ADIS22
African Diaspora Investment Symposium 2022
The Premium Convening of the African Investment Ecosystem in Silicon Valley
Foundations for the Future: Policy and Infrastructure in Africa
Monthly Online Forums January-June 2022
Celebrate Builders of Africa’s Future 2022 ~ June 23, 2022 @ 8:00 AM PST
Lead Funders
ADN celebrates its 7th annual global convening
57+ countries represented
2,158 virtual participants in 2021
5,000 + participants since 2016
100K+ people engaged on social media since 2016
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
African Diaspora Investment Symposium (ADIS) is where the work of ADN comes to life.
We invite you to celebrate seven years of ADIS and eleven years of ADN, fostering the ingenuity of the African community at home and abroad, alongside champions from around the world.
Our plan for this year was to bring our global community together to Silicon Valley for in person convening. However, in order to prioritize the health and well-being of our community, the ADIS22 symposium will be a fully virtual symposium, offering the most inclusive platform for our global audience.
January-May 2022 will offer virtual panel discussions on healthcare, education, agriculture, renewable energy, and connectivity. Thursday, June 23, from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM PST will be dedicated to Celebrating Builders of Africa’s Future 2022 Entrepreneurs. See more details below.
Join us starting in January to make the African Diaspora Investment Symposium and African Diaspora Network a platform for dialogue, action, co-creation, and most importantly, community-building. Together we can become the conduit for making a difference for ourselves, the continent we come from, and the communities in which we live.
Almaz Negash
Founder and Executive Director
African Diaspora Network
African Diaspora Investment Symposium 2022
African Diaspora Investment
Symposium (ADIS22) is the
seventh annual global
convening that celebrates and
champions the entrepreneurial
and innovative spirit of Africans,
Diasporans, and friends of
Africa.
Hosted by African Diaspora
Network , the symposium
inspires participants to be
agents of change and active
contributors to Africa ’s
development. The conference
activates the potential of
collaboration, drawing over
3,458 participants from around
the world over the last six years.
Last year’s virtual symposium
series brought together 2,158
participants from 57+ countries.
Foundations for the Future: Policy & Infrastructure in Africa
Across the globe, nations are beginning to steer the COVID-19 pandemic that has laid bare systemic shortcomings and longstanding inequities.
How does the
continent move forward? ADIS22 provides a pathway for
strategizing Africa’s era of active epidemic management as
we try to recover and maintain the advancements made
thus far. With traditional structures upended and
challenged in the face of change, there is an opportunity
for intentional disruption.
What are the regional needs and assets across Africa? How
do we transform the landscape of policy and infrastructure
to better support the advancement of opportunities and
communities? What best practices can be learned from
models of infrastructure across countries in Africa? Join us
as we explore the role of Africans, diasporans, and friends
of Africa in building a stronger foundation for the future of
the continent.
Why Attend ADIS?
African Diaspora Investment Symposium is renowned for its inclusive, celebratory atmosphere that facilitates connections and provides access to new ways of thinking.
ADIS22 takes place in a virtual format, bringing together representatives from private, government, corporations, academia, philanthropy, and NGO, with intentional outreach to entrepreneurs and investors.
- Participate in a movement that redefines the roles of the African Diaspora
- Build bridges among high-level, entrepreneurial leaders to engage in dialogue on shifting and strengthening key areas of policy and infrastructure in Africa
- Gain insight on economic development trends and investment opportunities in Africa
- Engage with leaders and organizations facilitating productive investment on the continent
- Deepen practical and aspirational dialogue on Africa’s future by examining trends in innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment conditions
- Examine how we can engage key global stakeholders in the the well-being of the continent
TESTIMONIALS
"ADN has built a community committed to building Africa ’s future through entrepreneurship. The convergence of shared mission at ADIS was truly inspiring and offers unique opportunities to effect meaningful impact moving forward. Congratulations to Almaz and her team!"
"The most exciting part during the
program was interacting with mentors and
fellow awardees. I learnt what other people
are doing in their communities and gained
different insights on how my fellows tackle
similar problems in different ways. As we
are looking to scale our business to another
region in Tanzania, I believe this kind of
experience can help my business to
succeed."
"At African Diaspora Network, our goal is to facilitate dialogue and action. And we thank all of you for being here. And I’m very proud to be a part of the African Diaspora Network board."
"The African Diaspora Investment Symposium is emblematic of the increasing organization, mobilization, and dynamism of the African diaspora. I met audience members who had flown from various countries in Africa, Europe, and throughout the United States to attend the convocation of entrepreneurs, investors, NGO leaders, academics, and policymakers. The organization is launching a new platform to better enable its transnational members to communicate and distribute new ideas. Almaz has turned what was already an impactful annual conference into a landmark groundbreaking event that brings together leading thinkers and doers in the African development space."
“The U.S. African Development Foundation
is honored to have participated in the
African Diaspora Network’s 5th Annual
African Diaspora Investment Symposium.
The three-day symposium provided USADF
the chance to see old friends, make new
ones and discover the many ways in which
similarly aligned organizations and
individuals are acting as stewards of
sustainable change on the African
continent. Our mission, to create pathways
to prosperity for underserved communities
in Africa, is a mission embodied by
#ADIS20 participants."
