The main challenge entrepreneurs are facing in Africa is not the lack of great ideas but the fear of turning ideas into reality. With unemployment in South Africa at an all time high, more and more people are trying to make their own way in the economy.The Africa Digital Entrepreneurship events are about turning dreams into action. The series of events aims to enable digital entrepreneurship and the upcoming ‘Bitcoin Nights’ meet-up in Johannesburg on Thursday, 24 October at The Business Exchange Morningside, 150 Rivonia Road is a must-attend event for anyone interested in the digital assets space.

Business networking is the fast track to success and event sponsors such as Zcoin and OVEX believe that entrepreneurship is the way forward for South Africans. Jonathan Ovadia, Co-Founder and CEO at OVEX, a company helping to create an open, trustless and more efficient financial system says “the vision is to break down the barriers that prevent people from entering the traditional financial system. We believe that wealth-creating investment opportunities shouldn’t only be accessible to the wealthy, but should be available to all.”

The event is facilitated by the United Africa Blockchain Association (UABA), a non-profit leading blockchain education and adoption in sub-Saharan Africa. With the help of sponsors, The Africa Digital Entrepreneurship Series’ goal is to provide relevant content on business and technology that helps people learn and grow professionally and personally.The meet-ups provide a conducive environment for networking and ideas exchange, and attendees can look forward to free drinks, giveaways and prizes. Other sponsors include Divi, which makes it possible for anyone to participate in securing blockchains through their one-click masternodes, challenging the notion that you need technical expertise to participate in the blockchain ecosystem. Centbee, a digital wallet company that believes in the power of people to create an abundant future and æternity, a new blockchain technology, designed to deliver efficiency, transparent governance and global scalability are also part of the sponsors who see huge potential in Africa and are actively championing the digital asset revolution.

The theme of the Johannesburg event focuses on the Digital Asset Economy and anyone interested in tech is welcome to attend FREE of charge and benefit from the networking opportunity and inspiring discussions. Speakers will include Adi Kaimowitz, President and CEO of Virtual Actuary, Maushami Chetty of Novate Legal; Mpho Dagada – Commisioner, 4th Industrial Revolution at the SA Presidency; and Yaliwe Soko, Chairperson at UABA.The event aims to inspire participants to increase their appetite for entrepreneurship and get more knowledgeable about the growing trend in digital assets. Africa is a market ready to adopt new technology but lack of emphasis on digital entrepreneurship opportunities in Africa might result in missed economic opportunities for the next generation.

“It’s important to encourage the youth to explore the option of entrepreneurship as a career path instead of waiting for employment opportunities which may never be available to them.Initiatives such as the Africa Digital Entrepreneurship Series focus on creating awareness and demystifying what it means to run a digital enterprise,” said Heath Muchena, Founder of Proudly Associated, a company working with companies developing blockchain-powered technologies that have use cases focusing on emerging economy development to gain adoption across the continent.Whether you’re a student, professional or fledgling entrepreneur, this event will provide valuable insights and an opportunity to learn, grow, network and be inspired all in one. The meet-up will be a relaxed, no-suits-or-ties sort of event so expect to learn and be entertained. 

"The Africa Digital Entrepreneurship Series connects up-and-coming entrepreneurs in all fields. It’s a fantastic way for those interested in tech and online businesses to build a solid support network,” said Grey Jabesi, host of the Grey Ave Podcast, Africa’s top rated podcast which focuses on survival skills for the 21st century.

By attending this FREE event, attendees will:

Learn about new frontiers in digital innovation

Find out how to leverage technology to broaden participation in the global digital economy

Boost digital asset knowledge including digital asset acquisition and management

Learn how to build a fully remote businessDiscover mentorship opportunities

Interact with other entrepreneurs and build business networks

Meet like-minded innovators and go-getters

Be empowered!

GET TICKETS HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/africa-digital-entrepreneurship-series-tickets-77802321839

Event details: 

Admission: FREE (Limited space so make sure you get there early.)

Date: Thursday, 24 October, 2019

Location:  The Business Exchange, Block 4, 150 Rivonia Road, Morningside, Sandton, 2057 Johannesburg.

