Description: The “AfriConEU Brokerage Event” aims to encourage meetings, collaboration, and sharing of different experiences between European and African innovative ecosystems to contribute to developing new projects and strategic partnerships. The “AfriConEU Brokerage Event” is promoted by dPixel, a venture incubator of the Sella group, and the AfriConEU project. The event will take place in Bologna on 2 and 3 November. It will connect the Digital Innovation Hubs of Europe and Africa and create networks with experts, investors, startups, public and private sector companies, academia, and institutions.

More than 200 innovators from 8 countries (Italy, the UK, Portugal, Greece, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, and Tanzania) will participate in the event in Bologna at BIGBO – Boost Innovation Garage of Carisbo Foundation. They will strengthen the synergies between the two continents in four significant areas: Agritech, Edtech, Fintech, and Technology for Development.  Parallelly, African Digital Innovation Hubs organize Worldcafe Tables, and a series of live-streaming meetings from Bologna to explore specific issues related to regional ecosystems.

A world cafe is a series of moderated, collaborative conversations among diverse groups of participants. The goal is to create a setting akin to a cafe, where individuals from different backgrounds mingle and join conversations in a relaxed atmosphere. Key elements include giving all participants space to speak, connecting ideas from different actors, and providing mutually relevant topics for discussion. 

Concretely, during the world cafe participants will have 4 half-hour rounds rotating among different tables, each with a different prompt or theme. Facilitators at each table will guide conversations among participants that explore potential collaborations, major themes and topics, and specific challenges related to the main themes for AfriConEU, which are:

• Business and investment opportunities in the African market 
• Digitalisation, 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

At the start of the first round, participants will decide on an identity for their table. At the end of the last round, participants will write a postcard to themselves 6 months in the future, discussing what they learned, their connections, and what they hope to do. Facilitators will present the results of the discussions at their table to all participants and record images and text to support event reporting. 

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