The EMERGING Valley international summit, an unmissable annual meeting for African and European Tech stakeholders, is aimed at entrepreneurial ecosystems and organic innovation in Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe. Startups, public decision-makers, large groups, investors, tech hubs, and public and private international institutions from over 70 countries, will come together in Marseille to present the disruptive solutions African tech has to offer, discuss its impact on the world and get ready for the aftermath of the pandemic all the while continuing to strengthen partnership between Africa and Europe.
Founded by Samir ABDELKRIM, author of “Startup Lions, at the heart of African Tech”, and placed under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic Emmanuel MACRON in 2018, EMERGING Valley is the international summit that builds long-lasting bridges between the two continents by gathering the most influential stakeholders in the digital and tech industry from Africa and Europe in the same place at the same time: high-impact investors, role models, startups, corporates, tech hubs, support structures, competitiveness clusters, civil society, public and private organisations, ministers and political decision-makers, investors and major donors in Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe. Everyone is invited to participate during these two days of unique networking to discover the new areas of innovation that are coming to the forefront in the south as well as to explore the digital solutions of tomorrow.
After the 4th edition was 100% online in April due to the restrictions, this 5th edition of the summit will take place in Aix-Marseille-Provence on December 13 and 14, 2021. The summit will be held both at the Palais du Pharo and online as part of an innovative format that combines the benefits of face-to-face meetings and the convenience of online technology to ensure as many people as possible can listen to the discussions and meet the experts of African Tech. Its inclusive approach means that accessing the talks, plenary sessions, keynotes, workshops and masterclasses is free for everyone who signs up: https://www.emergingvalley.co/inscriptions/
The Great Green Wall, the rise of successful “Made in Africa” unicorns, sustainable African cities, female entrepreneurship, e-health in Africa and Europe, and organic innovation investment will be at the heart of this 5th edition. There will be strong meaningful topics that are part of EMERGING Valley’s DNA and will hopefully get people thinking about the aftermath of the health crisis in Africa, Europe and across the rest of the world. The programme will be unveiled in October
High-impact DNA and the desire to set up a DO TANK and build bridges between the different innovation ecosystems and the most influential stakeholders in the African digital industry from Aix-Marseille-Provence, the hub of dialogue between Europe and Africa.
Created in 2017 in Aix-Marseille, EMERGING Valley is the international summit that brings the leaders of African and European Tech to Provence, as well as African and emerging digital ecosystems that want to improve their international reputation, network with other like-minded entrepreneurs and fast-track their global impact.
Founder of EMERGING Valley, Samir ABDELKRIM: “The historic ambition of EMERGING Valley is to come up with answers to the pressing issue of how to get African and European innovation ecosystems ready to bounce back after COVID. This means continuing to support entrepreneurs by helping ecosystems and innovators from Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe meet and dialogue with one another to co-create sustainable and resilient solutions to the emergencies and challenges of our time. Every year, hundreds of high-level speakers and Tech-For-Good startups flock to Aix-Marseille-Provence to present us with their visions and projects.”
The Aix-Marseille-Provence territory for EMERGING Valley was an obvious choice as Samir ABDELKRIM explains: “Through its heritage, economic exchanges and geographical location, Aix-Marseille-Provence is a natural springboard to Africa which makes it a hotspot for companies from around the world that want to target African markets and be based in Marseille. The territory also has all the necessary assets and infrastructure to attract and support the best talents from Africa that are looking to target European markets.”
Over the years, EMERGING Valley has gone from strength to strength in showing its interest in ecosystems for this great event.
Since starting in 2017, EMERGING Valley has quickly established itself as a flagship event for African Tech; so much so that, in just 4 years, the event has gone from a conference to an international multi-day summit that each year brings together hundreds of international speakers from dozens of countries, thousands participants, hundreds of startups and dozens of investors and delegations from Africa with over a thousand hours of conferences, collective intelligence and inspiring debates.
In 4 years, the summit has had over 450 speakers, 400 startups, 100 incubators or tech hubs, dozens of investors and nearly 6000 participants from 72 countries.
