Africa cements its status as a global leader in digital transformation as thousands flock to day one of inaugural GITEX Africa
Tech leaders
from across the continent and the world collaborate and pledge their commitments
to accelerate cross-continent investment opportunities
Marrakech,
Morocco:
Africa’s rising status as a global
leader in digital transformation was firmly cemented during day one of the
inaugural GITEX Africa 2023, as tech leaders from across the continent and the
world gathered to collaborate and pledge their commitments to accelerating
cross-continent investment opportunities.
GITEX
Africa, which runs until tomorrow (2 June 2023), in Marrakech, Morocco,
welcomed thousands of attendees across its 45,000 sqm of exhibition expanse,
with government ministers and private sector executives alike celebrating the
collective achievements, and more importantly, advancing the future ambitions
of a continent determined to elevate its entrepreneurial innovation economy.
Creating Africa’s own Silicon Valley
Babajide
Sanwo-olu, Executive Governor of the Lagos State in
Nigeria, was among the keynote speakers at the GITEX Africa Digital Summit. The Lagos Governor explained how Africa is on
the fast-track to become the next Silicon Valley.
He
also stressed the importance of investing in African youth, which makes up over
60 percent of the continent’s population, while noting that, according to
studies, around 30 percent of investment in Africa is dedicated to the digital
economy.
Mr. Sanwo-olu
said Lagos is already home to some of Africa’s largest data centres, while the
state’s Start-Up Act 2022 and Knowledge, Innovation, Technology, and
Entrepreneurship (KITE) Project in the Yaba suburb are propelling Lagos, and
Nigeria into a hub of global innovation.
“The
Yaba Start-Up policy will elevate Lagos as a city ready to become a global
player,” said Mr. Sanwo-olu. “In a few years, not only will Africa be supplying
the bulk of professionals required (in the global IT industry) but it will also
be creating a lot of jobs.
“In ten
years, Africa will become the place where major global companies such as
Microsoft and Meta, will come to recruit intelligent profiles trained in the technical
fields in which Africa abounds.”
In
its debut edition, GITEX Africa features 900 exhibiting companies and start-ups
eager to gain access to meaningful and valuable connections for business
development while learning about the vast opportunities in the world’s rising
digital economy.
TalentQL
is one of 60-plus Nigerian start-ups this week looking to scale-up its
operations and collaborate with fellow innovators and investors. Founded in
2021, TalentQL helps companies build top-tier teams by hiring, developing and
managing tech talent remotely.
“The
focus for us is to bridge the divide between demand and supply for tech talent
in Africa,” said Ibrahim Conte, Director of TalentQL, which has operations in Nigeria,
the UK, Rwanda, and the USA.
“We
help companies hire engineering talent via our diverse and robust pool of data
scientists, developers, software, cloud, and cybersecurity professionals, and technical
support. We shorten the process that
companies go through to hire talent, and even ensure a cultural fit of
candidates so clients have the best possible talent to grow their organisations
and scale their products.”
Conte
said demand for African talent is now higher than ever: “The supply and the
demand are higher now for African talent, and we help these companies access
those talents,” he added. “We’re
participating at GITEX Africa to learn from other innovators and to celebrate
collaboration to make things better for Africa.”
Promoting financial inclusion through flourishing
fintech
Africa’s
flourishing fintech sector meanwhile is estimated to reach revenues of US$65
billion by 2030, growing at the world’s fastest rate at 13 times over the next
seven years.
This
presents a unique opportunity for the continent to leapfrog outdated stages of
technological development and move straight to more advanced solutions that are
being debated and scrutinised at GITEX Africa’s Fintech Summit, one of ten
dedicated conference tracks at Africa’s most comprehensive leadership
conference programme.
Aalya Ghouli, CEO of DIGIFI and DIGISERV at BNP Paribas, a
speaker at the Fintech Summit, said: “GITEX Africa is a unique
opportunity to bring together the African ecosystem around a common goal: to
accelerate digitalisation in Africa and position the continent as a key global
player in the development of technological innovation.
“The
number of participants and their backgrounds prove the current effervescence of
the continent and its willingness of its states to position digital at the
heart of their development strategy. GITEX
Africa plays a major role to support this dynamic. BNP Paribas has been promoting for years now
the financial inclusion and the digitalisation of financial services in Morocco
and other African territories. It is natural to support such as a forum and
initiative.”
Khalid
Elgibaly, President of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Mastercard,
will also speak on a fireside chat on GITEX Africa’s Fintech Summit about Fintech
as a building block of Africa’s digital future: “Fintechs, with their
disruptive and inclusive nature, have emerged as powerful enablers of financial
services for previously underserved populations, overcoming traditional
barriers such as limited access to banking infrastructure.
“By
promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders, GITEX Africa
unlocks new opportunities and drives the digital transformation necessary to
address the continent’s unique challenges while unlocking its vast potential.”
Supernova Challenge battlers take centre-stage for start-up supremacy
Today
will also see some of world’s most innovative start-ups take their next steps
into potentially becoming the next African-borne Unicorn.
The GITEX Africa Supernova Challenge, Africa’s most valuable start-up pitch competition with US$100,000 in cash prizes, has pooled a shortlist of 70 disruptive start-ups from 31 countries to battle it out for supremacy across two days of live pitches in front of a 13-strong judging panel of global VCs, angel investors, and accelerators.
The shortlist of Africa’s most coveted start-up pitch competition was selected from more than 300 applications, representing nations from across the globe, including Cameroon, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Gambia, Ghana, India, Israel, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunisia, Uganda, UK, USA, and Zambia.
GITEX Africa is held under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, and hosted by the Digital Development Agency (ADD), under the authority of the Moroccan Ministry of Digital Transition and Administration Reform.
The hyper connector is organised by KAOUN International, the overseas events organising company of Dubai World Trade Centre, which organises GITEX Global in Dubai, UAE, the world’s largest tech and start-up show, rated by tech executives as the world’s best global tech event.
Source: Gitex Africa