MEST Announces Africa Technology Summit set for Nov 4

The African continent is undergoing unprecedented transformation across industries and stands poised for an unparalleled technology- driven boom.

The Africa Technology Summit (ATS) is a two-day meeting of the leading corporate executives, entrepreneurs, investors and media who are shaping Africa's tech ecosystem. All these major players will be explaining their African strategies, and sharing what's next for them on the continent.

ATS brings together a 'who’s who’ list of attendees from across all stages and sectors of Africa's technology ecosystem. ATS will serve as a can’t miss annual gathering opportunity for movers and shakers in the technology industry, where they can share their perspectives on these trends and engage in discussions, debates and deals.

ATS is also partnering with Angel Fair Africa, which will be the venue of the November 5 meeting.

Building on the success of past events in Johannesburg (2013) which brought together 25 emerging entrepreneurial businesses from 6 African countries with 75 investors, followed by Angel Fair West Africa in 2014, which brought together 20 emerging entrepreneurial businesses from 4 West African countries with 82 investors, the third day of ATS will focus exclusively on connecting promising African startups with investment opportunities.

Introduced through a series of topical sessions and keynote presentations, the presentations and panel discussions at ATS will touch upon the following themes:

Learn how the major tech multinationals like Samsung, Microsoft, Google and Facebook and are dramatically expanding their focus, resources, and presences across the continent.

What role do venture hubs play and how can they better serve and support entrepreneurs in scaling their startups for success?

Investors across the spectrum, including angels, VCs and Private Equity firms, all discuss their views on the most compelling opportunities today and how they’re focusing their time, attention, and money.

Online commerce of all types is booming and companies like Mall for Africa, Hotels.ng, Slimtrader, Supermart.ng and Mobofree will share their experiences in riding and driving this online product discovery and purchasing revolution.

Africa boasts one of the world’s most successful mobile money rollouts, but millions still remain unbanked, uninsured and lack access to credit. How are established banks, telcos, and a new breed of upstart financial service providers disrupting and innovating this industry?

As the audience rapidly shifts from offline to online, how does this change how people consume media, what types of content are they seeking, how will this usage be monetized and how are traditional media companies responding to this new media paradigm?

As internet penetration and smartphone adoption explodes, how are the major telcos and messaging providers adapting and serving this new generation of online consumers and businesses?

How do we ensure that technology talent and solutions are being leveraged to support the most vulnerable communities? What are the proven models and new approaches with tech to address the underserved?

The panelists that address these topics will be comprised of executives from established regional and global tech leaders, mobile operators, financial services, social enterprises, mobile operators, as well as most promising entrepreneurs and the angels, venture capitalists and private equity investors who back them. Speakers include some of the biggest names in the tech and mobile space, as well as CEOs and investors from all corners of the continent, plus Silicon Valley and Europe.

Some of the confirmed speakers at ATS include:

· Alisee de Tonnac, CEO & Co-founder of Seedstars World

· Ama Pokuaa Boateng, Journalist, Al Jazeera

· Amber Fowler, Partner & COO, EchoVC Partners

· Andres Martinez, West Africa Bureau Chief, Bloomberg

· Ben White, Founder, VC4Africa

· Charles Ojei, Director of Enterprise West Africa, Samsung

· Chika Nwobi, Founder & MD, L5 Labs; Co-Director, 440.ng

· Chris Folayan, Co-Founder & CEO, Mall for Africa

· Cristobal Alonso, CEO, Mobofree

· Eric Osiakwan, Founder, Angel Fair Africa

· Etop Ikpe, Co-MD of DealDey

· Eyram Tawia, Co-Founder & CEO, Leti Arts

· Femi Akinde,CEO, Slimtrader

· Folabi Esan, Partner, Adlevo Capital

· Harris Broumidis, Vodafone Ghana CEO

· Neal Hansch, Managing Director, MEST Incubator

· Patrick Awuah, Founder & President, Ashesi

· Prince Akpesey, West Africa Portfolio Manager, Acumen

· Raphael Afaedor, Co-Founder & CEO – Supermart.ng

· Rutger-Jan van Spaandonk, CEO, Mobile in Africa Limited

· Stephen Ozoigbo, Founder & CEO, African Technology Foundation

· Vahid Monadjem, Co-Founder & CEO, Nomanini

· Vincent Kouwenhoven, Founder, eVentures Africa Fund

ATS is adding more speakers by the day, and will unveil the keynote speakers in October.

ABOUT the Organizers

Creators of ATS, the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) provides training, investment and incubation to aspiring high tech entrepreneurs in Africa and with bridges to Silicon Valley. The program that blends an MBA-type education with hands-on training in software development in a fast-paced, startup environment.

Since it’s inception, MEST has trained over 200 Ghanaian and Nigerian entrepreneurs and invested $15 million in the training program and incubator, which has provided seed funding to over 20 startups.

These companies have developed solutions addressing global markets, created jobs, raised follow-on funding and competed in top global technology events such as TechCrunch Disrupt, plus gained admittance to top accelerator programs including 500 Startups. MEST was recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the “10 Most Innovative Companies in Africa” and regarded as “one of the largest private investments in Ghanaian economic development” by DFID.

Toby Shapshak, a well known media personality and thought leader in the African tech circles, is co-host of CNBC Africa’s Tech Busters and Publisher and Editor of Stuff, the South African edition of the world’s leading tech publication and global partner for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Shapshak also writes a weekly column for the Financial Mail and is a Forbes contributor.

Shapshak is bringing his talents, insights and curation to ATS, as Chair of the conference Advisory Panel.