Many influential figures from civil society and international politics have participated in this great event, including: Taleb OULD SID’AHMED, Minister of Employment, Youth and Sports of Mauritania; Papa AMADOU SARR, Minister Delegate General for Rapid Entrepreneurship of Women and Youth (DER) of Senegal, Angélique KIDJO, singer and godmother of the Africa 2020 Season, Thierry Breton, Commissioner of the Internal Market, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Tidjane DEME, Partner and Co-Manager of Partech Africa, Fatoumata BA, Venture Capital Investor, Founder & President of Janngo and Managing Partner of Janngo Capital, Lionel ZINSOU, Former Prime Minister of Benin and Managing Partner of Southbridge Group, Sarah TOUMI, Member of the Presidential Council for Africa and CEO of Acacias For All, Gilles BABINET, Digital Champion of France at the European Commission, Philippe WANG, Executive Vice-President of Huawei Northern Africa, Benoît PAYAN, Mayor of the City of Marseille, Laure-Agnès CARADEC, President of the Board of Directors of EPA Euroméditerranée, Martine VASSAL, President of the Departmental Council of the Bouches-du-Rhône and President of the Métropole d’Aix-Marseille-Provence, Elisabeth MORENO, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, in charge of gender equality, Diversity and Equal opportunities, Franck RIESTER, Minister Delegate to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in charge of Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, Wilfrid LAURIANO DO REGO, Coordinator of the Presidential Council for Africa, and many other stakeholders from Africa and Europe. Here is the list of speakers from last year: https://www.online-emergingvalley.co/speakers
A unique crossroads to explore emerging ecosystems and an online platform with many possibilities.
Participating in EMERGING Valley means becoming an identified stakeholder in Tech For Good, contributing to a pan-African reflection on the future of innovation, and connecting with decision-makers, investors and talented entrepreneurs. Just like the last event, EMERGING Valley has innovated with its new hybrid edition by combining digital agility and face-to-face energy! A unique opportunity to attend high-level debates without having to alter the summit’s aim of promoting discussions and meetings for all the participants. We will develop a platform which has a powerful networking tool so that everyone can connect with potential future business partners from Africa and Europe!
Participants will also be able to choose their own programme from the many highlights: plenary sessions, keynotes, workshops and pitches in 48 hours. These events will be broadcast live on the EMERGING Valley online platform so that everyone can find out about disruptive African Tech solutions in virtual rooms to learn from the best experts, understand Tech news in Africa and Europe and draw inspiration from entrepreneurial ecosystem success stories. Registration is free at https://www.emergingvalley.co/inscriptions/
THE LARGEST GATHERING OF AFRO-EUROPEAN TECH LEADERS
Patricia RICARD, President of the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute, explains: “For me, EMERGING Valley is exactly the type of initiative that helps up speed up the transition. We are now in a hurry to talk to a lot of people about a lot of complex and difficult subjects. The solidarity approach of EMERGING Valley through this collective intelligence is totally focused on sustainable and digital development. As such, EMERGING Valley is a very high-impact summit with interdisciplinary and intersectoral labs in which stakeholders from all backgrounds participate.”
Virginie KONÉ, Director of Special Operations and Events within the TRACE media, says: “The very foundation of TRACE is creating initiatives to help contribute to the synergy and links between the two continents. We therefore recognise ourselves in this dimension of innovation and digital technology between Africa and Europe that EMERGING Valley embodies.”
Henri GUEYE, CEO of Eyone Senegal, adds: “Participating in EMERGING Valley provided us with a framework to discuss what is happening in the field. This health crisis has thrown us all a huge curve ball. It is important to know what is happening on the ground, what is still being done to fight against the pandemic, to see what collaboration is being done between Marseille and Africa and highlight the solutions implemented on a local basis and in Africa to benefit people’s lives.”
“Supporting entrepreneurs and innovating in Africa is what we are all about, that’s why we have come to Emerging Valley” explained Ifeyinwa UGOCHUKWU Director of Partnerships, Tony Elumelu Foundation, during her participation in 2018.
And as Rémy RIOUX, Managing Director of the French Development Agency, said in 2018 during the second edition of EMERGING Valley: ”Being a partner of EMERGING Valley means helping to fuel the growth and development of employment in Africa i.e. SMEs”.
We asked former participants to describe EMERGING Valley in three words: “Discussions, learning, hope, networking, innovation, determination, determination, meetings, collaboration, cooperation, entrepreneurship, energy, gathering, commitment, quality, professionalism, contacts, opportunities, inspiration, creativity, Africa-France, kindness, sharing experiences, future, digital, positive energy”.
The programme for this 5th edition will be published in the coming weeks. Female entrepreneurship, investment in innovation, e-health, biodiversity and territorial resilience in the face of climate challenges will be the hot topics of debate.
To follow the latest information available on this 5th edition of EMERGING Valley: https://www.emergingvalley.co/