Nairobi is a hive of activity this week for those in the tech startup sector. After the tragic events of earlier this month (see our coverage — here and here) this must come as great news for the country’s tech community.
Events to lookout for there include — the African Investor Masterclass on Friday (2 February), the Mission Billion Challenge Solveathon on Tuesday (29 January) and a strategy and communications planning workshop which takes place on the same day.
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If you’re in Cape Town, look out for the Free Cape Small Business Support Network workshop on Wednesday (30 January) where attendees will learn how to use LinkedIn to reach investors as well as their target market.
In Johannesburg? If you’re an investor you’ll want to check out Friday’s 12J Marketplace event. There’s also a Startup Grind Johannesburg event on Thursday (31 January).
This article is part of a weekly series that highlights all the top startup events, competitions, networking sessions, workshops and conferences in Africa.
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.
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 that work in startups, lean (startup) coffee is a weekly one-hour coffee meetup that runs a mash-up of leancoffee.org with theleanstartup.com.
Unlike other startup meetups, lean (startup) coffee has no set agenda or a line-up of speakers — instead the talks are centred around what you care about.
Date: 30 January, 8.30am to 9.30am
Location: 1 Somerset Road, Green Point, Cape Town
Leveraging LinkedIn to find value in your network
Join this Free Cape Small Business Support Network workshop where Dana Rissley will discuss how you can use LinkedIn to reach your target client base or potential investors.
Date: 30 January, 1pm to 2pm
Location: The Cape Town Garage, The Woodstock Exchange, Block A, 4th Floor, 66 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town
Oribi Talk #2: How social entrepreneurs can lead the energy transition
In its second talk, incubator and co-working space Oribi Village will host four social entrepreneurs to discuss how a transition to renewable energy can also trigger substantial social benefits.
Date: 31 January, 5.30pm to 8.30pm
Location: Oribi Village, 19 Park road, Gardens, Cape Town
Mission Billion Challenge Solveathon Cape Town
This hackathon (or solveathon) will be facilitated by MIT Solve staff and focus on refining ideas from the Cape Town community in response to the Mission Billion Challenge’s latest call.
In this call the challenge is seeking solutions to how digital identification systems in developing countries can be better designed or adapted to protect people’s privacy and empower them with greater control over their personal data.
Date: 31 January, 9am to 1.30pm
Location: WorkInProgress, 5th Floor, Block B, Woodstock Exchange Building, 66 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town
Future Females: Brave Idea — How to start your business
Join Kikka Coffee Shops founder Karike Conradie and Balance Wellness founder Debbie Jackson as they share how they started their businesses, their learnings, pitfalls they’ve come across and how they secured funding for their companies.
Date: 31 January, 9am to 1.30pm
Location: Workshop 17 Tabakhuis, Corner Tabak and Louws Street, Paarl
Johannesburg
How blockchain is disrupting the fintech industry
ConsenSys’s Monica Singer and Adhara’s Peter Munnings will discuss the Reserve Bank’s Project Khokha which recently just won the Best Distributed Ledger Initiative award from Central Banking Publications.
Date: 31 January, 5pm to 7pm
Location: Equinox, Absa North Building, Absa Capital, 15 Alice Lane, Johannesburg
French Tech Community Meet Up Johannesburg
Network and meet the French Tech community in Joburg at this event organised by French Tech Cape Town.
Date: 31 January, 5.30pm to 7pm
Location: 10 Van Beek Street, Johannesburg
Startup Grind Johannesburg: Opportunities available for startups in 2019
What’s your game-plan for this year? Join this event where SOSV partner and MOX managing director William Bao Bean will share his insights on the global opportunities for 2019.
Date: 31 January, 6pm to 9pm
Location: Impello Co working space, 139 Greenway Avenue, Greenside
12J Marketplace
The 12J Marketplace is aimed at assisting investors and advisors on investing in a Section 12J venture capital company (VCCs).
Ten 10 VCCs will each have 10 minutes to present their investment opportunity. After the presentations, breakfast will be served followed by an exhibition hall where the market can meet face to face with each Section 12J VC firm.
Date: 1 February, 7.30am to 1.30pm
Location: The Venue, Melrose Arch, 17 High St, Melrose, Johannesburg
Durban
Future Females: Build your business on Instagram
If you are looking to grow your business on Instagram — or grow faster — then this event is for you.
The workshop will cover hashtags, algorithms, stories, IGTV, conversion, as well as insights on proven models to build followers.
Date: 31 January, 5pm to 6.30pm
Location: Curiocity Hostels (Curiocity DBN), 55 Monty Naicker, Durban
KNF Ventures S12J Info and networking session
KNF Ventures will host an informal information and networking session with some of its current investors, portfolio company entrepreneurs and prospective investors.
Date: 28 January, 5.30pm
Location: To be announced on registration
Ghana
Getting your business investor ready
This information session covers the different financing options for businesses and startups and includes an in-depth discussion on how to get your business ready for investors. Each session is limited to 20 participants.
