Programme Schedule

A focused investor dialogue exploring deal flow, funding pipelines, and investment readiness across African startups. The session brings together angel investors and ecosystem partners to identify opportunities, address barriers to capital, and strengthen early-stage investment ecosystems.

This practical masterclass examines how digital marketplaces can meet entrepreneurs where they are, particularly small and informal sellers entering e-commerce for the first time. The session will cover seller onboarding, product readiness, digital storefronts, fulfilment, customer service, and the tools needed to build trust and grow online. Participants will leave with clear steps for moving from informal selling to sustainable marketplace participation.

This panel explores how corporate enterprise and supplier development can be redesigned to build resilient value chains for MSMEs. It focuses on inclusion, procurement transformation, and measurable impact, highlighting partnerships that enable small businesses to access corporate markets and scale sustainably.

A practical skills-building session showcasing digital tools entrepreneurs can use to scale their businesses. It covers productivity, cloud solutions, AI tools, and digital transformation strategies that improve operational efficiency, market access, and competitiveness.

This session explores the economic power of Africa’s creative industries. It highlights branding, storytelling, and cultural exports as drivers of growth, job creation, and global competitiveness for African talent and enterprises.

A solutions-focused session addressing barriers to digital trade across African markets. It examines logistics, regulatory challenges, payment systems, and infrastructure gaps, offering practical pathways to enable seamless cross-border commerce for MSMEs.

This session presents an integrated digital platform designed to support MSME growth through finance, tools, and ecosystem access. It highlights how digital infrastructure can simplify business operations, improve access to capital, and enable scalable entrepreneurship.

A leadership-focused address on discipline, resilience, and decision-making in volatile environments. It highlights personal leadership principles for entrepreneurs and executives navigating uncertainty, emphasising execution, adaptability, and long-term strategic thinking.

As Africa's entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to mature, venture capital is entering a defining decade marked by greater sophistication, stronger local fund managers, and an increasing focus on sustainable returns. This fireside chat will explore the future of venture capital across the continent, examining emerging investment trends, evolving exit opportunities, and the strategies required to build globally competitive African fund champions. The discussion will also consider how investors, founders, policymakers and development finance institutions can work together to unlock deeper pools of capital and strengthen Africa's innovation economy. Delegates will gain valuable insights into the forces shaping the next generation of venture investing and what it will take to position Africa as a leading destination for high growth investment.

This session explores innovative financing models for underserved regions. It covers diaspora investment, blended finance, and risk mitigation strategies designed to unlock capital for MSMEs operating outside traditional economic hubs.

A forward-looking dialogue on Africa’s emerging space economy. It examines innovation opportunities, research collaboration, and commercial applications, highlighting how space technologies can drive data-driven development and new industry creation.

As artificial intelligence reshapes the global digital economy, cybersecurity has become a strategic imperative for governments, businesses and entrepreneurs alike. This thought leadership address will explore how organisations can strengthen cyber resilience, safeguard critical digital infrastructure and build trust in an increasingly AI driven world. The session will examine the evolving threat landscape, the importance of secure AI adoption, and the policies, partnerships and leadership required to protect digital ecosystems while enabling innovation. Delegates will leave with a deeper understanding of how robust cybersecurity can serve as a foundation for economic growth, digital confidence and sustainable technological advancement.

A discussion on transforming healthcare systems through innovation, equity, and technology. It highlights scalable solutions that improve access, efficiency, and affordability while strengthening Africa’s health ecosystems through entrepreneurship.

This session explores the business journey behind The Polygamist, offering insight into how African authors can build commercially successful literary brands. The discussion will unpack the realities of publishing, audience building, storytelling as enterprise, and the entrepreneurial discipline required to turn creative work into a sustainable business.

Across Africa, many waste and renewable-energy ventures demonstrate technical potential but struggle to move beyond grant-funded pilots, small demonstrations or early commercial deployment. The session would explore the type of finance required at different stages of growth, where entrepreneurs can access it, and the role of grants, concessional finance, equity, debt, blended finance, guarantees and corporate investment. A further focus would be the role of SMEs in decentralised energy and waste-management systems. While grid-connected projects remain important, decentralised ventures can respond more quickly to local waste and energy needs, particularly in farms, food-processing facilities, municipalities, communities and underserved markets. These SMEs are not merely project implementers; they are engines for local economic development, job creation, skills development and value retention.

A focused discussion on strengthening township-based MSMEs through governance, leadership, and post-investment support. It examines how to ensure sustainability and growth of grassroots businesses within local economies.

This panel examines how accelerators can help advanced technology ventures move from innovation to scalable market impact in emerging markets. The discussion will explore founder support, technical validation, investment readiness, partnerships, market access, and the operational discipline required to scale deep-tech and high-growth ventures sustainably.