The Visions for Africa keynotes focussed on fuelling entrepreneurship and innovating business models in digital Africa. Speakers and panellists discussed how to develop a winning ICT strategy, how digital disruption is dislodging established business models and creating new opportunities for African startups and tech entrepreneurs, and how the mobile network operator's (MNO) role is evolving in response to a rapidly shifting digital landscape.

At the AHUB stage, the spotlight was on 'unleashing the power of Africa’s tech startup ecosystem'. Emeka Afigbo, strategic products partnerships manager at
Facebook covered the topic of 'Empowering the architects of Africa’s digital future: fuelling innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

#AfricaCom: How businesses can play their part in growing the tech ecosystem

Ilse van den Berg  10 Nov 2017

Keith Jones, co-founder of SW7 spoke on what do corporates need to do to get involved in the innovation markets to support entrepreneurs.

Jones is of the opinion that the corporate markets hold the keys to the kingdom in emerging markets. They are resourced in an un-resourced market, they have access to market when getting market access is difficult and expensive. He gave corporates some tips on what they need to do differently to engage the innovation markets. His 'three fixes' for corporates are: plan, speed, and scale.

A panel discussion explored why tech startups should partner with African mobile network operators, which seems to have a lot of benefits for both parties.

At the AfricaCom 20/20 discussions centred around blockchain, cybersecurity, and digital skills. Jason Peisl, IS executive: customer applications Pick n Pay (PnP), explained why PnP favoured Bitcoin over other cryptocurrencies - such as Ethereum - for its experiment. “There was no choice. Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency recognised on the local exchanges," he says.

#AfricaCom: How Bitcoin made PnP sexy and other stories

Nicci Botha  9 Nov 2017

Apparently, one of the unplanned, but positive, spin-offs from Pick n Pay's Bitcoin experiment is that it has made retail sexier in attracting talent.

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