Top startup events in South Africa, Africa you should know about this week [10/3/2019]

This week Cape Town hosts two big summits, the first, Seamless Africa 2019 kicks off on Tuesday (12 March) and will cover payments, fintech, ecommerce and retail.

The second, CMS Africa Summit, kicks gets started on Friday (15 March) and delves into open source content management systems.

For those in Durban, you’ll want to attend the city’s Startup Grind chapter as they host Hashtag Stories founders Yusuf and Sumaiya Omar on Wednesday (13 March).

Elsewhere on the continent, Tunisia will host the continent’s first African Islamic Fintech Summit this week. The historic event kicks off on Saturday (16 March) in the north-eastern coastal town of Nabeul.

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

Seamless Africa 2019

If you’re serious about commerce in Africa, you’ll want to attend the Seamless Africa 2019.

The free two-day event features leading commerce and technology providers, free seminars by world-class speakers, a startup pavilion, product launches and demos, as well as over 50 exhibitors, a networking hub and so much more.

Date: 12 and 13 March, 8am to 5pm
Location: Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

Cap-H HR workshop

This workshop will share insights on processes and tools growing startups can use to improve and automate HR functions within their business.

Date: 12 March, 2pm to 3pm
Location: Nu Era Group building, 3 Irene Street, Bellville, Cape Town

Big Five Summit

Hosted by BigFive Digital, the BigFive Summit is a knowledge-sharing and networking event for companies that provide digital marketing and technology solutions to local businesses across Africa and the Middle East.

The Summit is built around the five cornerstone pillars that support local commerce — search, social, mobile, location and payments.

Date: 13 to 15 March
Location: Workshop 17, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

CMS Africa Summit

CMS Africa Summit brings together both global and Africa-based speakers and delegates. The event hosts tech business owners, innovators and experts in the area of web and mobile design, ecommerce solutions, online business, and online exchange.

Date: 15 and 16 March, 8am
Location: Atlantic Imbizo Conference and Function Studio, Clock Tower Centre, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

Women in 4IR

This one’s for the ladies. Join this event for a hands-on workshop on machine learning and the Internet of Things hosted by Intel Software Innovators. Don’t forget to bring your laptop.

Date: 15 March, 6pm to 8pm
Location: My Domain Student Living, 1 Lower Church Street, Wynberg, Cape Town

Durban

Startup Grind Durban hosts Hashtag Stories founders

Startup Grind Durban hosts Yusuf and Sumaiya Omar, the founders of Snapchat-backed startup Hashtag Stories.

Date: 13 March, 6.15pm to 9pm
Location: Pavilion Hotel, 15 KE Masinga Rd, North Beach, Durban

Johannesburg

I Am An Entrepreneur Summit

This summit focused on arming entrepreneurs with critical business management and leadership skills that will enable them to have the best chances of commercial success.

Date: 16 March, 8.30am
Location: The Pivot, Montecasino, Johannesburg

Algeria

Startup Weekend HEC Alger

Are you a student or project builder who is passionate about entrepreneurship? You’ll want to join this event which aims to help you start an enterprise in 54 hours.

Date: 14 to 16 March
Location: Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales HEC KOLEA, Kolea University Pole, Kolea

Ethiopia

Finnovation Ethiopia 2019

Combining a highly innovative and interactive event format with world-class speakers and more than 300 carefully selected participants, Finnovation Ethiopia 2019, will tackle the most pressing issues for the progress of fintech and the positive transformation of banking in Africa.

The event provides a platform for all stakeholders to engage in and create the future of financial services on the continent — from established banking powerhouses to fintech startups.

Date: 11 March
Location: Radisson Blu, Addis Ababa

Kenya

How to get your business investor ready

Join this event to learn new insights and tools that will help you increase your chances to succeed in your area of expertise as well as insights around business plans and actions for the year.

Date: 12 March, 6pm to 7pm
Location: Nairobi Garage, Ngong Road, 9th Floor Pinetree Plaza, Kaburu Drive, Nairobi

#WhatsNext: Education

#WhatsNext is a monthly thought-leadership series that runs in Nairobi and Hong Kong bringing together some of the smartest people in a particular vertical to ask them WhatsNext. This week’s edition focuses on education.

Topics to be covered include education models, skills for the future, and opportunities for impact investment in the sector.

Date: 13 March, 6pm to 8.30pm
Location: 6/F Belgravia, 14 Riverside Drive, Suite 6A, Nairobi

Afrobytes Nairobi

Industry decision-makers and startups looking to transform the African markets will connect at this event to shape the future of tech in Africa

Date: 16 March, 4pm to 8.30pm
Location: 6/F Belgravia, 14 Riverside Drive, Suite 6A, Nairobi

Nigeria

Startup Grind Lagos hosts Olorisupergal’s Tosin Ajibade

Join Olorisupergal founder Tosin Ajibadein this Startup Grind Lagos event on becoming an influencer in your industry.

Date: 15 March, 4pm to 8.30pm
Location: The Nest, 1A Hughes Avenue, Off Herbert Macaulay Road, Yaba

Senegal

Meet Up Concree: Startup product development

During this meetup, experienced entrepreneurs will share their experiences in the development of innovative products and services.

Date: 14 March, 5pm to 7pm
Location: Expresso Innovation Hub, Dakar

Tunisia

African Islamic Fintech Summit (SAIFI 2019)

This summit will explore how the convergence of fintech and Islamic finance is contributing to the growth of an Islamic African economic system and how fintech is the key to capturing the next generation of African Islamic digital economy customers.

Date: 16 and 17 March, 8am to 6.30pm
Location: Hasdrubal Thalassa & Spa, Yassmine Hammamet, Hammamet, Nabeul

Uganda

StartHub Pitch Event

Startups will pitch their business ideas, network and get expert advice.

Date: 15 March, 7pm to 5.30pm
Location: Victoria University Kampala,Plot 56, Kampala

Zambia

Stress management: How to stay alive as a founder

Join clinical psychologist Njinga Kankinza as she discusses stress and how it has an impact on your well-being and business. The session will conclude with proposed strategies to prevent, reduce and cope with stress.

Date: 13 March, 10am to 12pm
Location: BongoHive, Thabo Mbeki Road, Lusaka

Featured image: Startup Grind Cape Town via Facebook