The 2024 Africa Tech Festival will be held in Cape Town, South Africa. This was disclosed in a statement by the organisers that was seen by Technext. According to the statement, the event, which will run from November 12 to 14 will feature its signature pitch event, AfricaIgnite. Here, early-stage startups can pitch to win up to a $1 million investment prize.
Though this year’s event will be the 27th edition, AfricaIgnite will only be witnessing its second edition following its successful introduction last year. According to the organisers, AfricaIgnite is the flagship event for founders, investors, and key players in the tech ecosystem, supporting market access and investment opportunities for the continent’s startups.
The event will see the continent’s most innovative startups exposed to unprecedented opportunities to pitch their businesses, connect with funders, and meet potential customers. Other events at the Africa Tech Festival include AfricaCom, AfricaTech, and AI Summit Cape Town.
Speaking about the upcoming edition, Event Director of Africa Tech Festival, James Williams, said the festival is about providing a platform for all stakeholders to collaborate and drive innovation.
“Africa Tech Festival is all about providing a platform for stakeholders from across all spheres of Africa’s technology arena to connect, collaborate, and drive innovation. It is wonderful to see how AfricaIgnite has grown since first being included in the Africa Tech Festival line-up. This year sees the highest attendance by founders and venture capitalists to date, reflecting the effectiveness of the platform in growing Africa’s startup ecosystem,” he said.
Africa Tech Festival brings ideas and investors together
The Africa Tech Festival is touted as a vibrant celebration of Africa’s diverse community of tech champions. It is acclaimed as the largest tech and digital connectivity conference and exhibition in Africa, attracting hundreds of exhibitors, more than 450 speakers and more than 15,000 delegates.
By its lineup of delegates, speakers and activities, the event is designed to be a melting point for ideas and investment. The event features an impressive stack of speakers which includes the biggest African investors like Bongani Sithole, CEO of 54 Collective and Art Chupeau, Managing Partner, Baobab Network.
Others are Zach George, the Managing Partner at Launch Africa, and Laurie Fuller, a Google for Startup mentor and Partner at Raiven Capital. The festival also boasts sponsorship by established brands like Collective 54 and SAP for Scaleups.
The festival will feature several events that are expected to appeal to both startup founders and venture capitalists. A pre-event Founder and Investor Day will enable founders to learn from and network with experienced entrepreneurs. The Matchmaking Programme offers a chance to connect with potential venture capitalists. Opportunities to exhibit in the event’s startup marketplace will allow founders to increase brand visibility and connect with potential customers.
At the apogee is the AfricaIgnite Pitch Competition which presents an opportunity for innovators to showcase their ideas to potential investors and partners in a live pitch. Presented in partnership with the Startup World Cup, the winner will advance to next year’s Startup World Cup Grand Finale in the United States, where they will compete for a $1,000,000 investment prize alongside the best startups from around the globe.
Speaking of the prospect, Launch Africa’s Zach George who will be a panellist speaking about strategies for early-stage startups, and participating in a keynote fireside chat on navigating mergers and acquisitions and local investments for success in the tech ecosystem said:
“For the first time at Africa Tech Festival, we will see founders that can talk succinctly and comprehensively about building businesses during a high interest rate environment as well as a low interest rate environment, and how they’ve been able to do so despite fluctuating macroeconomic conditions.”
The festival will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. It promises to provide a 360 view of how tech and strategy evolution is reshaping Africa’s diverse industry sectors – from telecoms to financial services, healthcare, government, SMEs and start-ups, retail, manufacturing, and beyond.
See also: Launch Africa, Techstars, 54 Collective top list of active investors in Africa in H1 2024
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