EVENTS

Make-IT in Africa will be exhibiting at the annual which provides a unique opportunity to connect with a niche tech community, build brand awareness and show Make-IT’s support to an important cause that is, improving gender diversity and inclusivity in the African tech space.

The African Women in Technology conference is a platform for female designers, engineers, innovators, product managers, software developers, startup founders and tech enthusiasts to come together, annually hosted across different African countries. The organizers are dedicated to connect, educate and empower women who are determined to advance their tech careers with a community of over 3,000 women in technology across Africa. This year’s edition will be hosted on 18th to 20th July 2019 at the Safaricom Michael Joseph Centre.

Stakeholders from the Ghanaian start-up ecosystem have come together for the first-ever Make-IT in Africa event in Ghana. The soft launch of Make-IT in Ghana brought together key local players for dialogue on the best ways to support tech entrepreneurship in Ghana, a presentation of highlights from Make-IT’s existing projects and an outlook of the initiative’s focus areas.

Make-IT in Africa and Mettā Nairobi brings you the 14th installment of the “Women-In” series where we will be hosting a star-studded panel consisting of women at the top of their game in the energy industry.
The main purpose of the series is to celebrate women in different sectors, their achievements, and their roles. Looking at the great strides that have been made over the years by women throughout the world, we want this platform to empower the next generation.

Make-IT in Africa, in collaboration with our implementing partner, Nailab, hosted a Women in Tech Bootcamp on 27th June 2019. The purpose of the Women in Tech Bootcamp was to build a pipeline for women’s participation in Technology Anchored Entrepreneur Programs (TAEPs).

Startup Accelerators in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem was a joint training initiative held across Israel by MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation – and The Golda Meir Mashav “Carmel” International Training Center, supported by Make-IT in Africa.

The entrepreneurship support training sessions were held in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem between June 18 and June 27, 2019, and 25 start-up enablers from Africa took part.

The #Africa4Future start-ups gathered in Europe between June 12-22, 2019, to celebrate the final phase of the #Africa4Future joint accelerator and to showcase their technologies and recent achievements in Berlin as part of the German-African Business Day and at the GIZ representation before the final closing and Demo Day at the Paris Air Show. The events marked the last time the teams came together as part of the 2019 #Africa4Future joint accelerator. To continue their collaboration the start-ups signed a letter of intent in Paris to form a Pan-African Aerospace Association to lobby for better framework conditions for drones in Africa.

The University of Nairobi convenes a number of stakeholders to organize and execute the annual Nairobi Innovation Week (NIW) to support and accelerate the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region. The theme for this year was “Innovation and Kenya’s Big Four Agenda”. The main areas were food security and nutrition, enhancing manufacturing, universal health coverage, and affordable housing.

Working with partners, Make-IT was partnering with NIW to host a Startup Ecosystem Forum on June 11th, 2019, at Manu Chandaria Auditorium, University of Nairobi from 08:00 a.m. to 01:00 p.m. The forum was an opportunity for start-up ecosystem stakeholders to engage, network, and gather insights regarding the fast-developing ecosystem.

The Start-up Policy Hackathon, hosted by the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Cooperatives and supported by Make-IT in Africa, is a consultative and inclusive approach to policy development that will foster engagement with ecosystem stakeholders. The event was held at the Nairobi Safari Club Hotel on June 10th, 2019, from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Make-IT in Africa in partnership with Mettā and Tony Elumelu Alumni,Nairobi brings you a masterclass on capacity building through partnerships. This is an opportunity for startups and entrepreneurs to learn how to leverage the power of partnerships in business and finance in order to scale their ventures.

For registration click here.

Make IT in Africa supported the official launch of the Association of Startup and SME Enablers of Kenya held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Upperhill, Nairobi on 21st May 2019 from 3.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. This marked a significant stage in the strengthening of the Kenyan entrepreneurship ecosystem.The launch was attended by stakeholders of the Kenyan Entrepreneurship Ecosystem including, incubators, coworking spaces, accelerator programs, government agencies, foreign missions, startups among other supporters of the ecosystem.

