“I wanted to be here because Africa is on the move…young people are harnessing technology,” were the words of president Barack Obama when he opened the 6th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi, Kenya last year.
The “Africa Rising” narrative is underpinned by an “Africa Tech Rising,” jumpstarted by pervasive connectivity as a result of Africans leapfrogging from almost non-existent fixed lines to exponential mobile growth at the dawn of the 21st century. Despite the current commodities crush, the digital economy is picking up pace in Africa. “Andela Raises $24 Million From Mark Zuckerberg ” were the headlines ahead of the 7th GES in Silicon Valley earlier this month, which backs the idea that African ventures are attracting investment from the valley as they build their local digital economy.
