AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2023 Brings Together Key Players to Drive the Growth of the African Digital Economy

AfriLabs is pleased to share that they teamed up with prominent organizations to host this year’s AfriLabs Annual Gathering in Kigali, from October 11 – 13. GIZ Make IT as the lead partner alongside Africa’s Business Heroes, Digital Africa, AEDIB-NET, Unlock Aid and Visa Foundation have come together under the AfriLabs Annual Gathering to fast-track the growth of Africa’s digital economy towards a prosperous future.

The annual flagship event of AfriLabs, the AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2023, is scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda from Wednesday, October 11 to Friday, October 13. The primary focus of this event is to boost the growth of Africa’s digital economy through the power of the AfriLabs community. The community includes innovation hubs, policymakers, development organizations, corporations, academia, and other stakeholders from Africa’s technology and innovation ecosystem.

According to Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director of AfriLabs, “The coming together of these diverse stakeholders for the AfriLabs Annual Gathering in Kigali to accelerate Africa’s digital economy is a reflection of what we need to do as a continent to improve our situation. I am excited about the quality of content at this year’s event and the beginning of more impactful interventions for the innovation ecosystem.”

The event has six tracks: Investor, Climate Change and Adaptation, Creative and Technology Intersection, Policy and Data-Driven Africa, Gender Inclusion, and Hub Solutions & Sustainability. They explore funding gaps, sustainable climate action, cross-sector collaborations, policy-related challenges, gender diversity, and tech hub support for startups.

AfriLabs is particularly excited and looking forward to another successful partnership with GIZ Make IT in Africa for the Annual Gathering. GIZ Make IT in Africa will host a panel discussion on “Open Innovation” in the Hubs sustainability track during this year’s Annual Gathering. Additionally, they will launch the Open Innovation Toolkit at a dedicated workshop.

Visa Foundation is dedicated to enhancing equitable and efficient access to capital across various stages of business growth, fostering inclusive economic growth and championing gender-diverse and inclusive small businesses. In collaboration with Visa Foundation, the RevUp women initiative was launched by AfriLabs earlier this year. This is an initiative which has provided capacity building, training and mentoring for female business owners across Africa. Visa Foundation will participate in the Annual Gathering’s panel discussion on ‘Innovating Pathways to Bridging the Gender Gap’ under the gender inclusion track.

Digital Africa is focused on promoting more inclusive and sustainable development by equipping Africa’s tech entrepreneurs with the capabilities to design and scale up groundbreaking innovations for the real economy.  AEDIB-NET hopes to strengthen a common African-European digital innovation ecosystem by supporting local digital innovation and start-up ecosystems in Africa. Digital Africa and AEDIB-NET will be joining AfriLabs for this year’s Annual Gathering to host a session on “Research and Development for Digital Transformation: Shared insights from Africa and Diaspora”  under the policy and data track.

Unlock Aid prides itself in being the world’s leading alliance of social innovators who are driving policy changes to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals by 2030. In line with the same goal, they have partnered with AfriLabs for this year’s Annual Gathering to drive policy and bring innovators together to lead transformation and shift the narrative of the African innovation and technology ecosystem. They will be hosting a round table meeting at this year’s AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2023.

Africa’s Business Heroes aims to identify, support, and inspire the next generation of African entrepreneurs who are creating a more sustainable and inclusive economy for the future. Through this partnership both AfriLabs and Africa’s Business Heroes continue to showcase their commitment to unlocking Africa’s entrepreneurial potential and contribute to the ambition of shaping the continent’s future into a fully digitized Africa by 2030.

The diversity of the 8th edition of the AfriLabs Annual Gathering reflects the progress made in recent years towards positive change across Africa’s innovation economy. The AfriLabs Annual Gathering is set to have immense potential and opportunity. Don’t miss out on making your mark on history and redefining the future of innovation and technology in Africa. Register today at www.afrilabsgathering.com.