The African Tech Expo held at the prestigious Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between 7 – 9 September 2022 concluded on a high note as exhibitors and visitors expressed satisfaction at the overall outcome and business leads generated from the event.
The inaugural edition of the African Tech Expo attracted exhibitors and visitors from across Africa. The three-day event brought together over 85 exhibitors who showcased futuristic technological products and services from various sectors. More than 10,000 professional buyers visited the event.
“The African Tech Expo served as a perfect platform to showcase the latest in technological advances available across several industry sectors,” said Mohammed Rafeek, managing director of Al Mayar Holdings, one of the exhibitors from the UAE. “We were able to meet a number of potential clients from the East Africa region who visited our stall at the Expo,” he said.
“Events like the African Tech Expo encourage the an enabling environment for technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors to operate, grow and thrive in,” said Naved Hasan, Founder and CEO of Africa Business Pages during his speech at the African Tech Expo symposium held at the sidelines of the event.
The African Tech Symposium held concurrently also proved to a a huge attraction with visitors from Ethiopia and across Africa. The special sessions of the symposium saw domain experts from across various technological verticals participate in informative panel discussions and Q&A sessions with attendees. In addition to expert presentations and panel discussions, presentation formats included interactive sessions with the audience to enhance the learning experience.
Sponsored by Ethiopia’s leading financial institution, Dashen Bank, the African Tech Expo was promoted globally by Africa Business Pages, the official media partner of the event.
The African Tech Expo also highlighted Ehtiopia’s status as a hub of technology and innovation in the East Africa region. “Ehtiopia has always embraced change and has therefore been at the forefront of using technology to boost development,” said one of the visitors, speaking to Africa Business Pages at the sidelines of the African Tech Expo. “By showcasing new technologies at the event, the African Tech Expo has also highlighted Ethiopi’s status as a progressive and futuristic nation,” he said.
The unprecedented success of the African Tech Expo has prompted the organizers to make this an annual recurring event. “Next year’s event will be bigger and better than the inaugural one this year,” said Agha, managing director of Jorka Event Organzier PLC, the organizers of the African Tech Expo. “Many global companies have already expressed their interest in exhibiting in the African Tech Expo planned for 2023,” he said.
Despite the effects of COVID-19, the year 2021 saw record breaking venture funding into African start ups that exceeded $4.77 billion. The African continent has fast emerged as a leading pool of software engineering talent and growing population of software developers.
Africa’s digital economy is growing at an exponential pace and is projected to cross $712 billion by 2050. Prime examples of technological entrepreneurship in the African continent are M-Pesa in fintech, Yoco in commerce, Kobo360 in transport, Helium Health in healthcare and uLesson in education.
While events like the African Tech Expo have done an excellent job of showcasing the immense opportunities in the growing African tech space, a more focussed approach is still needed to promote this unique business opportunity in the African markets.
Against this backdrop, the African Tech Expo is expected to grow bigger and better, as predicted by the organizers, in the years to come.
