Looking to get into the South African startup scene or catch up on some of your skills? Well, you’ve come to the right place. There are loads of competitions, networking sessions and workshops happening around South Africa and the rest of the continent (namely Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana) that we’ve rounded up to make your life a bit easier.
This article is part of a weekly series that highlights all the top startup competitions, networking sessions, workshops and conferences around South Africa, and the greater region. If you have any event recommendations for us to add to the list, or next week’s, please let us know in the comments below or send us an email.
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Not all of the events are free and some will require booking in advance. Please click on the event names to find out more information.
This week we join entrepreneurs around the world in celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), an initiative held by the Kauffman Foundation which runs from 13 to 19 November. See more here and check out local events for the various countries: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe.
Cape Town
Heavy Chef: Creating a $100-million company out of Africa
After a whirlwind year, selling his company Getsmarter to international edtech giant 2U, Sam Paddock will speak on stage for the first time in public about the deal, the months leading up the transaction and the origin story of this remarkable South African success story.
Date: 13 November, 6pm to 8.45pm
Location: WorkShop 17, 17 Dock Road, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town
Marnus Broodryk: 90 Rules for entrepreneurs
Self-made millionaire Marnus Broodryk has a new book out on his experiences as an entrepreneur. Join him talk about his journey and the lessons he has learnt from his friends and fellow entrepreneurs.
Date: 14 November, 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Location: UCT Graduate School of Business, Exhibition Hall
9, Portswood Road, Cape Town
For those working in startups, lean (startup) coffee is a weekly one-hour coffee meetup that runs a mashup of leancoffee.org with theleanstartup.com.
Date: 15 November, 8.30am to 9.30am
Location: 1 Somerset Road, Green Point, Cape Town
Are regulators ensuring their regulation is fair to consumers of fintech?
Join this discussion on fintech regulation and law by attorney and financial planner Almo Lubowski.
Who is holding the regulator accountable for ensuring their regulations don’t exclude the fintech consumer from receiving good products in a fair way? Further regulatory insights for fintech startups, cryptocurrency regulation, some tax implications and a few legal tips will also be discussed during the evening.
Date: 15 November, 7pm to 9pm
Location: IPREO, 5th Floor, Grove Exchange, 9 Grove Avenue, Claremont, Cape Town
Regtech is a subclass of fintech created to address regulatory challenges in the financial services sector through tech. Join Barlacy’s Africa expert on risk, compliance and regulations Charmaine Lambert and Legalese Eitan Stern as they talk about regtech.
Date: 16 November, 1pm to 3pm
Location: Block B, 5th Floor, (Woodstock Exchange), 66 – 68 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town
StartupGrind hosts Sheraan Amod (RecoMed, Springlab)
Sheeran Amod is the founder of venture incubator Springlab. He is also the CEO of healthcare booking platform RecoMed. In 2009 the serial entrepreneur founded a publishing company, Personera, which he sold to US firm Impression Works in 2013.
Join Amod as he shares on how to build a valuable business fast and his passion for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Date: 16 November, 5.30pm to 8.30pm
Location: Workshop 17, 17 Dock Road, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Pitch Night provides a platform for entrepreneurs to practice pitching their idea to local angel investors and hear what other entrepreneurs are working on. After three pitches, Q&A and feedback from the panel, entrepreneurs are free to network and connect with each other.
Date: 16 November, 6pm to 7.30pm
Location: UCT Graduate School of Business, Solution Space, 9 Portswood Road, Green Point, Cape Town
Durban
Curious about bitcoin? Then join entrepreneur Chris Botma on this talk on bitcoin.
Date: 16 November, 10am to 4pm
Location: The Dutch Club, 111 Tara Road, Bluff, Durban
Johannesburg
Township Business Innovation Seminar
Join this seminar where entrepreneurs will discuss innovation in business and more importantly how to build a sustainable township economy.
Date: 18 November, 10am to 4pm
Location: Rabasotho Community Centre, Tembisa, Johannesburg
Angola
Startup Conversations is a free happy-hour meetup event, in which a relaxed atmosphere brings together people connected to startups, technology, innovation and creative business.
Date: 17 November, 6pm to 9pm
Location: UNITEL, Seat Talatona, S/N, Belas, Luanda
Startup! From idea to business
This workshop is for those who want to get their ideas off the paper and start their own business. Learn new skills and find out if entrepreneurship is an economically viable alternative to your career.
Date: 17 November, 9am to 1pm
Location: Agostinho Neto University Sapu, Luanda
Financial innovation: New opportunities inclusion and social development
Join this panel discussion on how financial innovation can present new opportunities around inclusion and social development.
Date: 14 November, 6pm to 8.30pm
Location: ISUTIC Luanda, Angola
Chad
Over the course of five days, Startup Week participants can choose the events they wish to attend. Generally, these events take place at different locations in a city. Speakers share their stories to motivate and inspire the entrepreneurial community.
Date: 13 to 17 November, 7.30am to 11.30pm
Location: Palais du 15 Janvier, N’Djamena
Startups Investment Forum Chad
Startup Investment Forum Chad aims to bring together players from across Chad and the world to invest in the country’s most innovative startup ventures.
Date: 17 to 19 November, 1pm to 4pm
Location: Palais du 15 Janvier, N’Djamena, Archidiocèse de Ndjamena
Kenya
StartUpNow Africa Entrepreneurship Summit
StartUpNow Africa Entrepreneurship Summit is a three day innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship summit platform. It aims to connect, inspire, motivate, grow and engage innovators and entrepreneurs who are working hard in solving Africa’s challenges through innovation.
Date: 16 to 18 November, 8.30pm
Location: Sheraton Abuja Hotel, ladi Kwali Street, Abuja
Startup Weekend Refugees Nairobi
Fuse Catalysts, Kenya Red Cross, Techfugees and Refunite have partnered together to bring developers, designers, entrepreneurs and community members to develop creative tech solutions with and for refugees living in Kenya.
Date: 17 to 19 November, 6pm
Location: iBizAfrica, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Nairobi County
Nigeria
Abuja Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Summit
The Abuja Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Summit is an initiative to educate and create awareness on cryptocurrency in Nigeria.
Date: 15 November, 9am to 6pm
Location: Sheraton Abuja Hotel, ladi Kwali Street, Abuja
Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, the weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations.
Date: 17 to 19 November, 1pm to 4pm
Location: Innovation Growth Hub, Aba
Togo
Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, the weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations.
Date: 17 to 19 November, 4.30pm
Location: Bluezone, Cacaveli
StartupGrind Lome hosts Edeh Dona Etchri
For its second meeting, Startup Grind Lome welcomes young digital entrepreneur and multi-award winner Edeh Dona Etchri. He will also share his experiences and give valuable tips for success in Togo.
Date: 18 November, 6pm to 9pm
Location: Woelab Prime, Apedokoe Lome, Apedokoe
Featured image: George Kelly via Flickr (CC 2.0 BY-SA, resized)
