This week marked a significant moment for the African startup ecosystem as many gathered for the first time in two years at the Global Startup Summit and Awards 2022.
After a prolonged period of gathering only online due to COVID-19 restrictions, an in-person gathering was warmly welcomed in a cold Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The event which was hosted by the Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG) and organised by Loudhailer in collaboration with partners brought together venture capitalists, founders, and business leaders across the continent. It was a packed programme of panel discussions that spanned the start-up landscape from the circular economy to intellectual property protection and culminated in a gala dinner celebrating the Global Startup Awards Africa winners. During the Summit, delegates discussed developments and future trends in the startup ecosystem. One of the subjects that were discussed at length was the potential of blockchain technology to transform the African continent. In a session that featured the Blockchain Research Institute by Standard Bank delegates were exposed to the latest developments around banking and blockchain. The highlight of the blockchain focus was the launch of the inaugural African Blockchain Report, published by CV VC in collaboration with Standard Bank. The report highlighted that obstacles to global transformations seem surmountable when seeing Africa’s urgent actions to utilise blockchain becoming the norm.
The report shows in detail how Africa has self-accelerated blockchain as a transformative force for society and the economy and how pioneers continue to reinforce the need for more unified action on regulation and infrastructure.
The top highlight of the first Global Startup Summit in South Africa were some of the leading startups in the African continent. One of them was Treepz.
The transport tech startup co-founder, Onyeka Akumah, shared his story of an unpleasant experience of commuting via all 3 modes of transportation in 1 day which inspired him to change the situation. This experience inspired him to revolutionise the public transportation sector in Africa using technology-driven solutions.
Another key highlight of the event was the Global Startup Awards where Kubik Inc scooped the Startup of the Year award. South African-based venture capitalist, Brett Commaille with Hlayisani Capital, scooped the venture capitalist of the year award and Workshop17 was recognised as the Co-Working space of the year.
This gathering which recognises local startups will now become an annual event where startups across the continent will meet to connect and recognise the immeasurable impact of startups in the continent.
