How can we work together to amplify the abundance of Africa? The 2019 African Diaspora Investment Symposium seeks to align our work of bringing together global leaders for the common purpose of uplifting the Continent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, an important blueprint for achieving a sustainable future globally and in Africa. However, according to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, these goals face an annual finance gap of $2.5 trillion dollars globally, significantly impacting Africa and its future.
Recognizing these funding gaps, the African Diaspora Network, from January 24-26, 2019 is hosting ADIS2019: Amplifying Abundance in Africa through Human Capital, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Investment to offer an opportunity for deeper dialogue on how to align impact on the Continent with key financial and business structures. The reality is that talent in Africa is everywhere, yet funding continues to be a primary impediment.
Africa is a continent with 54 different countries with economies growing at different pace. As such, we need to find a multi-faceted solution that addresses challenges and opportunities country by country, region by region, and city by city. African Diaspora Network provides a platform for collaborative problem-solving that has sparked numerous ventures and partnerships. We encourage you to be a part of our journey as we aspire to amplify successes while acknowledging challenges. Together, we can amplify the abundance of the continent to meet our global goals of creating a more sustainable world.
As always, thank you and I look forward to seeing you at the ADIS19.
Thank you,
Almaz Negash
Founder & Executive Director, African Diaspora Network
Executive in Residence, Global Leadership Advancement Center (GLAC), San Jose State University
The Investment Ecosystem: Capturing Exceptional Returns in Africa
Human Capital Investment By 2050, Africa is expected to experience a demographic doubling in population to reach a landmark 1 billion. This profound shift has the potential to amplify abundance. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the African Union, African leaders established Agenda 2063 to plan for prosperity, shared growth, and economic opportunity for all. How can the Continent harness human capital to achieve and activate the potential of its growing population? This session highlights investment opportunities that pave a foundation for skills development, education, mentoring, and employment training. Learn about the United Nations’ major Impact Investment Collaborative in Africa and investment opportunities that foster African talent and ingenuity for a competitive and inclusive marketplace.
Panelist Highlight
Phillip L. Clay, PhD, is a Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and former Chancellor (2001-11). As Chancellor, he was involved in educational and research initiatives that MIT conducted with governments, corporations, and universities in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to design sectoral or national strategies to harness the power of advanced research and education to advance national development goals. Professor Clay is a trustee of the Kresge Foundation and a founding member and former vice chair of the MasterCard Foundation; both of these foundations have focused on education in Africa.
Semhar Araia is the Managing Director for Diaspora & Multicultural Partnerships at UNICEF USA, where she is responsible for developing and leading the organization's overall partnerships strategy with diaspora communities in the United States to raise awareness and support for UNICEF's mission. A recognized practitioner, organizer and thought leader on diaspora engagement, African affairs, and women's leadership, Ms. Araia's mission-driven lens and approach has helped amplify the powerful role of diasporas in the United States and around the world. Ms. Araia is also the founder of DAWN, the Diaspora African Women’s Network.
Venture Capital Not all SMEs are alike — among them, venture capital in Africa holds the highest potential of generating robust growth in revenue and jobs on the continent. According to Partech Ventures, the VC funding raised by African startups reached $367 million in 2016, with 33% yearly growth. This session addresses the ecosystem’s knowledge gap around VCs in Africa and case examples of opportunities. Taking an opportunities-over-obstacles approach, hear from leading experts on their investment decision-making, venture-building strategies, and results that led them to take the VC path in Africa.
Panelist Highlight
Scott Wu is a partner at Omidyar Network and leads the firm’s investment, finance, and legal operations. In this role, he drives the evaluation, selection, and closing of all investments and management of the firm’s overall investment portfolio. Scott comes to Omidyar Network with a deep dedication to innovation – investing in, working with, and launching young companies and organizations to disrupt their respective sectors. He most recently served as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow and senior advisor and entrepreneur-in-residence to the innovation funds of USAID. Scott was also a founding team member of Upstart.com.
Cyril Ebersweiler is a General Partner at SOSV and the founder/MD of HAX. He is a board member/advisor to a few startups including Leap Motion, Formlabs, Angel List, Collaborate (ACQ: CISCO), Hackster (ACQ: AVNET), Adoreme and Breather. He is the most experienced investor in the hardware space (250+) and has invested globally. Cyril is a popular speaker at international events (TC Disrupt, Collision, Pioneers, MIT Forum) and Universities (Stanford, UC Berkeley), has written dozens of articles and publishes regularly on topics such as technology, robotics, health and crowdfunding.
