A cohort of leading tech founders and venture capitalists in Africa have concluded a 2-day immersion event in Dubai. The event, organized by Volition Cap in partnership with the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, was designed to showcase Dubai as a destination for global expansion and alternative funding for the continent’s many innovative entrepreneurs and companies.
“Dubai continues to introduce initiatives that enable confidence, resilience and agility that have been instrumental in the city’s emergence as a hotbed for talent, investment and market creation. The city’s robust public-private partnership policy and appetite for innovation, coupled with world-class infrastructure, financial ecosystem and pro-business legislation are designed to empower new models of working and allow for rapid scale-up, new market expansion and dual listing opportunities for accelerated company growth from Dubai for African entrepreneurs”, said His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.
“The number of African companies has grown in Dubai more than 15% since 2019, with close to 25,000 based here and we continue to see enhanced bilateral growth opportunities continue to develop.”
The event featured a series of discussions and meetings with leaders of the city’s business and innovation ecosystem; offering visiting Founders unique insight on current and future outlook as Dubai continues to build on its status as a global centre of trade and commerce. The itinerary included visits to the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region; Dubai Future Foundation and the newly launched Museum of the Future, as well as the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Africa Founders Immersion Dubai event also provided a platform for African Founders to interact with the funding and investment community in the city.
At Expo 2020 Dubai participants attended a deep dive session with the team behind District 2020, a smart and sustainable mixed-use community built with human centricity at its core and focused squarely on curating a global innovation ecosystem across key growth areas such as smart logistics, smart mobility, digital healthcare and smart cities; as well as other industries that are set to grow in a post-COVID world. District 2020 will boost an integrated community of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, scale-ups, accelerators, universities, and government entities to enable cross-industry collaboration, learning and development.
Total funding secured by start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) more than doubled to reach approximately US $864 million in the first quarter of the year, according to a report from data platform Magnitt, total. Start-ups in the UAE accounted for 27.3 per cent of all deals closed and 34.4 per cent of all funding raised year to date in MENA in 2022.
Speaking further on the vision of Volition Cap and its future plans for the Africa Founders Immersion Dubai, Kola Oyeneyin, Co-founder at Volition Cap said, “The African tech ecosystem can only truly scale as more capital is unlocked. Founders should be able to choose which fund or cheque will ultimately open up more markets to them as they begin to scale. This is what makes this ecosystem collaboration very important and we look forward to welcoming more founders and investors from across the continent to explore and unlock new opportunities for scale and funding.”
About Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET)
With the ultimate vision of making Dubai the world’s leading commercial centre, investment hub and tourism destination, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) is mandated to support the Government in positioning the emirate as a major hub for global economy and tourism, and in boosting the city’s economic and tourism competitiveness indicators. Under this remit, DET is driving efforts to further enhance Dubai’s diversified, innovative service-based economy to attract top global talent, deliver a world-class business environment and accelerate productivity growth. Additionally, DET is supporting Dubai’s vision to become the world’s best city to live and work in by promoting its diverse destination proposition, unique lifestyle and outstanding quality of life, overall.
DET is the principal authority for the planning, supervision, development and marketing of Dubai’s business and tourism sectors. It is also responsible for the licensing and classification of all types of businesses, including hotels, tour operators and travel agents. The DET portfolio includes Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, Dubai Industries and Exports, Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI) and Dubai SME, as well as Dubai College of Tourism, Dubai Calendar and Dubai Business Events.
For further information, please contact: Pallavi.sharma@dubaidet.ae
About Volition Cap
Volition Cap is an African private equity company that provides investment education, venture funding and access to global wealth creation opportunities for Africans and Africans in the Diaspora.
For more information and partnership inquiries: Website: https://volitioncap.com/
Email: ask@volitioncap.com
Phone number: +234 0705 651 1542
