East Africa This Week: Startup Event Glimpses [July 09-15, 2018]
From conferences to seminars and capacity-building events, the ever-growing East African startup ecosystem witnessed its fair share of entrepreneurship-themed events in the past week. Cutting across such countries as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zambia, the ecosystem could be considered to have been something of a beehive of activities these past few days. And here are excerpts and highlights from some of the notable startup events which took place in the region this past week.
Cyber Security 101 Held In Kenya
The increased interconnectivity of the globe has brought with it so many developments and breakthroughs. However, these successes have also been accompanied by drawbacks in the form of cyber threats. This was the focus of an event held at Moringa School, Ngong Lane, in Nairobi, on Thursday, July 12th, 2018. The event featured a number of speakers, expatriates, entrepreneurs and startups in the cybersecurity niche who leveraged the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn why cyber security is a viable career path. The event also drew insights from various personalities who focused the spotlight on why the current dearth in the global cyber security is cause for concern for any organization, including startups.
Tech Tamasha – Coast Edition Hosted In Kenya
The Coast Edition of Kenya’s premier tech festival, Tech Tamasha, took place on Saturday, 14th July 2018 at Swahili Box, in Mombasa. The event brought together a cross-section of forward-thinking executives, leading technologists, academics and active investors in the ‘Silicon Savannah’ and beyond. Tech Tamasha’s Coast Edition, which was the latest installment of a two-month long tour series, featured speakers and resource persons who delivered insights on emerging trends and gaps between business needs and corresponding technical capabilities. With over a hundred professionals in attendance, the event explored opportunities for applying incremental innovation, as well as the long-term impact of decisions the industry makes today. This event will be followed by sister events scheduled to take place on 28th July (Tech Tamasha – Western Edition in Kisumu), and 13th August (the Kenyan p\Premier Tech Festival in Nairobi).
Global African Business Awards (GABA) Held Its Ceremony in Ethiopia
GABA, one of the world’s premier annual business award which was launched in 2017, held its second award ceremony in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, on Saturday, 14th July 2018. The award which was created to recognize, celebrate, and honor the achievements and positive contributions of startups, organizations, and working professionals on the continent, saw a number of individuals and enterprises receive laurels on the backs of their contributions to the African business climate in the past year. One of the highest points of the event was the recognition of Farmcrowdy; a Nigerian Agri-Tech startup, as winners in the Digital Business of the Year category. The GABA award ceremony also featured a number of startups who clinched awards for their efforts in other categories.
