Afrigather Dubai’s GITEX entered its forty second yr as a globally famend tech convention and tradeshow. Earlier this yr the primary abroad model debuted in Morocco in North Africa, and a fair larger return is deliberate for Could 2024. However to have a stake in Africa’s expertise ecosystem and a possible $180 billion digital financial system) the UAE might want to do greater than tradeshows.
For a few years, it was known as GITEX Expertise Week or just GITEX Dubai. After 42 years, the long-lasting expertise tradeshow, just like the nation which hosts it, is now not content material with being a regional expertise powerhouse. Whereas Kaoun Worldwide (Arabic for “Universe”), a newly shaped occasion administration firm checks new markets, a deeper engagement technique appears to be lacking, particularly for rising expertise markets in rising economies.
After co-hosting the primary abroad GITEX in Marrakech earlier this yr, organisers of the 42-year-old GITEX tradeshow introduced the launch of preparations for a European model at this yr’s version of GITEX in Dubai. The primary GITEX Berlin is being organised in partnership with Messe Berlin, a German occasions administration firm and is scheduled for Could 2025.
To place the highlight on expertise innovation, the organisers of GITEX have expanded its number of co-located occasions. At this yr’s startup and investor-focused program, Broaden NorthStar (previously known as Northstar Dubai) a number of African startups discovered area for themselves. Nigeria’s social commerce startup, Gifty, was the one African finalist at Supernova, the Broaden Northstar pitch competitors. It additionally picked up the Africa Quick class award plus an $8,000 money prize. However past occasions and pitch competitions, it isn’t clear how the UAE intends to show these annual classes into worth for its ambitions.
For North Africa and the remainder of the continent, GITEX Africa which debuted in Marrakech final Could is the first occasion via which the UAE’s authorities hopes to endear itself to expertise gamers in Africa (and its Moroccan authorities companions). Organised in partnership with Morocco’s Digital Improvement Company (ADD), GITEX Africa was the primary model of the tradeshow organised outdoors Dubai. Kaoun Worldwide can also be planning a yet-to-be-announced collection of smaller occasions in key cities all through Africa, TechCabal realized. On the identical time, roadshows from African traders hoping to lift capital from the area’s rich are having variable success.
An untapped alternative
When the primary Gulf Data Expertise Exhibition was held in 1981, Dubai was not the worldwide journey vacation spot it has since grow to be. Nevertheless it was already turning into an essential gross sales hub to succeed in the Center Japanese area.
Not too long ago, because the dialog round renewables gained momentum and public purses swelled with windfall income on fossil gas gross sales, the United Arab Emirates alongside its Gulf neighbours, Saudi Arabia and Qatar introduced comparable financial diversification agendas. Public company movies preach the virtues of every nation’s imaginative and prescient for a technology-based financial system. And public fund managers like Mubadala Funding Firm, Qatar Funding Authority (QIA), and Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (PIF), have grow to be essential sources of capital for international funding companies. Saudi Arabia’s PIF funding in Softbank’s Imaginative and prescient Fund is probably one of many extra notable examples.
Maybe nothing captures this fascination with expertise greater than Neom, the 26,500km2 high-tech metropolis championed by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
The state-owned traders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE collectively management greater than $4 trillion in belongings in accordance with tracker, GlobalSWF. All three nations have ambitions to grow to be the area’s expertise powerhouse in addition to be recognised as important gamers on the worldwide scene. Mubadala, QIA, and PIF have made giant investments into Western expertise companies both straight or as LPs in Western VC funds. Investments made in African firms alternatively usually give attention to conventional industries or as a part of authorities support. As a result of their historic hyperlinks, a lot of these investments are concentrated in North Africa.
By increasing its main expertise tradeshow to Africa via a partnership with considered one of its long-time allies (Morocco), the UAE is demonstrating the contours of a nonetheless cautious African technique. Outdoors of expertise, the UAE is extra aggressive. The principally state-owned port operator and delivery firm, DP World for instance has signed port administration offers with a number of African nations.
GITEX was initially a expertise commerce present that targeted on client devices and {hardware}. Whereas it nonetheless retains a few of this {hardware} focus, it has advanced to include the software program resolution market. This tracks with a lot of how the expertise ecosystem advanced following the increase years of Software program-as-a-Service companies. Extra crucially although, GITEX retains a lot of the gross sales discovery occasion design that helped solidify the UAE’s place as a number one expertise gross sales hub.
An excessively cautious and principally North African hall to Africa’s expertise alternative primarily based on packed schedules at a tradeshow falls in need of what youthful expertise ecosystems want. Occasions are occasions and the jury remains to be out on how a lot of an affect a expertise tradeshow has on serving to to create thriving expertise ecosystems.
Dubai has grow to be a number one monetary and enterprise facilitation centre for Africa’s rich. Additionally it is attracting expertise expertise from Africa. Some African expertise firms primarily serving North African nations like Egypt or West African markets like Nigeria have their headquarters within the metropolis. Through the lately concluded GITEX International, Nigeria’s Paystack and the UAE-Africa Networking Group held separate occasions for the African expertise entrepreneurs within the metropolis for GITEX. Regardless of the passion on the a part of African entrepreneurs, what was conspicuously lacking was the presence of native gamers.
A windfall from oil revenues has made Gulf nations essential financiers globally, drawing consideration from Silicon Valley fund managers. In at present’s funding crunch the place native African VCs are struggling to search out capital companions, the chance for nations with large tech hub ambitions just like the UAE to play a much bigger position in Africa’s expertise ecosystem couldn’t be better.
