In the 5 years from 2017 to 2021, the continent’s smart home device market quadrupled from $339M to $1.31B, with research predicting this trend to continue with 10 billion smart devices in African homes by 2030. This session will explore the key drivers behind this boom, how enterprise and consumer can benefit, and what the trend means for connectivity and wider economic growth.
Smart, defined: ‘Smart’ now includes a wide range of devices - how are these delivering enhanced communication, security, energy management, and multimedia entertainment?
- Trend drivers: Better connectivity, younger, tech-friendly populations, and more disposable income have all fuelled uptake - can tackling adoption hurdles drive truly inclusive change?
The Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the continent’s greatest tech development opportunities. Outdated policy and weak networks have meant that, in a nation of more than 100 million people, fewer than 20% of people have an internet connection - that’s about to change.
This session unpacks the status, achievements, challenges & goals for the new 2,500km fibre network, and how it can bring affordable internet to one of the world’s most expensive places to be online.
Market: the impact of in-situ market conditions - policy & regulation, investment vehicles, the start-up scene, and network infrastructure, and what transformation fibre could bring
Regional impact: what can the DRC learn from countries that have gone through the process of telecoms and network transformation? Rwanda, Ethiopia, Morocco
The agricultural sector in Africa has struggled from supply chain inefficiencies and a fragmented market as produce takes increasingly longer to get to the end consumer. Middlemen dominate the markets as small scale sellers do not have the capital to source directly from farmers. This leads to pricing controls in the market maintaining low prices for the producer and high for the consumer.
- Transparency & Tracking: Blockchain has the potential to create more transparency through providing records of operations & financial services through its peer-to-peer technology but what are some of the key barriers to adoption?
- Beyond Crypto: Beyond its financial functionality, what kind of innovative thinking in blockchain could transform the sector and create more opportunities for farmers?
It’s an issue that continues to dog African telecoms, and one the continent could do without. Government auctions for the rights of limited spectrum are an essential part of the connectivity matrix, with telcos submitting bids for access to tap into allocated spectrum. Simple right? Apparently not.
A series of high-profile court cases have highlighted the inefficiency of the current process. A large part of the issue is that some parties miss out, with challenges on the distribution of spectrum, legitimate or not, often taking months to resolve. There is a better way of working, and it involves a more transparent and timely process to ensure enterprise and consumer aren't suffering.
- MoroccoTech and its ambition to put Morocco on the map as a preferred digital destination around the world
- Exploring the huge potential of Morocco as a telecoms and tech market, what makes the country unique, and what do new entrants need to know?
Countries across Central Africa have some of the lowest rates of electricity access across the continent with resources in the DRC, for example, covering less than 10% of the population. Given the climate, however, it is an ideal region to implement clean energy solutions as a means to combat climate change and provide the population with a basic need.
DRC Case study: Exploring the impact of partnerships between telcos and clean energy providers to make access to electricity more widespread across the country
Policies: What more can governments do to encourage investment in green energy?
Web 3.0 presents an incredible opportunity for companies with the metaverse becoming a reality and providing opportunities to do business, interact socially or take part in commercial activities through a virtual setting. These opportunities also come with increased security threats that can be exploited by cybercriminals.
- Social engineering: the majority of cyberattacks are trough social engineering as users are still adapting to new technologies. How common is cryptocurrency wallet cloning in the metaverse and how are cybercriminals using seed ENS domains to carry out cyberattacks?
- Smart contracts: How can cybercriminals exploit smart contracts and how effective are malicious smart contracts created by hackers?
Africa’s growing broadband penetration and disposable incomes are driving an ‘over-the-top’ boom - originally seen as a threat, telcos are increasingly producing their own content and launching platforms.
As traditional revenue streams are increasingly squeezed by the rise of free messaging & calls, network congestion, rising infrastructure costs, and a lack of regulation present threats to the telco's bottom line.
Threats: Revenue declines, free messaging and call services, increased network congestion, rising infrastructure costs, and a lack of clear regulation are all threats to the telco bottom line
- Opportunity knocks: 4G & 5G rollouts and improved networks, development of telco OTT platforms and content, and bespoke partnerships all present growth potential
Blockchain and cryptocurrency have the potential to revolutionise African banking. From real estate to education, the technology is ideally placed to address some of the heritage challenges that have stifled the development of the continent’s digital economies.
