“Across Africa, we have seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny, and making change from the bottom up.†— President Barack Obama 2009
Africa Gathering will be hosting it’s festival of technologies & innovation event at the Thomas Reuters Foundation, London on June 15, 2012. This year’s event is focusing on the role of technology hubs and start-ups in stimulating private sector development and promoting social change across the African continent.
Africa Gathering draws inspiration from the traditional, symbolic African Baobab tree -the place where people can gather to share knowledge, exchange ideas and learn from each other. Under Africa Gatherings tree everyone speaks openly; from Activators to Innovators, Artists to Technologists, Entrepreneurs to Business Executives.
Riding on the theme: “Festival of Technologies: Start it, Build it†– This gathering will seek to re-frame the debate around Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Africa. It will demonstrate how the creative African cheetahs are currently moving faster and taking the lead in developing amazing technology solutions currently changing and improving lives.
In collaboration with the Indigo Trust Foundation this amazing event will provide an opportunity to delegates and speakers to share their ideas under Africa Gathering’s palaver tree, to discuss the start-up culture across Africa and to showcase just some of the great start-up ideas that have emerged in recent times on the continent.
The programme will involve a mix of keynote speakers from the African continent, CNN, Google UK, British Broadcasting Corporation, Indigo Trust and the World Bank. There will be three parallel workshops, breakout sessions running along different themes and a plenary session with presentations from a variety of speakers.
One highlight of the one-day event is the – Group Think and Brainstorming sessions on Africa’s Start-Up Future (Who is starting and building it in Africa?)
Not able to attend Africa Gathering 2012 in person, you can follow the conversation on Twitter via the hash-tag: #AGL2012 or follow the the event Twitter account – @AfricaGathering for more. You can also catch up on videos from Africa Gathering 2011 and Africa Gathering Schedule 2012 [pdf link]
Notice:
It’s rather unfortunate, myself and my colleague – Edward Amartey-Tagoe from Ghana won’t be able to make it to Africa Gathering 2012 due to the long visa application process at the UK High Commission in Ghana. We shall be following the conversation and discussions online and update you via our online mediums.
