AfricArena, Silicon Cape and Wesgro host expert discussion and release research indicating funding raised by African startups to increase by 100%+, exceeding $1 billion for the first time.

Tuesday, 30 October, Cape Town – In the wake of the SA Investment Conference that took place last week, AfricArena, Wesgro and Silicon Cape hosted a press conference at the InvestSA One Stop Shop in Cape Town, making public new partnerships for the conference and discussing the role conferences and accelerators like AfricArena play in attracting investment to the continent.

Partech Ventures’ latest annual funding report shows that venture capital funding in 2017 reached $560 million, recording 53% year on year growth. South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria dominate with 6% of total funding. Francophone Africa is accelerating with 14% of the deal transactions and financial inclusion (off-grid tech, fintech and insuretech) representing 45% of deals.

The track record shows the trend is that African tech entrepreneurs are raising more and more funding. Yet, the amount of investment going to African tech startups represents less than $50c per capita whilst in Europe the investment is $50 per capita in the USA $150. Currently, less than 1% of global tech investment is into Africa whereas on the global scene, in 2017 the USA attracted $74 billion, Asia $71 billion and Europe nearly $18 billion.

“If we are to create the next generation of successful entrepreneurs competing at a global scale – clearly the challenge remains as an input and output measure to increase the level of capita that African startups attract,” states Christophe Viarnaud, CEO of AfricArena and Methys. ““It is predicted that in 2050 and 2100, there will be more than 50 cities with more than one million people on the African continent, and the majority of the most highly populated cities in the world will be in Africa. This is a very important factor in terms of being a fundamental underlying trend which is going to drive increasing investment in Africa, therefore we foresee the investment in African tech startups to exceed the $10 billion annual mark in the next decade.”

Based on internal research conducted in 2018, AfricArena, Silicon Cape and Wesgro expect the funding raised by African startups to increase by 100%+, exceeding $1 billion for the first time and achieve $1 dollar per capita, positioning Africa as the fastest growing area in the world.

“Another interesting thing is the emphasis we put on taking our startups to the bigger stages outside of the continent,” adds Danai Musandu, Investment Associate, Goodwell Investments BV, “You always find more people rushing to go to Silicon Valley to go see where the big stage and the content is. But we need to have a change of perspective and a change of attitude, where people will say ‘We’re going to Africa, where the big stage of the future is’. The biggest barrier is our perspective and we need to change that perspective.”

AfricArena is a pan-African ecosystem accelerator whose mission is to help African startups access market and capital. The primary outcome measure is investment deals done around the event.

AfricArena 2018 Announcements

Over 70 start ups from over 30 countries will attend, competing in 11 open innovation challenges

In partnership with We Think Code, AfricArena will run a hackathon on a mobility challenge for the City of Cape Town

EM Lyon, a world-ranked business school, joins as academic partner and will stream AfricArena live on its Casablanca, Lyon and Singapore campuses

Over 100 investors from US, Europe, Africa will attend or follow on the live streaming of the pitch sessionsAfricArena announced partnership with Deep Tech platform ‘Hello Tomorrow’ and a Deep Tech Africa challenge that will take place on Day 2 of AfricArena.

Silicon Cape members to receive early bird special of 50% off AfricArena tickets 

EM Lyon is an international business school priding themselves in “making entrepreneurs for Africa”. They capitalize on the worldwide-recognized experience and quality of their programs and offer both students and corporations content that is tailored to their context and to their problems. EM Lyon is fully in line with their signature "early maker": a school that tries, investigates and innovates far ahead of others.

Hello Tomorrow organises mentorship programs and a series of events around the world, as well as educating and consulting relevant stakeholders on emergence of deep technologies with the platform fast becoming a key reference in deeptech innovation and entrepreneurship.

Sarah Pedroza, Managing Director of Hello Tomorrow, states: “Deeptech innovation happening today knows no borders. But the opportunities and resources to catalyze these solutions are unevenly distributed. We need to give better tools to deeptech entrepreneurs in ecosystems that are booming, connecting them to a global network of industry leaders, investors and policy makers in order to bring their concepts to market. We’re excited to partner with AfricArena, joining their flagship event in one of the biggest tech hubs in Africa, which is a great opportunity to bring key stakeholders together.”

