Tech4Africa Johannesburg 2015

This talk reveals what African consumers expect from a digital experience across categories. We report on a study amongst South African, Nigerian and Kenyan consumers to establish the digital expectation commonalities and differences when engaging with different sectors. We answer questions such as: are consumers more concerned about safety of information in the area of social networking or digital finances? Which sector has the highest consumer expectations of being device agnostic? In so doing, the presentation serves as a guide for digital service providers to assist in developing offerings that truly meet the digital consumer’s expectations.

Charity isn’t going to save the world. Is it ok to make money and make a difference at the same time?

 

This is the origin story of forgood - the online dating site for the social sector, connecting people to Causes and building the tech glue that’s going to increase efficiency and impact in the social sector of South Africa (and eventually other developing nations). 

Andy Hadfield (ex Real Time Wine, Street MBA, Tech4Africa regular) and Katherine Robertson (ex founder Africa Works Project, a subsidiary of Rays of Hope) will take you on a journey of what it’s like to build technology in the social sector, what the ecosystem looks like, what the big data possibilities are and most importantly - what the revenue model is and how forgood is going to try and achieve scale (that mythical pot of gold at the end of the developing nation tech rainbow).

The biggest barrier for developers and entrepreneurs is getting their technology in to the hands of the consumer. Women make 94% of the purchasing decisions of the households and yet tech companies are yet to explore new and interesting ways to market it to them. The discussion will be facilitated by Samantha Wright, the editor of Tech Girl, a South African tech blogged aimed at local women, and Zoe Hawkins, Content Editor for Lazygamer.net - Africa's biggest gaming website. The talk will highlight how women utilise technology as well as how we go about marketing it to them.

The Ventureburn Startup Survey, in partnership with First National Bank (FNB), investment advisory firm Clifftop Colony and analytics company Qurio, polled just under 200 tech startups which with the aim of uncovering the “true picture of the South African startup landscape”. Each of the startups were asked 38 questions that covered (among other things) funding, the profile of their founders, revenues and everyday challenges.