Make-IT attended the Afrobytes & Viva Technology (Vivatech) in Paris with start-up and hub delegations from Tunisia, Ghana, Nigeria and Rwanda from 15^th May until 18^th May 2019. At Afrobytes Conference, Make-IT supported the Ghanaian and Nigerian country booths and sponsored the networking reception at Station F, the world’s largest start-up campus. Ghana’s delegation of three start-ups was led by AB2020 from Accra and Nigeria’s three start-ups delegation was led by the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF). The Afrobytes conference creates a unique and focused environment where the African Tech industry can meet; pitch their solutions and network with European counterparts and investors. The conference is targeted at connecting francophone and Anglophone Africa start-ups and hubs with the European start-up ecosystem and investors. It celebrated its third edition at Station F in Paris this year with around 500 participants with around 50 investors, 250 start-ups and 50 corporates.

East Africa Com is a premier strategic event for telecoms, media, broadcasting & technology leaders in East Africa. The 2019 edition was held at Radisson Blu, Upperhill in Nairobi from 14th May 2019 to 15th May 2019. The event theme was “Accelerating digital transformation to strengthen East African economies”.

Make IT in Africa participated in this year’s event as the lead partner for AHUB East. AHUB East is the startup feature at East Africa Com. A networking space for inspiring tech-fueled startups, investors, large enterprises, MNOs, large incubators & accelerators, analysts and media.

The start-ups which have been selected for the #Africa4Future joint accelerator came together in Cape Town for a week of training and to present their innovative aerospace solutions. The summit, which took place over the weekend from Friday, May 10th, to Saturday, May 11th, 2019, marked the highlight of the ten day business bootcamp and workshop programme.

Business bootcamp & summit programme

The start-ups from Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, Mali, Sierra Leone, and South Africa had gathered in South Africa to further develop their business cases and learn more about best strategies and investment opportunities for African start-ups. The #Africa4Future summit was organized as a two day programme and gave the start-ups the opportunity to pitch their projects to a broad audience including investors and school students. The event was opened by Martin Weiss, GIZ country director South Africa, and Corne Eloff, Airbus Head of Space Business Development Southern Africa.

As one of the highlights, Refilwe Ledwaba, Dr Carolina Odman-Govender, and Fatima Jakoet presented their thoughts on the future of the aerospace sector as part of an all-female expert panel. Divashen Govender, one of the 100 selected candidates for the One Mars mission, gave a keynote speech at the event and answered questions from the audience on his perception on space travel and the Mars mission.

NTW is Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest annual technology event for product makers - bringing various actors and influencers within the tech ecosystem to one space to exhibit the forefront of innovation and technology. ​Powered by ​Moringa School​, NTW will take place over 3 days and bring together over 1500 members of the technology ecosystem to exhibit the forefront of innovation.

The event theme, “​Technology in Africa: The Past, The Present and The Future” will delve into the evolution of technology in Africa, the various solutions being applied in the African context and the exciting opportunities yet to be capitalized on as we navigate the digital revolution.

On April 9^th, 2019, 150 partners of the Strategic Partnership Digital Africa (SPDA), came together for the network’s annual meeting in Berlin. Among the participants were more than 100 representatives from the corporate sector. The SPDA is a network linking more than 180 European companies with initiatives from the German development cooperation with the goal to initiate public-private cooperation in the digital sector in African countries. The network was founded in 2015 by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Breakout session hosted by Make-IT in Africa

In one of the breakout sessions, the discussion focused on the question of how European companies can cooperate with African digital entrepreneurs. Dr Jan Schwaab, Head of the Tech Entrepreneurship Initiative “Make-IT in Africa” presented the work of the programme, which supports more than 150 African digital companies to this date, and Sannssi Cissé, Head of Collaboration at GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation, a non-profit organization, promoting investment in African entrepreneurship. Moderated by Dr Schwaab and Cissé, the 28 participants discussed challenges and opportunities within the SPDA to enable German companies to successfully cooperate with young African digital entrepreneurs.