This session unpacks the value potential for Africa: from cross-border interoperability and peer-to-peer lending, to remittances and supply-chain optimization. We’ll explore how addressing hurdles like energy demands & regulation can unlock wide-scale adoption and better access to financing for millions
Market-led: prioritising in-market usability to solve real-world challenges like personal verification, through business models that flex with evolving, maturing African markets
- Pioneers: how are early adopters, Kenya & Ethiopia, using regulatory frameworks to integrate the tech into existing digital infrastructure? What could South Africa’s Digital Rand mean?
Digital payments have become a preferred mode of payments in many parts of the world, and the West African region is no exception. In fact, the growth of digital payment in this region is higher than most of the other regions. In this session, we will explore the digital payment and mobile finance in the West African region – It’s opportunities, advantages, challenges, and all-important ‘good to know’.
Electrifying mobile infrastructure in Africa is currently a dirty business. The majority of operators across the continent still rely on polluting, unreliable, and expensive diesel generators to power their towers and base stations. The accelerating drive to connect rural, undeveloped areas beyond the reach of grid electricity means it’s an increasingly pertinent challenge, and one for which renewable energy provides a uniquely attractive solution.
This session explores how partnership, tech innovation, novel investment strategy, and policy are combining to ensure renewable solutions are a long-term choice for powering Africa’s mobile networks.
South Africa is reported to have the 3rd highest number of cybercrimes and one of the challenges the country faces in combatting it is the shortage of cybersecurity skills. Companies are struggling to hire people with the capabilities to not only manage the attacks but equip the organisation with a proficient security system to future-proof the security of their business.
- Education over technology: In order for technology to efficiently be managed and run cybersecurity programmes, the right skills are needed to understand the interoperability of the solution and be able to implement it.
- South Africa as a case study: The South African government implemented a formal education qualification for graduate and post graduate degrees to address the cybersecurity skill gaps. How effective has this been at meeting some of the skills shortages in its early stages?
Each of the hundreds of millions of newly connected African smartphones, laptops, tablets, smart home devices, and IoT sensors coming online each year require a unique IP address to communicate across the internet. What's the big deal? Well, the tech currently hosting these devices, IPv4, has run out of space.
Addressing the shortage of available IP addresses is critical to internet growth and continued progress towards leveraging inclusive, efficient 4IRs. IPv6, the next-gen IP address standard has already been developed, tested, and rolled out across the continent, and can support many trillions of new devices.
This session explores a route to wider, more urgent IPv6 rollout in Africa, and why tech innovation alone is not enough to drive migration from IPv4 – education, partnership & regulation are also critical.
Adoption hurdles: addressing poor resource allocation, incompatible infrastructure, and weak regulation – and leveraging innovations such as dual-stacking cato accelerate IPv6 roll-out
- Application: implications for a continent stuck on IPv4 for crucial sectors – telecoms, smart cities, data centres, & industrial IoT – alongside learnings from countries, South Africa & Nigeria, leading IPv6 deployment
Global demand for food will increase by 70% by 2050 and at least $80 billion in investment will be needed annually to meet this demand. This session will explore what steps need to be taken to meet this and future demands by ensuring that farming practices are sustainable and do not necessitate a drain on current resources.
- Long term sustainability: Agriculture accounts for 50% of water use in South Africa and experience water losses between 30-40%, how do farming practices need to change to reduce the amount of wastage?
- Affordability: Exploring how these new farming techniques can be affordable and accessible, new products such as PAYG tractor financing, for example, have been introduced to the market allowing customers to pay as you go.
- IoT: How can IoT be used in farming to analyse and harness insights? What are the benefits of smart irrigation and how can it be scaled?
It’s not difficult to see why Africa’s mobile money sector is the world’s most attractive - 548M accounts, >50% of global live services, and $13B of monthly transactions - but despite the impressive statistics, a greater potential remains untapped.
This session unpacks the struggle for the continent’s mobile money market as telcos diversify to add credit, insurance and digital platforms, and banks venture outside safer, lucrative traditional products to cater for enterprises and consumers demanding a place in the 4IR.
Telco vs Bank? telcos and banks are tapping established in-market players for intelligence, app dev, & data analytic expertise to facilitate market entry, can they also partner together?
