Re­view Africa Day 2022

With more than 100 participants, the Africa Day was again well attended and thus enabled networking among the participants.

The event started at 9:30 a.m. with a welcome from HNU President Prof. Dr. Uta M. Feser and the head of the Africa Institute Prof. Dr. Thomas Bayer. Both emphasized the importance of start-ups in terms of economic development and solving societal problems and that cooperation with start-ups is a good opportunity for companies to gain experience in African markets.

As the first keynote speaker, Dr. Tonny Omwansa, the CEO of the Kenya National Innovation Agency, took the stage and gave an insight into innovation ecosystems. He highlighted the positive economic development in Kenya. In order to connect with Kenyan companies, he recommended the "Kenya Innovation Week", which offers a good entry point for German start-ups into the African market.

Then Sophia Ernst from fairafric AG and Rupert Plersch from KTI Plersch Kältetechnik GmbH presented two established companies that have implemented business processes in Africa in recent years. Participants were able to take away how important it is for a company to adapt locally, to take the local culture and economy into account and to integrate them into the company. In addition, cooperation is crucial for sharing know-how and offering mutual support.

A speaker from the Scientific Coordination Office Bavaria-Africa, Dr. Thomas Ammerl, emphasized the many opportunities in African markets and drew attention to the support options for international projects of small and medium-sized companies through the Coordination Office.

Prof. Dr. Bernard Wagemann delivered a talk on the “Entrepreneurship Boom in Africa”. He spoke about the enablers for the entrepreneurship boom, which include technological development, the education system and the economic system. The boom is due, among other things, to the fact that more and more young people in Africa are also focusing on education and are attending schools and universities or even going abroad to further their education. Networking with established companies and encouraging students to dare to become entrepreneurs are particularly important for promoting entrepreneurship.

The last agenda item before lunch was a lively panel discussion. The focus here was on the experiences of the discussion participants in relation to cooperation between start-ups and established companies in the German and African markets. One point of discussion was the question of how to find the right cooperation partner in Africa and how start-ups can draw attention to themselves. Contacts are a crucial point, i.e. connecting via organizations and maintaining existing contacts on site. When it comes to cooperation, trust in the partner is the be-all and end-all to gain a foothold on site, exchange knowledge and act successfully.

The essence of the discussion was that there are still too few German companies interested in African markets. It is therefore important that supporting organizations connect interested companies individually with each other. In general, all participants agreed that every start-up or established company can find a partner on the African continent.

After the lunch break, Dr. Christian Lindfeld, Managing Partner at Africa Advisors and Managing Director at dorKk Bundesverband Deutscher Startups e.V., took the stage and gave an insight into the role of start-ups for economic growth in Africa. He emphasized the numerous opportunities in African markets, since political systems are now stabilizing and more and more companies are professionalizing. The rapidly growing population with a growing middle class makes the African continent an attractive market. Many opportunities are unleashed by start-ups that bring young, innovative and impartial ideas to the market.

In the next block, some start-ups were introduced that are implementing sustainable innovations on the African market. These include PineBerry, a software company that enables everything-as-a-service solutions, eMo BodaBoda, which is driving electric mobility in Tanzania, Manobi Africa, which offers a digital solution for agriculture, and Ecodudu Ltd., a start-up that converts organic waste into animal feed and fertilizer with the help of insects. In addition, the start-up Zalisha Africa was presented, which deals with digital agricultural solutions and last but not least Right Lamp Shinig Group, a Rwandan start-up that improves the efficiency of solar power.

Before the final question and answer session, Dragan Brković presented the "TAP program" of the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, which stands for "Technology and Transfer Pact". This program mainly focuses on the food and agricultural sectors. Projects in various African countries are supported with technology transfer. Brković's main message was the importance of networking, e.g. by visiting partner countries and actively training those involved.

At the end there was an open question and answer session, in which individual questions relating to start-ups and networking were addressed again. Before the event officially ended, the participants had the opportunity to network with each other and start a conversation.

The phrase “Africa is the future” kept popping up throughout the day. All speakers agree that the African continent offers numerous opportunities for start-ups and established companies and that it is worthwhile for everyone to take a look at this market.

At this point, the Africa Institute of the Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences would like to sincerely thank all speakers and participants who successfully helped to shape this year's Africa Day.