The EU Tech Chamber (EUTECH) Africa Alliance webinar on “Tech Leapfrog: Accelerating innovation across Africa” started off with a short overview of the organization and a formal introduction of the panelists by our moderator, Ms. Silvia Raing’o, coordinator of the Africa Alliance.

The panelists for today’s webinar were:
·      Mr. Ehia Erhaboh, Co-Convener at AI in Nigeria – Keynote Speaker
·      Mr. Maxime Calot & CEO of Welcome Tomorrow
·      Mr. Jerome Adzah, Founder & President of The Salesman (TSM Strategic Hub)
·      Mr. Phiwa Nkambule, CEO of FinanceGPT Labs and Co-Founder & Innovation Lead at Riovic AI Ventures

Tech leapfrogging refers to the rapid adoption and integration of advanced technologies in a particular region – in this case, in Africa. In essence, it involves skipping certain technological developments or infrastructure phases that are considered conventional or standard in the process of technological advancement. In this webinar, “leapfrogging” in the continent was discussed, the reliance on governments, the systemic issue to commitment that tends to present itself, as well as infrastructural gaps.

It was however also emphasized how Africa has made a lot of progress in the recent past. It’s role as a spectator economy, to where it is now a big gamechanger, in which the availability of capital played a significant role. However, there is still a big need for accessibility of said capital, especially at the grassroots level.

A question & answer session also took place, in which the panel shared their respective thoughts on questions posed by the audience, including how to better secure investors for African companies in the specific African ecosystem.

We want to thank our respectable speakers for their informed insights on this topic. Moreover, special thanks to Ms. Silvia Raing’o for moderating the webinar and distributing Tree-Certificates to the panelists.