Cape Town Tech Week
13 November 2019
Cape Town this week played host to two mega tech events, AfricArena and AfricaCom, collectively attracting nearly 16 000 delegates to the city.
Attendees at the third annual AfricArena, hosted at the Century City Conference Centre, were introduced to over 100 African tech start-ups and innovators from over 20 countries. Among these were the top 10 contenders handpicked from each of the major capitals around the continent during the AfricArena Tour.
Meanwhile 9.8km away, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, some 15 000 attendees gathered for Africa’s biggest telecoms and technology event, AfricaCom.
“Whether your focus is connectivity infrastructure, disruptive technologies, digital services or ICT strategy, AfricaCom is the place to network, learn and get deals done,” said Tom Cuthell, portfolio director at Connecting Africa, organisers of AfricaCom.
This year, AfricaCom announced the launch of AfricaTech – a new event brand dedicated to propelling Africa towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Commenting on the launch of AfricaTech, Cuthell told news site Bizcommunity “We’re excited to host all of Africa’s enterprise and technology leaders in the same place, at the same time, at a scale never seen before on the continent. IT is already having a hugely positive impact on lives and businesses across Africa and we hope AfricaTech will help to stimulate technology adoption and accelerate digital transformation, paving the way to Africa 4.0.”
AfricaTech is co-located with AfricaCom and took over the whole of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) 2 from 12 – 14 November 2019.
Alderman James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities, delivered the opening address at AfricArena on Monday, 11 November 2019.
He said the City’s support for both events was part of its strategy to build on and drive the narrative of Cape Town being the tech capital of Africa.
The City, said Vos, was “actively calling on entrepreneurs to make Cape Town their base”.
Cape Town has established itself as a key technology hub in South Africa and beyond with several major companies launching their head offices in the city. The perception that software developers are more progressive attracts other business operations, and in turn, creates an environment of innovation, digital connectivity and opportunity.
The AfricaArena Summit is an annual conference that showcases the African continents best start-ups and innovators in front of an audience of local and international investors looking for world-class talent. The event includes representatives from 32 countries bringing together 550 delegates, 50 speakers and 75 start-ups.
