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.
Cape Town
For those working in startups, lean (startup) coffee is a weekly one-hour coffee meetup that runs a mash-up of leancoffee.org with theleanstartup.com.
Date: 20 December, 8.30am to 9.30am
Location: 1 Somerset Road, Green Point, Cape Town
Blockchain is a revolution potentially as big as the internet itself. But what is it? How does it work? How are people creating new currencies every day? How can blockchain be used beyond finances, for example, in healthcare? What is an initial coin offering (ICO), a ledger and how do you start your own blockchain project?
Join this event to learn more about the Blockchain revolution and opportunities to change your business, career and the world.
Date: 20 December, 6pm to 8.30pm
Location: Rise Cape Town, 66-68 Albert Road, Cape Town
Bloemfontein
Startup Grind Bloemfontein Braai
Are you in Bloemfontein? Pack something nice to put on the fire, bring along your favourite beverage and join the Startup Grind team to recap on the year.
The team will be available to answer any questions you may have about Startup Grind, opportunities available to you as a startup, local and international stakeholder.
Date: 18 December, 2pm to 5pm
Location: Botanical Gardens, Rayton Road, Dan Pienaar, Bloemfontein
Ghana
Join this free networking forum bringing people together for learning, sharing, networking and mentoring in the Greater Accra region and beyond. The theme for this year is “Building the Nation Through Competent Professionals”.
Date: 23 December, 9am to 5pm
Location: Association of African Universities, East Legon, Accra, Greater Accra
Kenya
The Workshop series : Keys for smart startups and fast growth
Nairobi Garage holds The Workshop series every month for professionals that need to develop their skills and build their capacity to succeed in today’s dynamic business environment.
This week the focus is on how startups grow in an environment that sees a failure rate between 60 and 90%. Join to learn the key insights that could help you run a successful startup in Kenya.
Date: 19 December, 5pm to 6.30pm
Location: Nairobi Garage, Westlands, Mirage M2, Chiromo Road, Nairobi, Nairobi County
Nairobi’s startups holiday party
Join Startup Grind Nairobi for this end of year gathering of founders, entrepreneurs, past speakers, ecosystem players and partners.
Date: 22 December to 23 December, 6pm to 4am
Location: Metta Nairobi, Belgravia Suite 6A, 14 Riverside, Nairobi
Nigeria
Masterclass on bitcoin technology
Join Bitcoin Africa founder Timi Ajiboye and cyrptocurrency brokerage Tanjalo founder Tim Makinbo for this masterclass on bitcoin tech. Learn the ins and outs of blockchain development and how bitcoin works with live coding exercises.
Date: 20 December, 8.30am to 6.30pm
Location: Lagos Island (Details to be announced later)
Uganda
The JustPitch Innovation events are a series of pitching sessions where the HiiL Justice Accelerator scouts for and identifies new and potential startups that could qualify for its seed funding that is given out annually.
The pitching series are an open event for individuals and teams that want to present their idea and receive feedback from HiiL’s mentors and alumni startups as well as experts from partner institutions in attendance.
Date: 20 December, 4pm to 7pm
Location: The Innovation Village Kampala, Plot 14A Chwa II Road, Kampala, Central Region
Featured image:WOCinTech Chat via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0 , resized)