Finalists for the internationally sponsored challenges were also announced:

VINCE ENERGIES CHALLENGE – How to make energy more accessible in Africa thanks to energy efficiency solutions, energy flows optimization blockchain and/or AI - Rensource (Nigeria), BIG POT – Nigeria, Oniriq – Senegal

SAINT-GOBAIN CHALLENGE – A solution to upgrade professionals’ skills across Africa - Syafunda (South Africa), The Student Hub (South Africa), Ceed Learning (South Africa)

VIVATECH CHALLENGE – How AI can help generate a self-sustaining growth in the AgriTech industry - Agrocenta (Kenya), Homefarm (South Africa), Aerobotics (South Africa)AfricArena will take place on 15 & 16 November.

More information available at www.africarena2018.com

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For more information on AfricArena or this press release, please contact:

Mika Stanvliet | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 081 534 6237 

About AfricArena:

Celebrated as the largest tech ecosystem accelerator on the African continent, last year’s edition of AfricArena saw more than 80 startups presenting to over 100 investors with 25 countries being represented and over $2M worth of deals done. The conference serves as a platform for the continent’s best startups and innovators to showcase their world-class talent in front of an audience of both local and international investors. AfricArena is the ultimate deal-flow platform, bringing investors and startups together in one central location.

The challenges run by AfricArena are sponsored by Vinci Energies, AirFrance, Engie, Sanofi, Leroy Merlin, the City of Cape Town and RCS.

The conference is anchored and endorsed by corporate sponsors and partners La French Tech, Silicon Cape, Wesgro, SEDA, and will be covered by several media such as Techcrunch, Les Echos, Maddyness, Fast Company and many others. 

Africa’s cities are facing an urban ‘polycrisis’

“The first African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town provided an innovative space for leading built environment professionals to engage with experts, projects, investors and practitioners from all over the continent. We are confident that the summit will grow to become the leading meeting point of the real estate and infrastructure industries in Africa." This is according to Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro, who was a speaker and session facilitator at the summit.

More than 300 sector experts gathered for the inaugural two-day summit earlier this month with interactive sessions that focused on key case studies of visionary city planning, investment opportunities in the commercial and residential real estate sectors across the continent, the African city of the future and the challenges of urbanisation. Innovative development projects from Cape Town, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Kigali, Lusaka, Kampala and the Taparura project in Tunisia were showcased.

A key finding of the conference was that Africa’s cities are facing an urban ‘polycrisis’ and that there is a need for a new urban agenda and an opportunity for innovative solutions to address urbanisation challenges.

Expert speaker highlights at the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit included:

* “Africa is on the brink of great change. It is the fastest urbanising region in the world, with around 400 million people expected to migrate from rural areas to cities by 2050. As more and more people move to our cities in search of a better life, it is critical that we provide effective and sustainable infrastructure to meet their needs.”
- Alderman Ian Neilson, City of Cape Town’s Executive Deputy Mayor

* “New forms of urban planning in African cities seem to be dedicated to transforming them into replicas of Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore. The main challenge of the real estate sector on the continent currently is to find approaches to real estate development which are not only for the wealthy, and which find architectural and planning approaches which are not simplistic ‘cut and pastes’ of cities elsewhere in the world.”
- Prof Vanessa Watson, of the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town

* “The Voortrekker Road Corridor offers a unique opportunity to invest in the urban core of Cape Town in one of its most important transit-oriented development corridors, taking advantage of the central location and extensive public transport infrastructure.”
– Councillor Johan van der Merwe, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Environmental and Spatial Planning.

* “Arup recently completed a transit orientated development masterplan for the light rail transit system in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The project focused on realising the economic potential of the key stations along the light rail system; while regenerating the city, thereby making use of hard infrastructure systems to unlock multiple gains that improve the social and economic prosperity of citizens”.
-  Nico Venter, Associate Director at Arup’s Johannesburg Office, responsible for the Urban Design and Cities Business in South Africa.

* “We passionately believe that Africa is a continent of opportunity. With improving economies, rising populations, rapid rates of urbanisation and burgeoning middle classes, some African cities are expected to grow between 70-100% in the next 15 years.”
- Mr Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) – patron of the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit.

More key findings that emerged during the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit included:

• African countries need to adopt new development models designed to take advantage of urbanisation by facilitating structural transformation, creating jobs and addressing social inequality and poverty, while creating sustainable human settlements with equal opportunity for all.
• The future of Africa is at stake and the future of Africa will be more and more linked to how cities are managed and the way they choose to contribute to African unity.
• Careful, complex, thorough administrative management and pro-poor urban development will turn African cities into world-class cities, not design plans based on fantasy Dubai-esque city makeovers.
• The city is the centre of the emancipated state and social media needs to be harnessed to unleash the potential of Africa’s smart cities.
• The City of Cape Town has invested over R22 billion in infrastructure over the last five years, and needs to provide an additional 650 000 housing opportunities over the next 20 years.
• Merely pursuing low-density low-cost housing on the outskirts of the cities is not an option. Innovative thinking must be part of the solutions for urbanisation challenges and partnerships between the public and private sectors play an important role.

