Last week, a few of my colleagues were in Lagos for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress GEC+Africa boot camp and pitch sessions. These sessions are part of the lead-up activities to the Congress, which will be held from March 13-14 next year at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
The GEC+Africa 2024 is set to attract more than 1 500 delegates from across the continent, which include entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and entrepreneur support organisations (ESOs).
The Global Entrepreneurship Network’s Nigeria team (GEN Nigeria) led and co-ordinated the activities, which took place from July 27-28 in Lagos. With more than 1 000 applications received from Nigeria alone, 17 start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) were invited to pitch and stand a chance to be selected for the final pitch at the main congress in Cape Town.
The three start-ups selected included: Schrodinger, a business which aims to provide safe drinking water through the use of smart technology, such as a solar-powered portable water disinfection system; Wano is a tech start-up that assists fintech and non-fintech start-ups to instantly build apps and automations on WhatsApp; and finally Strich, a mobile application that assists merchant SMMEs to track sales, manage inventory, accept payments and ultimately facilitate their growth.
These three start-ups will now join their peers in March 2024 for the grand finale in Cape Town, where they stand a chance to win $100 000 (R1.8 million) in prizes.
Alongside GEN Nigeria, GEC+Africa partnered with Providus Bank, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre and the Bank of Industry. The pitch boot camp was hosted by Google Africa, Google for Start-ups and Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropy.
Tuning in virtually, I was amazed by the quality of young people that applied for the boot camp and pitch. This is just evident of the eagerness of young people to be given an opportunity to make a difference in their communities and region.
This impression was felt by one of the regional partners, Providus Bank, who announced during the pitch competition the launch of a venture builder programme in partnership with GEN Nigeria, which the top three winners from Lagos will be a part of, along with seven other start-ups and SMMEs that pitched on the day. This is a further testament to the ever-burgeoning Nigerian entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The regional pitch and boot camp will now continue in Nairobi, Kenya on August 18 before moving to Cairo, Algiers, Dakar and Accra.
With thousands of applications already received, we are continuing to seek those game-changing start-ups and SMMEs that will transform their economy and create much-needed jobs in their country and the continent.
South Africa’s nine provinces will also host their own boot camp and pitches during the months of October and November 2023, in order to select the start-ups and SMMEs that will join their counterparts for the grand finale in Cape Town.
The GEC+Africa aims to ensure that our entrepreneurs leverage the opportunity that the African Continental free trade area agreement (Afcfta) provides.
* To find out more about the next boot camp and pitching competition taking place in your area, visit: https://gecafrica.co/lead-up-activities/
* To register for the GEC+Africa congress in Cape Town, South Africa, from 13 – 14 March 2024, visit: https://gecafrica.co/
Kizito Okechukwu is the executive head of 22 On Sloane and co-chairperson of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) Africa.
BUSINESS REPORT