The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA, Mr. Peter Jack, has urged the organisers of this year’s DEMO Africa event: LIONS@frica to ensure the event sustains its established brand value as the platform for investors to meet innovative and budding technology entrepreneurs in Africa.
This year’s DEMO Africa is holding in Lagos tomorrow.
DEMO Africa has become the flagship event to connect African startups to the global ecosystem. “It is the place where the most innovative companies from African countries get a platform to launch their products and announce to Africa and the world what they have developed.
According to the organisers, “We invest in technological innovation because we understand the benefits of a vibrant technology ecosystem to a country. As Africa’s population becomes increasingly educated and affluent, the global business community is looking to capitalize on this increase in human and financial resources. There appears to be a new optimism for future economic prospects for Africa and hence a fresh interest in the technology sector.”
The organisers assured Nigerian that preparations were concluded to host about 30 startups carefully selected from across the continent.
“At NITDA, we see this event as the real deal and a major game-changer in how investors are engaged and how startups are funded or goaded to become part of the larger economic framework of not just Nigeria but the entire continent. And we believe the organisers of this event are up to the task. They will deliver on objectives,” Jack said.
DEMO Africa allows start-ups from all over Africa to meet venture capitalists investors, tech acquisition specialists, IT buyers and media from across the region and around the globe. The start-ups are given an opportunity to launch their products to a tech eco-system under categories that include: agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, retail, media and entertainment. Others are communication, transport and logistics, energy, finance and banking, water and sanitation, waste management and recycling.
In two years , the DEMO African alumni have generated over $8 million in either investments, business or partnerships from the unique mix of positioning, opportunity such as networking, fundraising, training and exposure that the launch pad offers.