- Policy: a regulatory environment that nurtures a competitive but fair playing field to ensure Africa continues to lead the world in mobile money innovation - there’s work to do
Over the last year, investment into Africa’s healthtech sector has grown by 81% as Covid-19 put a spotlight on how technology could be used to create a more accessible healthcare system. Africa’s healthcare sector is estimated to continue in its growth journey and be worth up to 11 billion dollars by 2025. Now more than ever, the interest is building - this session will focus on how different players across the healthcare system can work together not just to scale these innovations but ensure they are future-proof.
- Government policy: What kind of policies are needed to enable this investment, gw can governments create a stable operating environment to support innovation and tech in the healthcare system?
- Public & private sector partnerships: How can different stakeholders in the industry such as governments and NGOs better collaborate with the private sector to leverage opportunities and create a beneficial healthcare system for all?
The ICT sector has traditionally been a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as data centers, for example, contribute to 2% of global GHG. The sector therefore also has a real potential to play a part in combating climate change and taking steps to reduce energy consumption and operate more sustainably.
- Green Target: What are simple steps that ICT providers can take to lower their carbon emissions? Exploring how innovation in infrastructure building across data centers can lower energy use by up to 90%.
- Innovative Tech: What impact can smart electricity grids and smart cities have in lowering Africa's carbon emissions?
Africa has a great opportunity to leapfrog into climate technology leadership: cargo drones, robotics, agriculture and renewable energy are all areas where Africa has the potential for world-leading innovation.
Africa accounts for less than 1% of the world’s co-location data centre supply with South Africa accounting for the bulk of capacity and yet it has the highest growth of internet penetration.
- Localising Data: The majority of data is still held outside the continent, how is that affecting the transfer of data in Africa? Have policies and regulation across the continent encouraged the hosting of data closer to where it has been consumed?
- Government incentives: A number of governments are taking initiative by developing special economic zones, industrial parks which provide tax exemptions for data centers, has this accelerated the construction of data centers in certain areas?
Governance: designing progressive policy as unique as the ecosystem, and delivering security, access to capital, and financial incentives. Are ‘Start-up Acts’ the future?
Value-led: prioritising factors critical for tech ecosystem appeal - cost of living & labour, visa & customs restrictions, infrastructure - that make investors come and talent stay
Hubs & incubators: co-working space that delivers skills and training, bringing entrepreneurs together to foster relationships and introductions to mentors and investors
- Leading lights: Countries leading by example in the pursuit of better tech ecosystems - Egypt, South Africa, Rwanda, and which emergent countries are stepping up?
Console Connect and Balancing Act share findings from the 2022 Africa Interconnection Report, including:
- A look back at a landmark year of investment in data centres in Africa
- Analysis of whether investment in cloud services is keeping pace
- The enterprise view on what is needed next for cloud adoption to take off in the region
We hear a lot about the success of the African fintech landscape, its growth and potential for enabling digital inclusion across the continent. The industry, however, has huge disparities between genders and women face significant challenges in benefiting from the booming sector. The funding that went into female led start-ups between 2013-2021, for example, was less than 5% of total available funding.
- Bridging the gap: Many attribute the gap to a lack of female techpreneurs, does part of the problem lie in bringing women into the fintech space? What are some of the barriers preventing this?
- Gender based biases: Even if there are less female fintech entrepreneurs, there still lies strong gender biases that affect the ability of female entrepreneurs to access funding. What are some of the ways to address this? How important is it to have diversity of people with decision making power to effectively create change?
No global region has added more internet users in the last 10 years than Africa. While this progress towards a connected continent has rightly been lauded, there’s more to the story. A pattern of increasingly oppressive, exclusive controls have raised questions on what environment internet users, new and old, are using for work and play. This session will explore the pervasiveness and impact of internet taxes, hacks & data leaks, social media bans, and shutdowns on internet access.
- Status: Equiano made its first African landing in Togo in March 2022 - which other countries will be connected, and what major milestones remain for the project?
- Impact: what will terabit-sized capacity increases and faster fibre mean for enterprise, and can these benefits translate into more affordable home broadband for African consumers?
- Catalyst: can the cable help address the issue of poor fibre penetration in underserved nations inland? And what impact will this have on job creation, SMEs & economic growth?
