[SXSW 2013] Africa or bust: tapping into a continent's tech potential

12 Mar 2013

Panels focused on Africa at the annual SXSW conference have become a place for those who're passionate about the continent to spread the word on new technology and its role there. And it's not just Africans themselves doing the convincing.

Companies working both from outside the continent and within in, took part in a panel titled "Africa or Bust! Content, Monetization, Opportunity" on Monday afternoon.

Aimed at spreading the word about the opportunity which exists for content creators, service providers, brands, and media companies on the continent, the panel featured three speakers - Fadzai Makanda from iROKO Partners, which distributes Nollywood films, Nadeem Juma, chairman of the AIM Group, touted as the first new media agency based in Tanzania and Matthew Dawes, the MD of All Amber, which organises mobile-focused events in Africa. The panel was moderated by Ngozi Odita of Society HAE, the Afrocentric media site.

The panel highlighted the fact that in Africa, more people than ever have access to the internet (about 140-million) but that this only represents a small percentage of the entire population (about 13%). By 2020, internet penetration in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reach 24.7%, outpacing internet penetration rates across the world.

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