Denis Opudo
The 2018 DEMO Africa event is scheduled to take place in Morocco. The previous events took place in Lagos, Nairobi, and Johannesburg respectively. The managing partners of the Liberalising Innovation Opportunity Nations (LIONS@FRICA) partnership with African Technology Foundation (ATF) confirmed the venue. They also alluded that this year’s event will be hosted in Casablanca City in October.
According to the executive director of DEMO Africa, Harry Hare, the DEMO Africa events have traveled all over Africa. In the last six years, it has been held in South Africa, Eastern and Western Africa regions. The organizers proposed the North Africa region for 2018 and 2019 events where Morrocco will host the first in the region. He added that the initiative has supported the upcoming entrepreneurs in the continent through networking and financial assistance. For instance, the initiative so far has enabled more than 200 startups to present their discoveries and products. It has also uplifted the companies to participate in the international competitions where winners receive about US$50 million cash prize funds.
In order to prepare for the major October event, the DEMO Africa Bootcamp launched mentorship programmes to participant startups. The training and capacity building focused on partnerships, promotion of best practices, capital access and expansion of innovative spirit. The managing partner of the Lions@frica initiative, Stephen Ozoigbo embraced the contribution by local partners. He added that the 2 North Africa events will facilitate the globalization of startups ecosystem in the continent.