Date: 31 January, 1pm to 2pm
Location: The Finlite Institute, 16 Noi Fetreke Street, Airport Residential Area, Accra
Finding Product-Market Fit by Leti Arts CEO Eyram Tawia
Join Leti Arts CEO and co-founder Eyrom Tawia and Publiseer CEO Chidi Nwaogu as they share tips that will help you to get a step closer to achieving product-market fit for your product.
Date: 31 January, 1pm to 2pm
Location: The Finlite Institute, 16 Noi Fetreke Street, Airport Residential Area, Accra
Kenya
Nairobi Global Game Jam
The goal of the Global Game Jam is to create a game in 48 hours in a multidisciplinary team. The only guideline is the theme, which is announced at the start of the event. One can create both digital games and board games.
At the end of the jam, all games are presented and people can play each others games. An Amazing jury will listen to your pitches and announce the winners.
Date: 25 January, 5.30pm to 7pm
Location: Nairobi Garage, Ngong Road, Nairobi
Strategy and comms planning in 2019
Join Nendo Founder Mark Kaigwa and Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s former head of communications planning Julian Cole as they discuss strategy and communications planning.
Date: 29 January, 9am to 1.30pm
Location: iHub Nairobi, 6th Floor, Senteu Plaza, Galana / Lenana Road Junction, Nairobi
Mission Billion Challenge Solveathon Nairobi
This hackathon (or solveathon) will be facilitated by MIT Solve staff and focus on refining ideas from the Nairobi community in response to the Mission Billion Challenge, which addresses.
The latest call will address how digital identification systems in developing countries can be better designed or adapted to protect people’s privacy and empower them with greater control over their personal data.
Date: 29 January, 9am to 1.30pm
Location: iHub Nairobi, 6th Floor, Senteu Plaza, Galana / Lenana Road Junction, Nairobi
How to align your business with the AI revolution
In this workshop Instadeep team lead Muthoni Wanyoike will demystify AI concepts by proving practical examples of AI in use and what opportunities the technology represents for startups.
Date: 29 January, 6pm to 7pm
Location: Nairobi Garage , Westlands, Mirage M2, Chiromo Road, Nairobi
After Office Hours with Harry Hare
After Office Hours is a monthly event, where members of Nairobi Garage, business owners and professionals from around Nairobi, learn from and engage with, speakers who are exceptional in their areas of business.
This week’s speaker is CIO East Africa publisher and DEMO Africa executive producer Harry Hare.
Date: 31 January, 6pm to 7pm
Location: Nairobi Garage, Ngong Road, 8th Floor, Pinetree Plaza, Kaburu Drive Off Ngong Rd, Nairobi
Founders Conversation
Join the conversation and get insights and strategies to help you kickstart your 2019 in profit.
Date: 31 January, 8.30am to 9.30am
Location: TBD
African Investor Masterclass Nairobi
The African Investor Masterclass is a series of business and investment training seminars. After successful events in Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland the African Investor Masterclass is finally coming to East Africa.
Date: 2 February, 10am to 6pm
Location: METTĀ Nairobi, 6th Floor, Belgravia, 14 Riverside Drive, Nairobi
Namibia
Raw: Developing your business model
Raw offers entrepreneurs a safe and trusted space to connect with peers and share lessons learned or face challenges and uncertainty together. At this event, participants will learn how to develop a business model.
Date: 31 January, 6pm to 8pm
Location: Acacia High School, Mahatma Gandhi St, Khomasdal, Windhoek
Nigeria
Tech innovation masterclass
Are you a tech startup or entrepreneur looking for a break-through? Join this masterclass to learn about practices that will be plainly explained, step-by-step to help you guarantee new ideas in just a few hours.
Date: 28 January, 6pm to 8pm
Location: HQ Naf, Conference Centre and Suites, Kado, Abuja
Startup Grind Akure hosts BEE Enterprises CEO Omojiade Ogudo
Startup Grind Akure will launch its chapter with a fireside chat with BEE Enterprises CEO Omojiade Ogudo.
Date: 2 February, 11am to 1pm
Location: Premier Hub Innovation Center, A122, Akure Plot 7, Block O, Ilesha-Owo Express Way, Near A&T Presidential Hotel, Oloko Junction, Akure
Tanzania
Tanzania Financial Inclusion Summit 2019
Curious about the critical challenges and opportunities around financial inclusion within East Africa? Then you’ll want to attend this summit.
Date: 28 to 30 January, 8.30am to 5.30pm
Location: Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, Dar es Salaam
Tanzania Fintech and Banking Conference 2019
With its focus on the future of fintech and the intersection of financial services, this conference will provide industry stakeholders guidance on building internal programs as well as an in-depth look at the sector’s cutting-edge technologies.
Date: 28 to 30 January, 8am to 5.30pm
Location: Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, Dar es Salaam
MSI Africa Venture Capital Expo 2019
Join this event to meet and network with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and private equity firms in Tanzania.
Date: 28 to 30 January, 8.30am to 3.30pm
Location: Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, Dar es Salaam
Payment Solutions Expo 2019
This event will showcase companies from around the world that have designed and developed payment solutions or payment gateway software.
Date: 28 to 30 January, 10am
Location: Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, Dar es Salaam
Featured image: Startup Grind Johannesburg via Facebook