Although interest and investment in cloud computing is growing at an increasingly rapid rate, there is a skills gap in meeting the necessary demand for digital and in particular cloud computing skills. Gartner estimated that the supply and demand ratio in South Africa, for example, was extremely low at 5 professionals with the available skills for every 1 job posting.
- Digital skills: How have programmes across the continent helped to equip the youth with digital skills? What is the role of government and the private sector in bridging this gap? How can universities partner with companies to deliver these trainings?
- Future ready: The IMF predicts there will be 230 million new jobs by 2030 requiring a certain level of digital literacy and technical skills. How do we ensure that skills we are teaching will be future-proof and meet the skills in demand in the next decade?
Over the past 5 years, the continent has seen a surge in active users entering the gaming industry from 77 million in 2015 to 186 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is due partly to the increase of people being connected through smartphones but the adoption of blockchain technology is key to acceleration the adoption and transformation of the industry.
- Blockchain Gaming: What does the term “blockchain gaming”? How will it change the future of the gaming industry?
- Monetizing gaming: How has blockchain and cryptocurrency created new opportunities for entrepreneurs to enter the gaming industry?
Within the last few years, Ghana is one of the countries across the continent that has taken steps to invest in the development of a cybersecurity structure. Not only has the country ratified several international treaties such as the Convention on Cybercrime, the AU Convention on Cybersecurity & data protection but has been rated as a leader in the continent by the ITU with a cybersecurity index development rate at around 87%.
- Cybersecurity best practises: Although Ghana is seen as a champion in the region on cybersecurity, cybercrime is still very much prevalent across Ghana. What more can the government and private sector do to tackle credit card fraud and internet users that continue to be victims of cybercrime?
- Planning Ahead: Ghana has been praised for its progress in building successful cybersecurity frameworks but what are some of the key malware attacks taking place and what vulnerabilities should business be aware of to ensure their security is futureproof?
West African countries are striving to create a digital economy to foster new drivers of economic and social transformation, innovation, governance, and regional integration. Progress on this score is critically dependent on infrastructure. A need to bridge the infrastructure gaps and making telco services affordable is a preoccupation for many players.
In the 5 years from 2017 to 2021, the continent’s smart home device market quadrupled from $339M to $1.31B, with research predicting this trend to continue with 10 billion smart devices in African homes by 2030. This session will explore the key drivers behind this boom, how enterprise and consumer can benefit, and what the trend means for connectivity and wider economic growth.
Smart, defined: ‘Smart’ now includes a wide range of devices - how are these delivering enhanced communication, security, energy management, and multimedia entertainment?
- Trend drivers: Better connectivity, younger, tech-friendly populations, and more disposable income have all fuelled uptake - can tackling adoption hurdles drive truly inclusive change?
The Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the continent’s greatest tech development opportunities. Outdated policy and weak networks have meant that, in a nation of more than 100 million people, fewer than 20% of people have an internet connection - that’s about to change.
This session unpacks the status, achievements, challenges & goals for the new 2,500km fibre network, and how it can bring affordable internet to one of the world’s most expensive places to be online.
Market: the impact of in-situ market conditions - policy & regulation, investment vehicles, the start-up scene, and network infrastructure, and what transformation fibre could bring
Regional impact: what can the DRC learn from countries that have gone through the process of telecoms and network transformation? Rwanda, Ethiopia, Morocco
The agricultural sector in Africa has struggled from supply chain inefficiencies and a fragmented market as produce takes increasingly longer to get to the end consumer. Middlemen dominate the markets as small scale sellers do not have the capital to source directly from farmers. This leads to pricing controls in the market maintaining low prices for the producer and high for the consumer.
- Transparency & Tracking: Blockchain has the potential to create more transparency through providing records of operations & financial services through its peer-to-peer technology but what are some of the key barriers to adoption?
- Beyond Crypto: Beyond its financial functionality, what kind of innovative thinking in blockchain could transform the sector and create more opportunities for farmers?
It’s an issue that continues to dog African telecoms, and one the continent could do without. Government auctions for the rights of limited spectrum are an essential part of the connectivity matrix, with telcos submitting bids for access to tap into allocated spectrum. Simple right? Apparently not.
