You’ll Not Want To Miss These 5 Talks At AfricaCom 2017

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AfricaCom 2014

Last time we talked about how Econet, Liquid Telecom and ZOL have been shortlisted for Awards at AfricaCom in various categories like fintech, customer experience and innovation. Today, I’m going to share with you some of the talks that you might not want to miss at AfricaCom 2017, Africa’s largest technology, telecoms and media event.

Start with a problem, not a solution – what keeps your target market awake at night?

The panel of people who will be discussing the above topic will share some ideas on how to actually start with the problem, better yet how to spot opportunities for you to innovate on. The discussion will also tackle how to actually transform the ideas into solutions that matter to your target market, scale the solution to reach an international audience and most importantly how to understand the priorities for investors and their way of thinking so you can secure the funding you might need for your solution.

The entrepreneurship journey isn’t easy and things like making money online in Zimbabwe might even prove difficult. However, knowing some of these insights might actually help you build a successful enterprise in Africa as many have already proven it’s possible so learn from them.

Embracing and capitalising on the everything connected world

The world is increasingly getting more connected by each year that passes. Things like IoT or artificial intelligence which often lead to a more connected world often impact Africa later than they do in other parts of the world. So it might be difficult to really see how those exciting new age technologies can really be used to build a solution for people in Africa and actually create a profitable business.

Well, this is yet another talk that will be building on top of the previous one we just looked at but with a focus more on the tech adoption and implementation than the grander business strategy. Personally, I’ve been someone who has been fascinated and have even played a bit with artificial intelligence in a venture so to look how to actually decide what to adopt, the challenges to be faced and whether there will be any returns is something that I’m interested in.

Even if you’re not into the technical aspects of IoT or artificial intelligence, participating in this panel discussion will surely geiv you some insights that could help your current or future business leverage the upcoming technologies.

Developing a Content Monetisation Platform for Different Regions in Africa

I’d like to think that we live in a world where getting someone attention is very valuable to any business. I mean we spend so much quite a significant time-consuming content whether it’s on our smartphones, tablets or laptops but for most content creators locally it’s not as easy to monetize the content they produce.

In the USA people have already moved on to consuming content on over the top services like Netflix, however locally, it’s mostly WhatsApp and Facebook that are big especially in Zimbabwe so how do you make money there? Well, that’s exactly what this panel discussion aims to share insight on.

New players like Kwese Play which recently launched in South Africa are navigating this exact topic in their business and the CEO will be part of the discussion. So if you’re into the media business then definitely attend this talk as it promises to give you answers with an African context.

Besides, in a social media age, every company should be producing content around their business and knowing how to earn from it could be an extra revenue source you didn’t have.

Is blockchain the catalyst for the next technology-driven transformation?

Now, Bitcoin has been a hot topic for a while internationally and it recently started to pick up in interest locally. Golix, a Zimbabwean Bitcoin exchange, recently processed 1 million worth of transactions in one month alone. However, there’s more to cryptocurrencies than just Bitcoin and the most fundamental yet overlooked by many is blockchain, the underlying technology that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies run on.

Blockchain for most is a can of worms that they haven’t opened and some wouldn’t even begin to imagine how blockchain could be used in Africa outside of powering cryptocurrencies. However, one clear thing is that the financial sector is about to be changed not by just Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies but more importantly by Bitcoin.

So as a business, knowing about the real opportunities of blockchain in Africa be it in payments, remittances, trade finances or settlements is something that you should consider as a worth while knowledge investment and this panel discussion seems like a good starting point.

The next big thing for tech in Africa

If you had US$100 000, what would you invest it on in Africa? Just like the applications of blockchain in Africa, that could be a hard question to answer since you might not know exactly what it will have the biggest impact in Africa in the next 1, 5, 10 or even 20 years. What industries will undergo the greatest transformation is another question with answers that escape most of us.

An interactive quiz in an informal session will be held to share insights on some of these questions and hopefully help participants have an idea of what they could invest in Africa if they had that money. If you’re not at AfricaCom, you can still get involved in the conversation with the discussions live audience polling at www.slido.com.

These aren’t all the AfricaCom talks

These 5 AfricaCom talks are just some of the ones that got me jumping out of the seat as must attend for entrepreneurs in the tech space while I was looking at the agenda for the three-day conference. You might not think that these are must attend talks and that’s okay because AfricaCom 2017 has so many more talks and discussions that will be held at the event so you’re surely to find some that interest you by taking a look at the agenda.

Other Techzim team members will also be attending AfricaCom so you will be able to see what interested them and how diverse the event is as we will be covering it. If you have any burning questions that you’d like to get answers to that are related to these 5 AfricaCom talks, comment down below and I’ll try to get some answers for you.

Do let us know your thoughts on any of these talks, what’s running in your mind as you read those topics? Share any insights you already have on any of them in the comments. Join us at AfricaCom by engaging with posts about the event.

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