Afro-X-Dubai Zimbabwe Innovation Conference Is A Great Opportunity To See How Things Are Done Elsewhere

Samora & First Consultants is partnering with Palladium Zimbabwe and BMatanga IP Attorneys for Africa along with its UAE government, semi-government and private sector innovation partners to host the first Afro-x-Dubai.

The conference aims to bring together local innovative players and “institutions with Dubai innovation thought leaders who are ahead in the journey to share practical experiences.”

The conference will also see the creation of a platform which allows locals and key stakeholders to learn and hopefully adopt some approaches from the middle eastern powerhouse in our own ecosytem.

The overarching theme of this conference is definitely going to be exchanging ideas, as the last objective of Afro-X-Dubai Conference is to foster dialogue between participants from Dubai, local industries and institutions with a view to establishing long term partnerships.

Who is this for?

Afro-X-Conference organisers believe their event will be vital to attend for the following people:

Captains of industry
Private Sector Executives
SMEs and Innovators
Innovation Hubs
Venture Capitalists
Universities & Research Institutions
Government Innovation Players

Startup Hubs will want to attend

The attendees will get to exchange ideas on a number of topics including:

Zimbabwe’s current policies on innovation, innovation hubs and intellectual property – Zimbabwe
Creating and Managing a functional innovation ecosystem among government departments – Dubai
Tech Innovation Hubs: Challenges and lessons – Dubai
Promoting investment in IP intensive industries through enforcement – Dubai
Public Private Partnerships: Efficient provision of government services by the private sector – Dubai
Innovation within the transport system – Dubai
Internet access as a catalyst for innovation – Dubai
E-government – Dubai

That’s quite the lineup and there will definitely be some significant lessons to takeaway from this. Personally, I will be interested to hear what comes out of the discussions on transport along with the creation of functional ecosystems. If you know something about these two segments of Zimbabwean life, you’ll know that it’s not the most convenient aspect for citizens.

The organisers have also listed the outcomes they expect from the conference and these are:

learning on policy approaches towards knowledge driven economies from innovation thought leaders,
establishing potential areas for collaboration between Zimbabwe and Dubai innovation players
marketing brand Zimbabwe as a preferred investment destination
making recommendations to government which will be sent through the lead Ministry after the conference.

Of course, attendees may end up learning more than what’s listed as is usually the case when people bring their minds together and mull over issues.

When will the conference be held?

In 78 days time (27-28 June), the two day conference will kick off at the HICC and Early Bird Tickets are going for US$200. The early bird period was supposed to be open until the 7th but because the organiser’s still have that slot opened and the regular registration and late registration are still closed, I would like to believe that the early registration is still open.

If you’re interested in attending the Afro-X-Dubai conference you can register here.