A series of high-profile court cases have highlighted the inefficiency of the current process. A large part of the issue is that some parties miss out, with challenges on the distribution of spectrum, legitimate or not, often taking months to resolve. There is a better way of working, and it involves a more transparent and timely process to ensure enterprise and consumer aren't suffering.
- MoroccoTech and its ambition to put Morocco on the map as a preferred digital destination around the world
- Exploring the huge potential of Morocco as a telecoms and tech market, what makes the country unique, and what do new entrants need to know?
Countries across Central Africa have some of the lowest rates of electricity access across the continent with resources in the DRC, for example, covering less than 10% of the population. Given the climate, however, it is an ideal region to implement clean energy solutions as a means to combat climate change and provide the population with a basic need.
DRC Case study: Exploring the impact of partnerships between telcos and clean energy providers to make access to electricity more widespread across the country
Policies: What more can governments do to encourage investment in green energy?
Web 3.0 presents an incredible opportunity for companies with the metaverse becoming a reality and providing opportunities to do business, interact socially or take part in commercial activities through a virtual setting. These opportunities also come with increased security threats that can be exploited by cybercriminals.
- Social engineering: the majority of cyberattacks are trough social engineering as users are still adapting to new technologies. How common is cryptocurrency wallet cloning in the metaverse and how are cybercriminals using seed ENS domains to carry out cyberattacks?
- Smart contracts: How can cybercriminals exploit smart contracts and how effective are malicious smart contracts created by hackers?
Africa’s growing broadband penetration and disposable incomes are driving an ‘over-the-top’ boom - originally seen as a threat, telcos are increasingly producing their own content and launching platforms.
As traditional revenue streams are increasingly squeezed by the rise of free messaging & calls, network congestion, rising infrastructure costs, and a lack of regulation present threats to the telco's bottom line.
Threats: Revenue declines, free messaging and call services, increased network congestion, rising infrastructure costs, and a lack of clear regulation are all threats to the telco bottom line
- Opportunity knocks: 4G & 5G rollouts and improved networks, development of telco OTT platforms and content, and bespoke partnerships all present growth potential
Blockchain and cryptocurrency have the potential to revolutionise African banking. From real estate to education, the technology is ideally placed to address some of the heritage challenges that have stifled the development of the continent’s digital economies.
This session unpacks the value potential for Africa: from cross-border interoperability and peer-to-peer lending, to remittances and supply-chain optimization. We’ll explore how addressing hurdles like energy demands & regulation can unlock wide-scale adoption and better access to financing for millions
Market-led: prioritising in-market usability to solve real-world challenges like personal verification, through business models that flex with evolving, maturing African markets
- Pioneers: how are early adopters, Kenya & Ethiopia, using regulatory frameworks to integrate the tech into existing digital infrastructure? What could South Africa’s Digital Rand mean?
Digital payments have become a preferred mode of payments in many parts of the world, and the West African region is no exception. In fact, the growth of digital payment in this region is higher than most of the other regions. In this session, we will explore the digital payment and mobile finance in the West African region – It’s opportunities, advantages, challenges, and all-important ‘good to know’.
Electrifying mobile infrastructure in Africa is currently a dirty business. The majority of operators across the continent still rely on polluting, unreliable, and expensive diesel generators to power their towers and base stations. The accelerating drive to connect rural, undeveloped areas beyond the reach of grid electricity means it’s an increasingly pertinent challenge, and one for which renewable energy provides a uniquely attractive solution.
This session explores how partnership, tech innovation, novel investment strategy, and policy are combining to ensure renewable solutions are a long-term choice for powering Africa’s mobile networks.
South Africa is reported to have the 3rd highest number of cybercrimes and one of the challenges the country faces in combatting it is the shortage of cybersecurity skills. Companies are struggling to hire people with the capabilities to not only manage the attacks but equip the organisation with a proficient security system to future-proof the security of their business.
- Education over technology: In order for technology to efficiently be managed and run cybersecurity programmes, the right skills are needed to understand the interoperability of the solution and be able to implement it.
- South Africa as a case study: The South African government implemented a formal education qualification for graduate and post graduate degrees to address the cybersecurity skill gaps. How effective has this been at meeting some of the skills shortages in its early stages?
Each of the hundreds of millions of newly connected African smartphones, laptops, tablets, smart home devices, and IoT sensors coming online each year require a unique IP address to communicate across the internet. What's the big deal? Well, the tech currently hosting these devices, IPv4, has run out of space.
