Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has 90 tech hubs — the most on the continent. In recent years, the country has become an incubator for some of the continent’s most prominent startups — including Paystack, Flutterwave and Andela to mention a few. The result is a generation of tech entrepreneurs whose startups and innovations have been helping to improve the lives of people in Nigeria and beyond. But then COVID-19 struck and has since ushered us all into the most dramatic digital transformation in a generation! 

Across continents, people have had to adapt to a ‘new normal’. Digital is the new “oil”, as they say. From remote working capabilities to new business models and innovations, digital technologies have captured our attention and boosted certain sections of the digital economy.

But has this transformation benefited everyone? Are we all ready to take the opportunities that digitalisation has brought with it? Specifically, how has this ‘new normal’ impacted African startups, SMEs and entrepreneurs? We will focus our attention on Nigeria in this edition. What about post-COVID? Are Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) ready to support Nigerian economies to take advantage of the new digital era? 

To help us understand the capacity needs of DIHs in Africa, ATBN in partnership with Emerging Communities Africa (ECA) – Nigeria and AfriconEU, the first Trans-continental Networking Academy for African and European Digital Innovation Hubs, will host a virtual roundtable under the theme: “Building Resilient African Digital Economies post-COVID – The role of Innovation Hubs” This virtual event will also seek to understand how hubs can be better supported to help African economies harness the digital opportunities arising and catalyse innovation on the continent.

Who should attend?

• Leaders of Digital Innovation Hubs (tech hubs, universities, incubators, accelerators)
• Entrepreneurs and entrepreneur support network leaders
• Digital skills providers
• Other innovation ecosystem actors (investors, investment enablers, policymakers and advocates)

Register here.