Diaspora Impact Investment & Social Entrepreneurship
Africa’s economic growth is unleashing the creativity of entrepreneurs across the continent. These entrepreneurs are inventing novel solutions to address big unsolved problems in their local markets. Unfortunately, the biggest problem they face is the lack of working capital to bring those solutions to scale. This session will share how to tap into the abundant financial resources that are available and how to attract impact investors to your social enterprise.
Panelist Highlight
Okendo Lewis-Gayle is author of Harambeans and founder of the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance. Harambe is an ecosystem of over 200 young African leaders (Harambeans) which has spawned a series of tech-enabled ventures such as Andela, Yoco an Fibre. Collectively Harambeans have generated over 2000 quality jobs, raised over $300m from Google Ventures, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Ma and in the process established a pan-African network of startups valued at over $1bn. Okendo is the inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence at the Schwarzman College in Tsinghua University, Africa Advisor to the Vatican and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School.
Irene Pritzker became a founding member and President and CEO of IDP Foundation, Inc. in 2008. It is her belief that education is the way to conquer the world’s greatest challenges, and that everyone should have equal access to education to provide hope, opportunity and economic impact on their homeland. IDP Foundation is dedicated to encouraging and supporting the development of innovative and sustainable solutions to complex global issues. She believes a combination of smart philanthropy and investment solutions can be galvanized to make that future a reality, such as the IDP Rising Schools Program, developed in partnership with Ghanaian MFI Sinapi Aba.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Cilker Family Foundation
Individual Sponsors
Agnieszka Winkler and Art Lund
Twum Djin, Goodwater Capital
Joshua Ghaim, PhD, Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies
Carolyn Gannon
Abbey Omokhodion, Intel
Regga Tekeste, Pure Wafer
Theresa Samuel Boko
Charlie Adams, Wells Fargo Advisors
ADN Partner Announcement
Johnson & Johnson Launches Africa Innovation Challenge 2.0
Johnson & Johnson has launched the Champions of Science Africa Innovation Challenge 2.0. This competition is a great opportunity for innovators and start-ups in your network to be eligible to receive up to US$50,000 in funding and mentorship that can help to bring their concepts to market.
This second Africa Innovation Challenge is designed to address the critical unmet needs of the continent and local communities in Africa while providing support to Africa-based entrepreneurs in creating innovative health care products and services. Specifically, the Challenge focuses on six categories -- Mental Health, Packaging Innovations, Botanical Solutions, Health Worker Support, Digital Health Tools and Essential Surgical Care.
Application information can be found at the Africa Innovation Challenge website: www.jnjinnovation.com/africachallenge/. The deadline for submitting entries is January 16, 2019.
Call for Nominations for the Second Builders of Africa's Future Award
The 2018 Builders of Africa’s Future Awards brought together 2 investors and 10 startups based on the criteria of innovation, uniqueness, growth potential, and impact potential on the Continent. We look forward to welcoming the 2019 awardees
Nominations for the second BAF Awards are now open.The BAF Awards serves to showcase and award entrepreneurs who are running early-stage for-profit and not-for-profits that are addressing Africa’s unique needs through technology or differentiated business models. These unique needs are in health, education, energy, financial inclusion, gender inclusion, nutrition, commerce, industrial development, and other socioeconomic good.
Nominate leaders of an early-stage African enterprise for the second annual Builders of Africa's Future Awards today. A selection of nominees will showcase their startups at the Fourth Annual African Diaspora Investment Symposium in January 2019. Start-ups will be selected based on the criteria of innovation, uniqueness, growth, potential, and impact potential on the continent.
African Diaspora Network seeks volunteers for its signature conference, the fourth annual African Diaspora Investment Symposium 2019 (ADIS2019). This global convening of leaders, innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs seeks to uplift the African continent by building bridges among Africans, Diasporans, and friends of Africa.
WHY VOLUNTEER? Volunteers will receive free registration, access to participants, and the opportunity to network with guests. Be a part of the symposium and our behind-the-scenes work while learning about the investment, entrepreneurship, and innovation ecosystems in Africa.
RESPONSIBILITIES The African Diaspora Investment Symposium volunteers will serve a critical role in making the two days of convening a positive experience for our guests and speakers. Volunteers will have the opportunity to provide on-the-ground support in the execution of ADIS2019. Roles include greeters, social media, note-taking, technology support, and general event support.
We invite you to join the online networking platform crafted for community-building and knowledge-sharing. The ADN online network is distinct from other networking sites, in that we do not collect membership data for marketing purposes. As a registered member, you will have full access to a unique communication tool developed to enable productive relationships and expedite action.
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