10 digital nomads to jet into Cape Town to promote city as remote worker hotspot

Ten digital nomads and startups from London will jet into Cape Town for a week in October, in an initiative aimed at promoting the African city as a digital nomad destination.

The initiative – Swap London for Cape Town – is being sponsored by Wesgro, the Western Cape province’s investment agency and is run by Co Working Days.

During their stay the 10 will attend the Digital Disruption Think Tank hosted by Wesgro and scheduled for 20 October.

Co Working Days founder Simon Lewis told Ventureburn in an email that the 10 will spend seven days in the city. They are expected to arrive on 19 October. He said he wasn’t yet sure where the group would be based but stressed that the aim is to have a “co-living and co-working environment”.

While Wesgro spokesman Colin Wardle could not comment immediately on the amount that Wesgro would be spending to sponsor the initiative, Economic Opportunities MEC for the Western Cape, Alan Winde was not immediately available for comment.

‘Wesgro identified London as perfect city to start their global search for digital nomads’

The 10 were selected by a Wesgro panel from 60 people (from the 100 who applied) who attended a London event hosted by Co Working Days and Included.co on 24 May at co-working site Launch22.

In a web article posted last week Lewis said Cape Town has become a growing digital nomad destination and added that Wesgro identified London as the “perfect city” to start their global search for digital nomads.

He said both Winde and Wesgro CEO Tim Harris made presentations at the London meetup in May on why Cape Town is becoming a top global destination for digital nomads.

For the list of the 10 nomads and entrepreneurs selected click here.