Addressing the shortage of available IP addresses is critical to internet growth and continued progress towards leveraging inclusive, efficient 4IRs. IPv6, the next-gen IP address standard has already been developed, tested, and rolled out across the continent, and can support many trillions of new devices.
This session explores a route to wider, more urgent IPv6 rollout in Africa, and why tech innovation alone is not enough to drive migration from IPv4 – education, partnership & regulation are also critical.
Adoption hurdles: addressing poor resource allocation, incompatible infrastructure, and weak regulation – and leveraging innovations such as dual-stacking cato accelerate IPv6 roll-out
- Application: implications for a continent stuck on IPv4 for crucial sectors – telecoms, smart cities, data centres, & industrial IoT – alongside learnings from countries, South Africa & Nigeria, leading IPv6 deployment
Global demand for food will increase by 70% by 2050 and at least $80 billion in investment will be needed annually to meet this demand. This session will explore what steps need to be taken to meet this and future demands by ensuring that farming practices are sustainable and do not necessitate a drain on current resources.
- Long term sustainability: Agriculture accounts for 50% of water use in South Africa and experience water losses between 30-40%, how do farming practices need to change to reduce the amount of wastage?
- Affordability: Exploring how these new farming techniques can be affordable and accessible, new products such as PAYG tractor financing, for example, have been introduced to the market allowing customers to pay as you go.
- IoT: How can IoT be used in farming to analyse and harness insights? What are the benefits of smart irrigation and how can it be scaled?
It’s not difficult to see why Africa’s mobile money sector is the world’s most attractive - 548M accounts, >50% of global live services, and $13B of monthly transactions - but despite the impressive statistics, a greater potential remains untapped.
This session unpacks the struggle for the continent’s mobile money market as telcos diversify to add credit, insurance and digital platforms, and banks venture outside safer, lucrative traditional products to cater for enterprises and consumers demanding a place in the 4IR.
Telco vs Bank? telcos and banks are tapping established in-market players for intelligence, app dev, & data analytic expertise to facilitate market entry, can they also partner together?
- Policy: a regulatory environment that nurtures a competitive but fair playing field to ensure Africa continues to lead the world in mobile money innovation - there’s work to do
Over the last year, investment into Africa’s healthtech sector has grown by 81% as Covid-19 put a spotlight on how technology could be used to create a more accessible healthcare system. Africa’s healthcare sector is estimated to continue in its growth journey and be worth up to 11 billion dollars by 2025. Now more than ever, the interest is building - this session will focus on how different players across the healthcare system can work together not just to scale these innovations but ensure they are future-proof.
- Government policy: What kind of policies are needed to enable this investment, gw can governments create a stable operating environment to support innovation and tech in the healthcare system?
- Public & private sector partnerships: How can different stakeholders in the industry such as governments and NGOs better collaborate with the private sector to leverage opportunities and create a beneficial healthcare system for all?
The ICT sector has traditionally been a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as data centers, for example, contribute to 2% of global GHG. The sector therefore also has a real potential to play a part in combating climate change and taking steps to reduce energy consumption and operate more sustainably.
- Green Target: What are simple steps that ICT providers can take to lower their carbon emissions? Exploring how innovation in infrastructure building across data centers can lower energy use by up to 90%.
- Innovative Tech: What impact can smart electricity grids and smart cities have in lowering Africa's carbon emissions?
Africa has a great opportunity to leapfrog into climate technology leadership: cargo drones, robotics, agriculture and renewable energy are all areas where Africa has the potential for world-leading innovation.
Africa accounts for less than 1% of the world’s co-location data centre supply with South Africa accounting for the bulk of capacity and yet it has the highest growth of internet penetration.
- Localising Data: The majority of data is still held outside the continent, how is that affecting the transfer of data in Africa? Have policies and regulation across the continent encouraged the hosting of data closer to where it has been consumed?
- Government incentives: A number of governments are taking initiative by developing special economic zones, industrial parks which provide tax exemptions for data centers, has this accelerated the construction of data centers in certain areas?
Governance: designing progressive policy as unique as the ecosystem, and delivering security, access to capital, and financial incentives. Are ‘Start-up Acts’ the future?