Major infrastructure and building projects and opportunities on the continent featured at the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit included:

• Cape Town’s Voortrekker Corridor Road Integration Zone Strategy and Investment Plan
• Joburg’s Corridors of Freedom for a people-centred city
• Kimisange, Kicukiro 237 and Kicukiro 968 in Kigali, Rwanda
• Transit Oriented Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• The PDGML – General Master Plan for Luanda, Angola
• Comprehensive Urban Development Plan (CUDP) for the City of Lusaka, Zambia
• Kampala Physical Development Plan, Uganda
• PARURA SFAX – The Master Plan for Taparura Project, Tunisia

The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit was organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK.

Spintelligent is well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Longstanding flagship events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC), West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC), Agritech Expo, DRC Mining Week and EduWeek.

Website: http://www.african-real-estate-summit.com/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARES_Summit 
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8518271 

Media contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit to gather developers, investors and planners

“New forms of urban planning in African cities seem to be dedicated to transforming them into replicas of Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore,” says Professor Vanessa Watson, of the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town. According to Prof Watson, the main challenge of the real estate sector on the continent currently is “to find approaches to real estate development which are not only for the wealthy, and which find architectural and planning approaches which are not simplistic ‘cut and pastes’ of cities elsewhere in the world.”

Prof Watson is part of an exciting speaker line-up at the upcoming African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town from 2-3 November with a contribution that will focus on “African cities for sale. World-class, smart, eco or just profitable?” She explains: “rapid growth of African cities means that urban development is required, but noting that the vast majority of this growth is of poor and unemployed households. The very small urban middle-class offers limited opportunity for real estate aimed high-income households. Finding housing models for lower income households is absolutely possible and offers far greater opportunity.”

Other exciting speakers on the programme include:

- Eng. Jose Miranda, Regional Director Africa, Aurecon, South Africa, who will be part of a presentation entitled: “What makes a multi-billion dollar project in Africa?” about the international, award-winning General Master Plan for Luanda City (2030 Luanda Plan) outlining the sustainable transformation and development plans.

Says Eng. Miranda: “water, energy and sanitation are fundamental needs for all human beings.  Preserving Luanda’s natural environment, whilst providing the people of Luanda with a future city they will benefit from, is an important priority to Aurecon within the Luanda City Master Plan or Plano Director Geral Metropolitano de Luanda (PDGML). As part of the strategic city and provincial wide infrastructure planning service provided, we attempted to ensure the people of Luanda and surrounds have access to energy, drinkable water, sanitation, and increased waste recycling.”

- “There seems to be a measurable disconnect between the public sector and private sector regarding city planning,” says Albert Smuts, Architect and Director, Fieldworks Design Group, who is part of a panel discussion on “Making African cities of tomorrow inclusive” at the event next month. He adds: “there is very little in the form of readily available land intended for private development within our urban centres, and in turn governmental city planning suffers because of the consequential sprawl.”

He continues: “the rate of urbanisation in Africa far exceeds that of the western world, which means that un-programmed, unprotected open land becomes quickly commoditised. This exacerbates issues associated with the expansion of suburbia and urban sprawl”.

More headline speakers at the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit are:
- Tim Harris, CEO, WESGRO
- Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General, UCLG-A*
- Lekwalo Mosienyane, Director, Business Botswana 
- Mokena Makeka, Founder & Principal, Makeka Design Lab, South Africa 
- Kecia Rust, Director & Founder, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa / Secretariat to the African Union for Housing Finance, UN-Habitat, South Africa
- Amine Turki, Secretary General, Africa Union of Architects, Tunisia

*UCLG-A: United Cities and Local Governments of Africa

The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit will gather the full spectrum of the continent’s real estate sector and will assist African cities and governments to secure international investment for commercial real estate development and infrastructure projects that will contribute to Urban Development Plans (UDPs).

The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit is organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. Spintelligent is well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Longstanding flagship events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC), West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC), Agritech Expo, DRC Mining Week and EduWeek.

