The 7th Annual Africa Tech Summit, kicked off on Wednesday, June 22 in London with 12 African startups set to showcase at the event.
The startups will engage and network with tech leaders from the African ecosystem and international players from across the globe.
Firms from Kenya, Nigeria, UK, Egypt, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania will showcase at the London Stock Exchange.
Africa Tech Summit connects over 300 leaders and over 100 companies from across the continent, to share their insights on technology advances and opportunities.
In his remarks, Andrew Fassnidge, the founder of Africa Tech Summit stated that they will not only focus at the London Stock Exchange, but will include discussions on what is happening in the payment space across the world.
He further stated that the summit aims to establish connections between the startups in the continent and other key stakeholders worldwide.
“This technology summit which is in its 8th year simply connects African technology leaders with global partners,” Fassnidge said.
This Africa Tech Summit will not only feature top companies, but will also provide opportunities for upcoming firms, and hold discussions on emerging sectors like the HealthTech space.
Funding for Africa’s startups
In an interview with the Kenyan Wall Street, Fassnidge decried a decline in the number of investors coming to the continent, resulting in a significant cash slow-down.
“There has definitely been a slowdown in the level of funding for tech companies across Africa and the world, including the first quarter of this year where numbers have gone down drastically,” he said.
However, he stated that besides the negative business environment, there is hope since Africa’s startups are in good shape, and there’s plenty of capital that can be put into the African venture companies.
This tech summit, he said, seeks to facilitate startups in engaging with top-tier investors, creating a platform to pursue capital investment.
According to a report by Disrupt Africa, African tech startups raised $650 million in the first quarter of 2023.
In addition, another survey showed that funding for Africa’s startups in May 2023, hit $645 million, signaling a bounce-back.