"More than any other Partner in our ecosystem,
ADN contributed immensely to the rapid growth
and success of VAP by directly linking us with the
appropriate resources we required to jumpstart
the Program. We met Dr. Mimmie Watts, the first
Independent Consultant and Facilitator for VAP at
ADIS2018, at a very critical juncture - when we
had no reliable connections in the African
Academic space. This auspicious meeting at
ADIS2018 jumpstarted VAP and gave it the
momentum and access we needed to succeed"
Previous
Next
The future of healthcare in Africa doesn’t look like what we see today. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the global shortage of healthcare workers at all levels. Across Africa, overburdened healthcare systems are drowning with the demands of the pandemic while attempting to address non-pandemic patients with limited budgets and inefficient systems. Prior to the pandemic, a person between 30 and 70 years old in Africa had a 1 in 5 chance of dying from a major chronic illness, such as cancer, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease. This number is expected to rapidly increase.
At the same time, telehealth technologies developed by Africans to diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions remotely are leapfrogging traditional systems of healthcare and enabling new, exciting collaborations to deliver quality digitized healthcare services wherever they may be. The transition to telehealth provides an opportunity to transform African healthcare systems. How are existing healthcare providers adapting their services to the COVID environment? What challenges and opportunities are there in accelerating telehealth? What foundations are needed to fully and effectively implement telehealth services?
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the traditional brick-and-mortar model of education, driving African countries to respond in innovative ways. School closures sparked myriad high-tech and low-cost solutions for asynchronous or hybrid approaches that help ensure the safe continuity of learning. This era marks an opportunity to reimagine the future of education in Africa that are safer and healthier school environments, integrate digital technologies, and develop and support educators and administrators.
What technological innovations and initiatives are transforming educational opportunities in Africa? How do we align investment and innovative policies that improve learning outcomes? What lessons can we learn from models such as Ghana’s to overhaul school curriculum to be globally competitive? This session explores opportunities for educational systems transformation across the continent.
February 2022: From E-Learning to Educational Systems Transformation
Feb 23, 2022 8am - 9:15am pst
March 2022: Changing the Landscape of Agriculture in Africa
March 23, 2022 8am - 9:15am pst
According to surveys conducted in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi,
Nigeria, and Uganda, in collaboration with the World Bank, the
share of households involved in agriculture has increased since the
start of the pandemic. 60% of the world’s uncultivated, arable land
is in Africa, yet many African countries import food at high costs,
depleting their forex reserves. How do we reverse this process to
support local agriculture and boost employment? What role can
African governments play to set targeted policy initiatives to ensure
secure land, tax incentives, work permits, supply chains, and other
mechanisms to enable a flourishing agricultural sector? What
investment frameworks would help regional farms be more
attractive to international private equity investment? This session
explores opportunities, funding avenues, and best practices for
shaping the future of the agricultural sector in Africa.
Solar and renewable energies are rising as a commercially viable resource across Africa, being cheaper than coal, diesel, or gas. Recognizing that fossil fuel energies tend to be historically concentrated across the developed world, there is a huge opportunity to leapfrog energy infrastructure in Africa through decentralized solar grids that accommodate and optimize for renewables. Despite its potential and cost-effectiveness, the challenge lies in drawing in commercial investment. Governments currently lack the investment template and assurances to attract private equity investment. There is an opportunity to develop crucial infrastructure in Africa without incurring foreign debt.
April 2022: Energizing Investment in the Solar and Renewable Sector
April 27, 2022 8am - 9:15am pst
May 2022: Bridging the Connectivity Gap
Date: May 18, 2022 8am - 9:15am pst
Over the last two years, African Diaspora Network has engaged individuals from over 57 countries, with an increased reach on the continent through our virtual convenings.
This month, join us as we bring together our network in celebration of Africa Day for a global community conversation.
With the rise of digital globalization comes the challenge of connectivity. Africa continues to lag behind in infrastructure, including electricity, energy, and transportation, which poses a significant challenge to the continent’s economic development. According to a 2020 report by McKinsey & Company, about 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and comprise over ⅔ of the global population without power. Moreover, Africa faces an infrastructure paradox – infrastructure investments have been increasing, but not enough money is being spent as 80% of infrastructure projects fail at the feasibility and business-plan stage.
African Diaspora Network hosts the fifth annual Builders of Africa’s Future Awards! Join us for a celebration of innovation and impact in early-stage African enterprises. This session recognizes the rising stars of African entrepreneurship as they build the future of the continent through nonprofit and for-profit businesses addressing key community needs.
The BAF program awards 10 to 15 of Africa’s most promising entrepreneurs with enterprise development training, partnership and mentorship opportunities, and a platform to boost brand visibility and investment potential in Silicon Valley. This virtual showcase of African entrepreneur pitch presentations concludes the seventh annual African Diaspora Investment Symposium. Since 2018, Builders of Africa’s Future has recognized and catalyzed 42 African startups.
AFRICAN DIASPORA INVESTMENT SYMPOSIUM: FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE: POLICY AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN AFRICA
Celebrate Builders of Africa’s Future 2022 ~ June 23, 2022 @ 8:00 AM PST
