This year’s Ghana Digital Innovation Week (GDIW) held from 2-4 October 2024, was a galvanising moment for stakeholders in the tech and entrepreneurship ecosystem to meet, share and convene in Accra, Ghana. The week combined two powerful summits that contributed to a jam-packed innovation week -the Africa Startup Ecosystem Builders (ASEB) and African Summit on Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ASENTI) summits.
i4Policy was represented by Blaise Bayuo (Tech Founder and Innovation Specialist), who participated in several sessions. The ASEB awards evening was a highlight for many ecosystem players, including i4Policy who was recognised for a second time this year.
Panels and Discussions
Before the event kickoff, ASENTI organised a summit for ecosystem players to engage and network ahead of GDIW. ASENTI, aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), presents a valuable opportunity to explore the connections between economic integration, entrepreneurship, innovation, and tourism development. The panels covered topics such as EdTech and AgriTech and discussed how ecosystem players can support inclusive innovation by actively engaging women entrepreneurs, highlighting the vast opportunities in these sectors.
On the 2nd October, i4Policy participated in the ASEB Summit, where stakeholders discussed cross-border collaboration and networks to support startup growth. The panellists emphasised the need to operationalise AfCFTA to facilitate business trade and enhance collaboration across borders.
i4policy Wins an Award
ASEB hosted an awards night at the Ennovate Blck hub in Accra as part of GDIW, to recognise the contributions of various stakeholders to Africa’s startup ecosystem.
This year there were 30 award categories, with over 2000 nominations received from 44 countries. i4Policy was again honoured, winning the Policy Initiative of the Year 2024 award, having held the Policy Champion of the Year in 2023.
The award is a symbolic representation of i4Policy’s role in connecting individuals, communities, and governments globally to co-create the future by providing tools, processes, and advisory services that foster inclusivity in decision-making and promote positive community outcomes through knowledge sharing and research.
A hearty congratulations goes to all the winners at this year’s Africa Startup Ecosystem Builders – Awards and Summit (October 2024, Accra, Ghana)! Special congratulations goes to our longstanding partner Rym Jarou of Smart Africa, who was awarded: Startup Ecosystem Builder Champion of the Year!
See winners pictured below:
Finally, the GDIW reminds us that “we are stronger together “, and that we need to look for opportunities to continuously partner and engage the ecosystem through policy and research initiatives – it is the only way we can build back better, by doing this together.
Interested in knowing more about i4Policy’s activities? Please visit: https://www.i4policy.org
Celebrating 5 years of co-creating the future!
Written by;
Blaise Bayuo & Belisa Rodrigues