From April 1^st – 5^th, 2019, four Tunisian start-ups attended the “Hannover Messe” in Germany. The Hannover Messer (Hanover fair) is the world’s most important event dedicated to industry and increasingly focusing towards start-ups and industry 4.0. Hannover Messe features all key technologies and industry sectors: from R&D to industrial automation, information technology, industrial supply, production technologies and services, energy and mobility technologies It was an excellent opportunity for the Tunisian start-ups to connect with investors, business partners, innovators and potential clients through guided tours, exclusive B2Bs and a dedicated workshop.

ABAWT (A Better Africa with Tech) and #Africa4Future have teamed up to bring you access to 10 awesome startups from 7 different countries across the African continent!

Ten teams from Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mali and South Africa will be with us in Berlin for the ABAWT x #Africa4Future Meetup to talk about their solutions in the sectors of health, infrastructure, logistics, agriculture, water and waste management.

The event will give you the opportunity to get directly in touch with the young innovators and learn more about their innovations for a better Africa with tech.

Please register via eventbrite or meetup

The Barcamp Berlin was hosted as part of the #Africa4Future joint accelerator program by Airbus BizLab and the GIZ Tech- Entrepreneurship Initiative Make-IT in Africa.

Around 50 experts from the aerospace industry, development cooperation and private sector came together for a day of collaboration and exchange around entrepreneurship in the field of aerospace technologies in Africa.

The #Africa4Future Barcamp was attended by around 50 experts to learn about new technologies, share ideas and identify possible areas for cooperation in the field of unmanned logistics and remote sensing.

The Barcamp event presented a key highlight of the Berlin program. After a visit of the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse , the #Africa4Future Start-ups visited Berlin between 18-22 March, to meet different stakeholders from research, industry and the public sector.

The ‘Tech For Big 4’ Conference is an assembly of the tech community in Nairobi, policy makers, start-ups, entrepreneurs and corporate partner with the intention of answering the question of how. During this conference, you have an opportunity to interact with likeminded as well as divergent thinkers who, through networking and collaboration, may unlock the solutions you offer towards sustainably achieving the Big4Agenda while continuing to contribute to the country’s economic growth.

On February 20^th, 2019, Make-IT in Africa in partnership with V8 Academy organized a free Masterclass on “Finance and Investment” with a focus on “Raising Capital for Start-ups” The masterclass provided extensive practicable information, knowledge and tips on how start-ups and existing businesses can raise capital for sustainable business growth.

See full details

On January 19th, 2019, Make-IT in Africa in partnership with V8 Academy organized a free Masterclass on “Corporate Governance” with a focus on sustainable development and impact. The masterclass aimed at inspiring the participants to become change makers through their businesses, personal activities, and relationships.

See full details

On 17 and 18 December 2018 the Africa-Europe Forum „Taking Cooperation to the Digital Age“ took place in Vienna. In addition to the gathering of 28 EU Heads of State and Government as well as representatives from the EU Parliament and the EU-Commission, the event was also a B2B (business to business) event at which entrepreneurs and innovators from both continents had the opportunity to network and exchange their concepts and solutions for the digital age. Make-IT in Africa supported three selected tech start-ups to join the conference #Africa on the rise #Developers in Vogue #Qisimah

Make-IT in collaboration with Village Capital and Nailab recognized the contributions of different partners and the start-ups that took part in the inaugural Make-IT Accelerator 2018 program that took place between January – September 2018. The colorful dinner was hosted on 29th November 2018 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi at 18.00 pm.

Make-IT Accelerator Program Closing dinner

Make-IT Accelerator Program stakeholder closing dinner was held to recognize the contributions of different partners and the start-ups that took part in the inaugural Make-IT Accelerator 2018.The goal of the dinner is to re- engage and recognize the different stakeholders, partners and start-ups and strengthen the future collaborations for the Make-IT in Africa program to succeed.

