The founder and CEO of minoHealth AI labs, Darlington Ahiale Akogo attends a virtual Africa Tech Festival today, Tuesday, November 9, 2021. Representing Ghana, alongside Akogo is the Member of Parliament for Klottey-Korley constituency Dr Zanetor Rawlings who were both speakers for the event as well.
Other speakers include Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, H.E Huria Ali Mahdi, a State Minister – National ICT and Digital Economy, Ethiopia, and several executives and experts from top companies around the world.
Darlington Akogo held two sessions at the event. Firstly, he spoke on Harnessing the impact of the partnership and collaboration across the ecosystem.
With that session, he chaired a fireside conversation with Gregoire De Padiric, the Principal of Orange Ventures. Interestingly, this session addressed the investments Orange Ventures is making in African startups. It also looked at the achievements and gaps of venture funding in Africa. This was in the context of the emergence of about 5 African unicorns (billion-dollar startups) this year alone. Lastly delved into what enterprises should be doing to support the African startup and innovation ecosystem. And discussion of the potential impact of AfCTA.
Secondly, he spoke on the Digital transformation of the continent: One Continent, One Goal – Leveraging the 2020 – 2030 Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa. Over here, Akogo joined some good friends in a panel to discuss Digital Transformation in Africa. They talked about various digital transformation projects, including some of our projects at MinoHealth/MinoHealth AI Labs and KaraAgro AI.
In addition, they discussed the need for more funding, existing policy and regulatory gaps and the needed reforms. The AI expert highlighted how drone laws in various African countries are not favourable for drone-tech startups. According to him, these laws are old – they were developed around military drones. Therefore, there is a need for reform. More especially as it applies to much smaller drones used by startups and enthusiasts as well.