Ghana Tech Summit and TEDx Tudu: Year of the Return

The Ghana Tech Summit and TEDx Tudu: “Year of the Return”, both held in Accra were some of the most transformative experiences for me in 2019.

Ghana Tech Summit was attended by 1,000+ local and international industry leaders from major companies such as Forbes, Google, SAP, IBM, Digital Ocean and GitHub. The Summit focused on Ghana’s entrepreneurial economy and highlighted it as a global case study of catalyzed innovation within an emerging market. Ghana Tech Summit was the final event in a series of conferences in 2019, across 10 countries hosted by Africa Future Fund and Forbes(8). LinkedIn’s contributions to the summit included keynote presentation on “ The Future of Work and LinkedIn’s Economic Graph” by Ty Heath, and a panel discussion on “Optimizing your LinkedIn Profile” featuring  Jacqueline Jones, Ade Adefulu, Rylan Holey, Illianna Acosta.

TEDx Tudu:Year of the Return - featured thought leaders from the African Diaspora sharing perspectives on the changing culture and business landscape. The conference featured speakers like Somto Ajuluchukwu, the founder of Vortex Studio International, one of Africa's leading and fast- growing animation and creative content studios.

 The African continent is poised to be the next great economic frontier – it has 6 of the 15 fastest growing economies in the world according to Focus Economics, which tapped over 1,000 sources to crystallize the final list. (https://www.focus-economics.com/blog/fastest-growing-economies-in-the-world)

 Some key facts which provide some perspective on the Africa’s potential:

• Complexity and Scale - Africa Continent has over 50+ countries and over 1 Billion people.
• Growing workforce - There is an explosive growth in the youth population which will continue to fuel the need for skill development and jobs. By the Brookings Institution’s estimates, Africa’s working-age population will grow by approximately 450 million people between 2015 and 2035. By 2050, Africa will have 362 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old.   
•  Entrepreneurship is booming - According to the World Bank, SMEs are responsible for 77 percent of all jobs in Africa and as much as half of GDP in some countries. 
• Technology - Africa's technology ecosystems have experienced "incredible growth" as they have rapidly expanded in recent years, with 618 active tech hubs providing "the backbone of Africa’s tech ecosystem," according to the GSMA. This is a 40% leap over the 442 hubs counted last year, while this ecosystem was "mainly boosted by a torrent of venture funds, development finance, corporate involvement, as well as ever-growing, innovative communities”.
• Innovation - Investments in the latest technology such as mobile, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency are being made on the African continent.

I am leaving the African continent feeling inspired and energized about the future. Special thanks to our leadership team Mike Romoff and Rosanna Durruthy, and LinkedIn team members who supported the Ghana Tech Summit - Ty Heath, Ade Adefulu, Rylan Holey, Illianna Acosta, Ousman Jobe and Nicole Isaac.