If you want to sponsor this event or for more information, contact:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

By Devan Moonsamy CEO of The ICHAF Training Institute

When virtue is lost, one must learn the rules of kindness
When kindness is lost, the rules of justice
When justice is lost, the rules of conduct
And when the rules of conduct are not followed,
People are seized by the arm, and it is forced upon them
Lao Tzu

Freedom of speech is not what many people think it is. People believe freedom of speech is a license to say anything. This is not true. All our human rights are tempered with responsibilities. No freedom is absolute.

People seem confused about this issue. Freedom of speech was initially a concern because of political reasons. Freedom of association likewise initially was about politics, as well as religious faith. If we think any government, once in power, won’t want to curb our freedoms to protect its interests, we are being naïve. And these are key reasons for these freedoms.

Freedom of speech, and the other freedoms we enjoy, are not there to allow discrimination. The word freedom seems to make people think ‘It’s a free country’ is an excuse to abuse others and infringe upon their rights and dignity.

We have the responsibility to educate ourselves and others about what freedom is for and the logical limitations thereto. People don’t know these things, even people who are well educated otherwise.

And so it seems not that shocking that Mangin Pillay of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) said that women basically aren’t suitable for the STEM field because they don’t have men’s work ethic, among other reasons.

Pillay is likely to be Saice’s ex-CEO as a result of what he said in the Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering. It’s a bit difficult to retract this article. It’s not a blog that can be deleted. How this article slipped through into the publication is highly questionable. How could the editors and other staff involved allow this?

Of course, Pillay, as the CEO of Saice, had too much power. There was no one checking on him. People assume CEOs and other c-suite executives are beyond this nonsense. It is yet another disappointing display of how serious the problem of discrimination against women is, and how hard it must be for women to advance in STEM fields when gatekeepers like Pillay are blocking them because of their gender.

The journal can’t afford such bad publicity. Saice can’t afford this. The STEM field can’t afford this disgrace. Why? Because women are more than half of us. They are a vital part of our society. In an endless number of ways, they are needed. Not just in the home, but in every field and domain in existence.
People may say that women do not belong in certain positions, such as leaders in some religions. Nevertheless, their influence must be felt on some level. Otherwise, their needs will be ignored.

Certain roles are prescribed to women. Take for example the education needs of children. People assume that who better to speak for the children and protect their interests than their mothers? However, women and men are needed in the field of child education, but women are considered better suited to careers in child education, and there are, for example, very, very few male pre-school teachers. I have certainly not heard of any.

Is it any wonder then that schooling methods are largely girl-child friendly, and have been shown to disadvantage boys? Boys’ education needs must be met through teaching methods.

People will readily agree with this and say yes, let’s get more men involved in child education so that boys aren’t sidelined. But they readily dismiss the need to bring more women into male-dominated fields, thinking it’s not important.

It is easy to focus on the problem, and people are rightly upset about what Pillay said. But I think we should step back a little and try to address this with a sense of duty, as opposed to a sense of ‘righteousness’.

This article is written from a sense of duty to inform people about what freedom of speech is and what it is not. It is the duty of those of us who are informed to try to reason with others and encourage more reasonable, accurate viewpoints.
As shown in the quote at the beginning of this article, a quote from a highly-respected philosopher from ancient China, if people refuse the principles of virtue, kindness, justice, and even the rules of conduct, it will finally be forced upon them. I think that this is true.

Pillay is having the rules of conduct forced upon him because he forsook the other criteria for the humane treatment of his fellow creatures. His ideas are rejected, and he is being punished through the media. People across South Africa, and some people worldwide even, point to him as the problem, not as a solution to the needs, realities and composition of society.

We have to try to act with a cool head in as far as is humanly possible in such cases. We have a right to be fed up, all of us, women and men, about these insults. Nevertheless, the focus should be on educating others about the principles of virtue, kindness and justice, and about what freedom of speech is and is not.

There must be a clear distinction between freedom of speech and discrimination. Otherwise one will have to learn it the hard way. It is hoped that Pillay has learnt this lesson and will sincerely reconsider his words.

For more information on Devan Moonsamy and The ICHAF Training Institute please visit:
Website - http://www.ichaftraining.co.za/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheICHAFTrainingInstitute/?ref=br_rs
Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheIchaf

-- ENDS-- 

For further comment from Devan Moonsamy you can email him on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact him on 083 303 9159