For the first time, the World Summit Awards (WSA) held its Innovation Days in Accra. From November 3-7, a renowned international Grand Jury out of more than hundred shortlisted nominations selected the world’s 40 most important digital innovation with a high social impact. The WSA Grand Jury Meeting was hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by “Make-IT in Africa”.

On Wednesday 31st October, 2018, Make-IT in Africa with the V8 Valley organized a Masterclass on Utilizing Cloud Services. The Masterclass targeted start-ups and businesses, with the aim of providing participants with a full understanding of the cloud, its services and best practices as well as other uses of the Cloud.

Between October 7th and 12th ,50 start-ups from 21 countries participated in the Start.Up! Germany roadshow and traveled through Düsseldorf, Cologne and the Ruhr area. During the 1-week roadshow the start-ups had the chance to extend their international networks, connect with the German start-up ecosystem and meet potential German business partners.

Start.Up! Germany is organized under the direction of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce Association (DIHK) and addressed tech entrepreneurs from the sectors (i) Smart City, (ii) transport/logistics, and (iii) Insurtech. „Make-IT in Africa“ sponsored and supported the participation of 11 start-ups from Kenya, Ghana, Tunisia and Nigeria.

On Thursday 27^th September 2018, Make-IT in Africa and VC4A hosted the 2^nd Mentor Bootcamp at NG_hub by Facebook, Yaba Lagos. The major drive of the event, was to help start-ups understand how investors think. They got to know the mindset of investors, whilst also learning to leverage on viable partnerships with corporates.

Find out more

On 25 June GIZ welcomed partner and guest at its Brussels Representation to look back at a remarkable first half of 2018 and to toast to what still lies ahead. The evening started with digital insights: The exhibition ‘Digital Innovation Made in Africa’, showcased innovative digital solutions to development challenges on the continent in the framework of the ‘Make-IT in Africa’ programme.

In its new showcase series “Digital Innovation Made in Africa”, Make-IT presents good practices from African tech entrepreneurs with a high potential for social impact.

Volume 2 of the touring exhibition focuses on digital innovation from African Tech Start-ups which have succeeded in the 2017 World Summit Awards (WSA). The exhibition opening on March 20th 2018, was part of the WSA’s Global Conference 2018 and was held at the Vienna City Hall, Austria.

Find out more about Digital Innovation Made in Africa.

On March 20 and 22, Make-IT in Africa successfully conducted two Policy Hackathons in Lagos (Impact Hub) and Abuja (Civic Innovation Lab). The aim was to bridge the gap between the different ecosystem stakeholders and offering opportunities to the community to align their interests and speak up with a unified voice. The workshops brought entrepreneurs, students, business service providers together to brainstorm solutions to the policy constraints to starting and growing innovative businesses and to draft ways to improve the regulatory environment for start-ups in Nigeria.

10 start-ups from Lagos and Abuja attended a pitch event at Ventures Park to propose their solutions solving the supply chain and data processing challenges that rice farmers and millers face along the Nigerian agriculture value chain.

CARI is looking for a paid long-term, contractual collaboration with a digital solution provider, capable of developing and implementing a technological solution or product in the fields of eAgriculture, Data Processing or Supply-Chain-Management.

On 6th March 2018, 5 start-ups from the Make-IT Accelerator Kenya participated in the international start-up pitching contest “Stars in Africa Awards” in Nairobi, Kenya. The 5 start-ups Make-IT in Africa signed up for the contest are: Micrive Invinite Ltd, Tech Kidz Africa, Taimba, Grassroots Bima, and ZOA.

From 05.-09.03.2018, the Nairobi Innovation Week was held at the University of Nairobi. Make-IT in Africa exhibited its offering to start-ups and was a strong partner for an ecosystem event on Friday morning bringing together the government, private sector, development partners, start-ups, investors and start-up enablers.

Make-IT invited six tech start-ups to present their business models in front of 300 company representatives at the 5th German-African Economic Forum NRW in Dortmund, Germany.

The pitch was won by two of our start-ups who managed to collect an equal amount of votes. As a reward, they received a ticket to CEBIT 2018, the biggest international fair for ICT companies worlwide. In addition to the ticket, Make-IT in Africa will cover all travel costs.

