The discussion included valuable inputs from Ellen Fischat, Silicon Cape CEO, Christophe Viarnaud, Methys CEO & AfricArena lead, and Zachariah George, MD of Startupbootcamp.
The discussion focused on ways in which stakeholders can work together with business to build links with the French tech scene to ensure that Cape Town remains the digital and start-up capital of Africa.
Today’s event serves as a precursor to the AfricArena tech conference which will take place at the Century City Conference Centre on 6 and 7 November 2017 as the largest ever tech innovation conference for start-ups and investors hosted on African soil.
Cape Town and the Western Cape have an increasingly tech focused ecosystem. Cape Town is the leading location in the country for technology start-ups and venture capital and recent growth in the tech sector is very evident, with 65% of venture capital transactions in 2015 relating to tech, compared to 29% in 2013.
The economic impact of tech companies is also significant, with one high growth, tech enabled company creating 200 plus direct jobs on average. And importantly, 60% of South African start-ups call Cape Town home.
Cape Town represents a number of opportunities and advantages to IT businesses locating in it, including
the availability of ICT skills and the prevalence of an entrepreneurial culture. There is better availability of venture capital in Cape Town and companies benefit from agglomeration, with Cape Town having established itself as a key technology hub in recent years.
Today’s discussions were an excellent precursor to the main AfricArena conference which takes place in November. At the event, sponsorships of RCS/BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Schneider Electric and City of Cape Town were announced, all associated with Open innovation challenges in areas of Fintech, Smart City, TourismTech and Social Impact. In particular, the City of Cape Town is looking to leverage on AfricArena to identify disruptive tech solutions to enhance its attractiveness as a Tourism destination and its ability to offer platforms to help boost employment in the City.
Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro said that “Cape Town is increasingly establishing itself as the African technology hub. This represents huge opportunities for economic growth and job creation in the City and Province. Cape Town and the Western Cape provide the ideal tech ecosystem – a growing fibre network, a wealth of academic talent and an innovative and creative culture.”
He added that “The upcoming AfricArena conference will help grow the already strong relationship between France and the Cape, and contribute towards strengthening our region as the leading technology hub on the continent.”
Christophe Viarnaud, CEO of the international digital firm Methys said that “Through a system of open innovation challenges and partnerships with numerous African organizations and incubators we have worked hard to attract into one event the best tech entrepreneurs from the continent, the most dynamic corporates interested in innovation in Africa and a very large group of investors eager to work together to bring the best investment opportunities in Africa into their deal flow. Now is the time to invest in these rising stars.”