Value-led: prioritising factors critical for tech ecosystem appeal - cost of living & labour, visa & customs restrictions, infrastructure - that make investors come and talent stay
Hubs & incubators: co-working space that delivers skills and training, bringing entrepreneurs together to foster relationships and introductions to mentors and investors
- Leading lights: Countries leading by example in the pursuit of better tech ecosystems - Egypt, South Africa, Rwanda, and which emergent countries are stepping up?
Console Connect and Balancing Act share findings from the 2022 Africa Interconnection Report, including:
- A look back at a landmark year of investment in data centres in Africa
- Analysis of whether investment in cloud services is keeping pace
- The enterprise view on what is needed next for cloud adoption to take off in the region
We hear a lot about the success of the African fintech landscape, its growth and potential for enabling digital inclusion across the continent. The industry, however, has huge disparities between genders and women face significant challenges in benefiting from the booming sector. The funding that went into female led start-ups between 2013-2021, for example, was less than 5% of total available funding.
- Bridging the gap: Many attribute the gap to a lack of female techpreneurs, does part of the problem lie in bringing women into the fintech space? What are some of the barriers preventing this?
- Gender based biases: Even if there are less female fintech entrepreneurs, there still lies strong gender biases that affect the ability of female entrepreneurs to access funding. What are some of the ways to address this? How important is it to have diversity of people with decision making power to effectively create change?
No global region has added more internet users in the last 10 years than Africa. While this progress towards a connected continent has rightly been lauded, there’s more to the story. A pattern of increasingly oppressive, exclusive controls have raised questions on what environment internet users, new and old, are using for work and play. This session will explore the pervasiveness and impact of internet taxes, hacks & data leaks, social media bans, and shutdowns on internet access.
- Status: Equiano made its first African landing in Togo in March 2022 - which other countries will be connected, and what major milestones remain for the project?
- Impact: what will terabit-sized capacity increases and faster fibre mean for enterprise, and can these benefits translate into more affordable home broadband for African consumers?
- Catalyst: can the cable help address the issue of poor fibre penetration in underserved nations inland? And what impact will this have on job creation, SMEs & economic growth?
Although interest and investment in cloud computing is growing at an increasingly rapid rate, there is a skills gap in meeting the necessary demand for digital and in particular cloud computing skills. Gartner estimated that the supply and demand ratio in South Africa, for example, was extremely low at 5 professionals with the available skills for every 1 job posting.
- Digital skills: How have programmes across the continent helped to equip the youth with digital skills? What is the role of government and the private sector in bridging this gap? How can universities partner with companies to deliver these trainings?
- Future ready: The IMF predicts there will be 230 million new jobs by 2030 requiring a certain level of digital literacy and technical skills. How do we ensure that skills we are teaching will be future-proof and meet the skills in demand in the next decade?
Over the past 5 years, the continent has seen a surge in active users entering the gaming industry from 77 million in 2015 to 186 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is due partly to the increase of people being connected through smartphones but the adoption of blockchain technology is key to acceleration the adoption and transformation of the industry.
- Blockchain Gaming: What does the term “blockchain gaming”? How will it change the future of the gaming industry?
- Monetizing gaming: How has blockchain and cryptocurrency created new opportunities for entrepreneurs to enter the gaming industry?
Within the last few years, Ghana is one of the countries across the continent that has taken steps to invest in the development of a cybersecurity structure. Not only has the country ratified several international treaties such as the Convention on Cybercrime, the AU Convention on Cybersecurity & data protection but has been rated as a leader in the continent by the ITU with a cybersecurity index development rate at around 87%.
- Cybersecurity best practises: Although Ghana is seen as a champion in the region on cybersecurity, cybercrime is still very much prevalent across Ghana. What more can the government and private sector do to tackle credit card fraud and internet users that continue to be victims of cybercrime?
- Planning Ahead: Ghana has been praised for its progress in building successful cybersecurity frameworks but what are some of the key malware attacks taking place and what vulnerabilities should business be aware of to ensure their security is futureproof?
West African countries are striving to create a digital economy to foster new drivers of economic and social transformation, innovation, governance, and regional integration. Progress on this score is critically dependent on infrastructure. A need to bridge the infrastructure gaps and making telco services affordable is a preoccupation for many players.