Make-IT invited six tech start-ups on a four-day business trip to Germany, where they got to meet representatives of high profile economic and political institutions and connect with business partners from the German industry.

The highlight was the 5th German-African Economic Forum NRW. Here, the start-ups were given the stage to pitch infront of an international audience. On day three, the start-ups were offered the opportunity to meet bilaterally with representatives of German small and medium-sized enterprises through the region of North-Rhine Westphalia. On the last day of the programme, the start ups visited the Digital Hub Ruhr in Essen and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in Dortmund.

Make-IT in Africa supports the participation of 15 African startups at the Startup Fair, held at the 6th EU-Africa Business Forum on 27th November 2017 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. In line with its main theme “investing in job creation for youth”, the EABF will discuss investment opportunities – and challenges – in Africa along the EU-African cooperation’s four strategic priorities: agribusiness, infrastructure, renewable energy, and the digital economy…

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) invites 20 young digital change-makers from Africa and the EU to participate in the Africa-EU YouthLab on 25-27 November 2017 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Let the digital youth disrupt the 6th EU-Africa Business Forum with their ideas and demands! They know best what they need to create a promising digital future in Africa and Europe…

Finally one of the core activities of Make-IT in Africa has been launched in Lagos: the Make-IT Accelerator.

In the final round 15 start-ups out of 30 were invited to join the accelerator program, which will start in January 2018. The three days of intense selection processes were facilitated by Femi Longe and decided by a jury composed of multiple important stakeholders of the projects.

For the first time, the Innovation Days of the World Summit Awards (WSA) were held in Berlin. From October 25-28, a renowned international Grand Jury selected the world’s 40 most important digital innovation with a high social impact.

In its new showcase series “Digital Innovation Made in Africa”, Make-IT presents good practices from African tech entrepreneurs with a high potential for social impact.

On October 27, a new touring exhibition was launched jointly by BMZ, GIZ, the World Summit Awards (WSA) and betterplace lab. Almost 100 visitors attended the opening event of the touring exhibition. The exhibition focuses on digital innovation from African Tech Start-ups which have succeeded in the WSA in the last two years, and other selected showcases from digital trend-scouting in Africa.

The exhibition will be shown in the foyer of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) until November 22, and will go on a world tour afterwords.

Find out more about Digital Innovation Made in Africa.

Between October 14 and 20 2017, 45 start-ups from 15 countries participated in the Start.Up! Germany roadshow and travelled through Berlin, Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. During the 1-week roadshow the start-ups were given the chance to to extend their international networks, connect with the German start-up ecosystem and meet potential German business partners.

Start.Up! Germany is organized under the direction of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce Association (DIHK) and addresses tech entrepreneurs from the sectors (i) energy, (ii) transport/logistics, and (iii) IoT/industry 4.0. „Make-IT in Africa“ sponsored and supported the participation of 9 start-ups from Kenya and Nigeria.

On September 1, 11 tech and entrepreneurial start-ups doing business in Africa pitched to over 160 supporters, corporate partners and investors at the Microsoft Atrium in Berlin.

Several investors and financing institutions, including the EIB and DEG, presented their approaches and discussed options for improving access to finance for Small and Growing Tech Businesses from Africa.

Afrolynk is supported by Microsoft 4Afrika and investors such as GreenTec Capital Partners who provide advice and access to existing funds, and co-create new opportunities for better access to finance.

‘Make-IT in Africa’ supports the PitchDrive in Berlin and enables 14 start-ups from Africa to introduce their business to around 100 entrepreneurs and investors.

The PitchDrive Berlin provides opportunities for start-ups to present themselves to investors and corporates in order to raise funding or strategic support. For the tour to Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Zurich and Paris, PitchDrive had set itself the goal of receiving up to € 20 million capital from investors. The stop in Berlin was hosted by Impact Hub Berlin and organized by Global Innovation Gathering. Both are important cooperation partners of Make-IT.