At 6 pm today in time zones around the globe, over 2,000 people will pack into 26 meetups hosted by VC4Africa as a part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Their goal: to accelerate Entrepreneurship development in Africa by connecting the continent's top innovators to a global network of knowledge and capital. This global series of meetups represents a growing recognition of Africa’s entrepreneurs and the opportunities they are working to unlock across the continent.
The entire effort is volunteer-led and focused on building from the grassroots level. These events recognize that doing business in Africa starts with bringing like-minded professionals together. The meetups will welcome entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, lawyers, academics and many others who want to contribute to SME development or are looking to get involved in some meaningful way.
These meetups are a shining example of the power of collaboration. VC4Africa and Global Entrepreneurship Week are founding members of the LIONS@FRICA partnership and both are leveraging their networks and skills with other LIONS partners to maximize impact for entrepreneurs.
"Through LIONS we are working to connect the continent's largest community of entrepreneurs to the required network, knowledge and capital. The partnership brings together critical public and private sector stakeholders that are essential to strengthening Africa's innovation ecosystem. We need to bring about more collaboration if we are going to bring about real change” says VC4Africa founder Ben White.
If you are in Accra, Addis Ababa, Alexandria, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Buea, Cairo, Chicago, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kigali, Monrovia, Lagos, Lille, London, Los Angeles, Lusaka, Nairobi, New York, Silicon Valley, Tunis, Washington D.C. and Windhoek – you won’t want to miss it! Sign up HERE If you can’t make it in person, join the conversation using the hashtags: #VC4Africa #GEW2013.