UCLG Africa
The UCLG Africa is the patron of the upcoming African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town. The UCLG AFRICA is the umbrella organisation and the united voice and representative of local government in Africa. It is an institution that gathers 40 national associations of local governments from all regions of Africa as well as the 2000 cities that have more than 100.000 inhabitants. Therefore UCLG AFRICA represents nearly 350 million Africans citizens.

Dates for African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit 2016:
Showcase and conference: 2-3 November 2016
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
Website: http://www.african-real-estate-summit.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARES_Summit
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8518271

Media contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

African cities to connect with developers, investors and planners

The CEO of Wesgro, Tim Harris, the Executive Director of Kampala’s Capital City Authority, Dr Jennifer Musisi, the UCLG-A Secretary General, Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, and Business Botswana Director Lekwalo Mosienyane are heading up an exciting line-up of headline experts from around Africa that will address the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town from 2-3 November 2016.

*UCLG-A: United Cities and Local Governments of Africa

The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit will gather the full spectrum of the continent’s real estate sector and will assist African cities and governments to secure international investment for commercial real estate development and infrastructure projects that will contribute to Urban Development Plans (UDPs).

Summit programme highlights include:

• Opening keynote: “Developing the Future of African Cities”
Africa’s population of roughly 1.1 billion is expected to double by 2050.

Keynote speakers :  
Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General UCLG-A, Morocco
Nana Kwame Bediako, President, Founder & CEO, Petronia, Ghana*
Lekwalo Mosienyane, Director, Mosienyane and Partners Int. & President, Business Botswana, Botswana

• “Future Cities revealed – Urban Development Plans”
Some of the continent’s leading cities, including Lusaka, Kigali, Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, have been invited to showcase their UDPs in a discussion format. This will allow for delegates and exhibitors to understand the future plans of developing cities and build business relationships with key city officials including: city managers, city mayors, city council members, town planners, town clerks, district officials and city and finance directors amongst others.

• Africa’s finest: A review of successful city development projects

- Building a new face for Kampala
– A case study of how good governance, improved city revenue collection and service delivery are transforming Kampala into a vibrant, attractive and sustainable city. Speaker: Dr Jennifer Musisi, Executive Director, Kampala, Capital City Authority, Uganda

- Kigali developments
– A case study on master planning work in Kigali for a significant new residential/mixed use development
Speaker: Guy Briggs, Director/ Head of Urban Design, dhk, South Africa

- What makes an $800-billion project in Africa: Modernising Luanda – the international award winning General Master Plan for Luanda City (2030 Luanda Plan) outlines the sustainable transformation and development plans. How intelligent city planning can bring about real improvements in the lives of Angolan citizens.
Speakers:  
Eng. Neusa Ingles, Project Manager, Urbinveste, Angola
Phil Bonds, Director of Urban Design, Broadway Malyan, United Kingdom
Eng. Jose Miranda, Regional Director Africa, Aurecon, South Africa

• “The Western Cape:  The new  hub for local and international investment”
Cape Town is fast becoming a destination of choice for foreign investors looking to expand their operations in Africa. How the market is shaping towards international investment and which opportunities are available.
Speaker: Tim Harris, CEO, Wesgro, South Africa

• “Making African cities of tomorrow inclusive”
More than half the world’s population now live in cities, and this proportion will continue to increase rapidly to reach 70% by 2050. How cities are created that are inclusive of all those who live in them through their design, layout, technological innovations and social impact.

Speakers:     
- Albert Smuts, Director, Fieldworks Design Group, South Africa
- Mokena Makeka, Founder & Principal, Makeka Design Lab, South Africa  
- Kecia Rust, Director & Founder, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa / Secretariat to the African Union for Housing Finance, UN Habitat, South Africa
- Vanessa Watson, Professor of City and Regional Planning, School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- Amine Turki, Secretary General, Africa Union of Architects, Tunisia
- Moderated by: Tim Harris, CEO, Wesgro

The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit is organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. Spintelligent is well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Longstanding flagship events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC), West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC), Agritech Expo, DRC Mining Week and EduWeek.

UCLG Africa
The UCLG Africa is the patron of the upcoming African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town. The UCLG AFRICA is the umbrella organisation and the united voice and representative of local government in Africa. It is an institution that gathers 40 national associations of local governments from all regions of Africa as well as the 2000 cities that have more than 100.000 inhabitants. Therefore UCLG AFRICA represents nearly 350 million Africans citizens.

Dates for African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit 2016:
Showcase and conference: 2-3 November 2016
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Website: http://www.african-real-estate-summit.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARES_Summit
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8518271

Media contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.