The second edition of the Co-working Africa conference is to take place in Cape Town, South Africa next month, aimed at building a co-working network across the African continent.
Disrupt Africa reported last July, the first ever Co-working Africa conference was hosted in Cape Town, with the organisers saying conference reflects the fact that the development of co-working on the continent is “more important” than in other regions of the world.
The second edition is set for February 5, and will be held at Cape Town’s Design Bank.
Vanessa Sans, project manager for the Co-working Africa conference says the event will “explore the rise of coworking in Africa”, and presents the opportunity to foster personal relationships between the leaders of coworking and collaborative spaces from across the continent.
“We are building a co-working network across the continent aimed at connecting entrepreneurial communities by fostering knowledge sharing and collaboration between co-working spaces. We support the growth of co-working communities around them as well as the development of co-working awareness,” Sans told Disrupt Africa.
The conference takes the form of a one day event, featuring talks about the growth of co-working, exploration of ways of collaboration, as well as workshops specially designed for space operators to help them improve their business performance and community building.
Sans says co-working has a unique role to play in Africa, given the growing population, the rise of entrepreneurship, and high digital adoption levels, particularly among the young population.
“Co-working spaces play a key role of Africa’s socio-economic development; Co-working spaces provide a solution to some very critical issues that the continent has to overcome, such as the lack of quality infrastructure and strong internet connectivity,” Sans said.
“Also, 75 per cent of the population is under 30, meaning that there is a whole generation of talent currently looking to get their career off the ground. Co-working is the best way for young entrepreneurs to gain a foothold in their budding careers,” she said.
“In conclusion, increasing the number of collaborative spaces that offer proper conditions and developed infrastructure for the co-working space owners will help to increase entrepreneurship participation in Africa.”
According to Sans, nowhere in the world is the tech scene more important than in Africa, and co-working spaces form the “bedrock” of the local ecosystems. These ecosystems, she says, play home to the entrepreneurs shaping the future of modern, tech-savvy economies.
Tickets to the Co-working Africa conference are available here.
