « the pandemic has helped accelerate the conclusion of many deals. With investors no longer able to travel to Nairobi, Lagos or Accra to meet with their vendor partners, « many deals have been finalized via Zoom calls, » observes Andrew Fassnidge.
« Driven by the challenge of Covid, many companies have pivoted and reinvented themselves »
Lucid, the organizer of the Africa Tech Summit deplores the fact that « the crisis [has] produced its share of victims, many start-ups failing, especially because no one was using their services during the period of lockdown. Others, on the other hand, driven by the challenge of Covid, « have been able to pivot and reinvent themselves, like SafeBoda in Uganda, which has grown from a motorcycle cab company to a broader platform of services associated with transportation and delivery, » concludes Andrew Fassnidge on an optimistic note. This resilience is probably shared by many of the summit participants, who are expected in Nairobi to pitch, exchange ideas and… attract investors!
Find out more: Africa Tech Summit
