Tech Events Are Key to Winning New Clients, Knowledge Sharing and Brand Awareness

Africa based tech start-ups say that attending international tech events can serve as a powerful catalyst for businesses, offering an environment where they can spotlight their products, meet potential clients and partners, and gain insights into the latest innovations.

“Having the opportunity to showcase our company as well as meet potential partners and tech gurus from around the world, makes events like the Tech in Ghana unmissable for us as a business,” said Abdul Aziz Ismaila, Senior Partner of Abelway Technologies. The company was able to attend the London event with the help of the International Trade Centre NTF V program.

A lead developed at Tech in Ghana in June has already translated into a new contract for Abelway. “The level of exposure these events provide should not be underestimated, both in terms of business and understanding where the industry is headed,” Aziz said.

Abelway is a is a business process outsourcing company based in Ghana that provides services ranging from transactional data entry to customer service surveys, tech support services, customer support centres, telephone sales and marketing.

“At Tech in Ghana, for example, we saw the sheer volume of tech companies into AI, which was great for us as we are exploring how to use AI not only to enhance our services and interact with clients, but also to create more jobs in Ghana,” added Aziz.

Organized twice annually, in London and Accra, the UK-Ghana platform highlights Ghana’s tech ecosystem both locally and to the world. The event brings together several multinational corporations, decision-makers, investors, fast-growing scale-ups, and founders from the region.

Stephan Eyeson, CEO and Co-founder of Safiyo AI -- a consumer intelligence platform focused on helping companies understand African consumers and their spending habits – agreed that events that can bring in new customers and raise their brand profile are vital.

Staying on top of innovation and making business deals is essential for start-ups as often they are bootstrap companies, with minimal external capital.

“It’s about networking and seeing the massive innovations taking place, but it’s also about the deals,” Eyeson said. “I need to survive,” he added, smiling.

At the Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi in February, Eyeson closed on a deal with a value of 15,000USD with a fast-moving consumer goods company. He also met an AI company interested in creating a joint venture that would enable Safiyo to scale into more countries in Africa.

Like Eyeson, Aziz is also looking at additional African markets. He credited ITC’s NTFV program for enabling businesses like his to scale and internationalize through meeting other industry players and developing potential partnerships.

Next, Aziz said, he would welcome training opportunities and ISO certification so that his company could also compete in the European market.

“Our company Abelway started about 11 years ago, and we have grown, but the hardest part has been financing our business. As a startup this can be difficult as banks always look for collateral for loans. So, bringing in new clients is essential for growth,” acknowledged Aziz.

ITC helped Safiyo win an award for seed money in a pitching competition in Senegal, enabled travel to tech conferences, and provided training on how to expand into the UK. Now, Eyeson said, Safiyo was ready to try for the U.S. and Chinese markets.

Eyeson believes his success will lead to wider economic progress. “There are many obstacles in Africa, from finance to transportation to internet connections and a lack of critical thinking in technology. But the more deals we make, the more people we can hire and the more we can contribute to productive digital literacy,” Eyeson said. 

But Aziz cautioned that the broader economic impact of tech would take time, particularly when it comes to inclusion. “Women and the disabled are marginalized. This is an imbalance that needs to be addressed. We hope to use AI to create more employment, but it’s a young industry; it will take time.”

About the project

The Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTF) (July 2021 – June 2025) is based on a partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands and the International Trade Centre. The programme supports MSMEs in the digital technologies and agribusiness sectors. Its ambition is two-fold: to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable transformation of food systems, partially through digital solutions, and drive the internationalization of tech start-ups and export of IT&BPO companies in selected Sub-Saharan African countries.