The conference sessions attracted numerous representatives of Ministries and international organizations as well as multinational companies’ representatives who took the opportunity to announce several joint ventures and initiatives in Africa.

Anouar Maarouf, Tunisian Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, at the opening of the Afric’Up Summit.

f.r.t.l. : Dr. Tina Allton, President and CEO of the Chamber for Africa Diaspora Relations (CADR), London; Dr. Canan Atilgan, Director of the KAS Regional Program South Mediterranean, Tunis; Hanane Boujemi, Executive Director of Tech Policy Tank, London; Ali SAFRAOUI, CEO of Kawalis, Casablanca; Representative of the startup Lenali, Bamako.

More than 40 training sessions were provided to young start-up entrepreneurs on several themes such as the future of smart industries, VR / AR for tourism and culture as well as the relationship between artificial and emotional intelligence.

Afric’Up launched several activities and competitions such as the Makeathon, which brought together more than 150 students for 4 days, or the Afro Creative Challenge, a competition where 280 participants from 20 different countries had to imagine the city of tomorrow.

Kicked-off in October 2018, Afric’Up is a yearly platform that aims at promoting the African startup environment and also connecting promising young African startup entrepreneurs with investors from all over the world. As the major support of Tunisian Authorities reveals, this event also attests to the strong willingness of Tunisia to set itself as a leading technology hub in the African continent.

After a first success last year, the KAS Regional Program South Mediterranean took part in the organization of the second edition of the Afric’Up Summit. Held in Tunis, this major meeting for the African start-up scene attracted this year more than 3700 visitors representing around 60 nationalities. The summit gathered major business angels and venture capital experts from the largest African and global funds and allowed 160 startups to meet 25 investors from the tech industry. The summit also included discussions and debates with more than 155 speakers and mentors from 51 countries.

With an increasing participation rate by 70% and an ever-important media coverage, Afric’Up is positioning itself as a major event for the African digital ecosystem. With this respect, the summit constituted a great opportunity for the announcement of numerous private sector initiatives such as the creation of Cross-African joint companies or the opening of collaborative spaces in Tunisia. On a state level, Tunisia, Djibouti, Chad, Burkina Faso and the DR of Congo announced their participation in the financing of Bloc Smart Africa, an investment fund created to support the emergence of African startups.