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Africa Technology Summit slated next week


By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express

Come next week, entrepreneurs and experts in the technology and mobile industries including representatives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Vodacom and MTN will convene at the Africa Technology Summit and Angel Fair Africa event at the Labadi Beach Hotel.

The event is been organized by the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) from Ghana and the Stuff magazine, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

According to the MEST, Africa Technology Summit will identify and explore the disruption, key players and revolutions sweeping across the continent and impacting a wide range of sectors.

A statement from MEST stated that the technology and innovation space in Africa is flourishing, as several media reports show, and for that matter it’s a more profound shift than just the blossoming of clever mobile solutions like M-PESA or Ushahidi.

The organizers said Africa has uniquely leapfrogged redundant technologies – and as a result, mobile, eCommerce, FinTech and other tech verticals are all undergoing a revolution – with both global tech giants and budding entrepreneurs playing an equal and sometimes complementary role.

“As Africa’s technology boom takes off and its population becomes increasingly educated, urban, affluent and digital, the world’s technology, investment and business communities are taking notice, highlighted by the increased presence and prioritization of Africa for many global corporate,” the statement noted, adding that Facebook, for example, recently opened its first official office in Africa, and their active user population in Africa grew 20% to 120 million in June 2015, up from 100 million in September 2014.

“They’re not the only global tech player that has identified and publicized Africa as a key part of their corporate growth strategy. Samsung, Microsoft, IBM, GE, PayPal and many more have made similar announcements in recent years and shown commitment to establishing a growing presence across the continent,” it stated.

The Daily Express gathered that the African Technology Summit (ATS) 2015 and the Fair will make sense of this ongoing transformation better than any Africa Rising conference has before.

The MEST believes that the African Technology Summit will provide a unique opportunity for key-decision makers to connect, learn from each other, share best practices and develop relationships that will bring value to their organizations for years to come.

Creators of the Africa Technology Summit, MEST is a training program, seed fund and incubator for African entrepreneurs, which has been recognized as one of Fast Company's 10 Most Innovative Companies in Africa in 2015.

MEST was founded in 2008 by serial entrepreneur Jorn Lyseggen and since its inception, has trained over 200 software entrepreneurs and launched more than 20 early stage tech startups via seed funding and mentorship.

The continuing foundation of MEST is that African startups can compete on the global technology stage and the program is proving that a new generation of young, successful global software entrepreneurs can originate in Africa.

Stuff is the South African edition of the world’s leading tech publication, which is the global partner for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. 





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