Young Innovator at African Tech summit

News   Hazviperi Mbizi   February 12, 2020
PIC: Masikini, with other participants
The Polytechnic’s fourth year Bachelor of Science in Information Technology student Sam Masikini, with his Artificial Intelligence Voice Controlling project called Thandi, was nominated to attend the African Tech Summit in Kigali Rwanda

The summit which took place from February 4th – 6th 2020, provided unrivalled insight, networking and business opportunities for African and international tech leaders and investors who want to do business in Africa.

Speaking soon after arrival from Kigali, a trip which was sponsored by National Bank of Malawi, Masikini explained that the whole experience has been an eye opener to him in so many ways as a young innovator cum entrepreneur.

He was spotted at the ICTAM Innovators award in 2019 where his project was one of the best overall projects showcased.

“We did not go there to exhibit our projects, we mainly went there to connect with investors, sponsors and people running several programs like incubators from all over African countries,” he explained.

The young innovator added that in the process of interacting with people he has learned that Africa is losing talent to western countries because of lack of infrastructures.

“I met a mentor who enlightened me that young people in Africa just dream of studying in school and getting jobs, now that jobs are no longer here, we think of travelling abroad yet we have everything like raw materials and talent but we lack support from the public and private sectors,” added Masikini.

The three day tech summit  featured – The Future Summit, The Money & Blockchain Summit and The Africa Start-up Summit. Each explored the latest trends, connect 600+ digital leaders, tech corporates, MNO’s, banks, investors, regulators, start-ups, creatives media and leading tech ventures from across Africa over an action-packed three days of insight, networking and entertainment.


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