hapaSpace held a Parallel Session of the AfriConEU Brokerage Event at Kumasi, Ghana. The event was organized to allow participants to take part in the event as fully as possible and connect the European and African innovation ecosystems even more intimately. The target audience for this event was Leaders of Digital Innovation Hubs (tech hubs, universities, incubators, accelerators), Youth, Start-ups, Entrepreneurs, and entrepreneur support network leaders and Digital skills providers.

Day one of the event consisted of live streams of sessions in Bologna, local speakers highlighting specific topics, and a local panel discussion in fintech. On day two, we had four facilitators guiding participants through world cafe discussions centered around four themes;

• Business and investment opportunities in the African market 
• Digitalization, jobs for the 21st century, and employment opportunities
• Scouting digital entrepreneurs and startups in the African market
• Towards a common digital market and a connected startup ecosystem

After the discussions, facilitators briefly presented the work done at their tables, which was live-streamed back to the main stage in Bologna.

Our speaker for day one, Emmanuel Appiah, spoke about “Choosing technologies to be ready for your first one million customers”. He shared many of his own stories, beginning when he began his software engineer career. Emmanuel highlighted the need for Banks to join Fintech companies to expand the industry. “Banks should lead and partner with Fintech firms to improve financial services”, he emphasized. The world cafe discussions were a huge hit. People were massively engaged, and ideas were freely shared during the talks. Under the theme “Towards a common digital market and a connected startup ecosystem”, there was a question, “What concrete steps to help connect the ecosystem?”. Discussion on this question yielded answers like Exchange programs; Policies, Exhibitions, fairs, Common database platforms, Connectivity (Internet and unstressful visa processes); and Webinars and seminars.

You can find more info about the event: