MainOne, West Africa’s leading provider of business communications recently bolstered its commitment to entrepreneurship and technology development in Africa at the Demo Africa conference, held in Lagos recently, where it shared ideas for tech start-ups to create successful businesses. The event, which ended on September 26, 2014 in Lagos attracted 40 African Start Ups and Venture Capitalists that include Angel Investors, Tech Acquisition Specialists, IT buyers, in addition to Business leaders and ICT experts from within and outside Africa who discussed technological start-ups and key strategies to keep businesses afloat. Conference discussions revolved around strategies for supporting new and emerging tech-startups and entrepreneurs to strengthen Africa’s startup and innovation ecosystem, promote and facilitate new investments, and foster innovative business models for the continent’s development.

In comments ahead of the conference, MainOne’s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, ‘Folu Aderibigbe noted that Demo Africa was an easy sponsorship decision, as it provided an impetus for community entrepreneurship development, and enabled young talented Nigerians showcase their products (ideas), learn how to harness and create wealth from their skills, as well as preepare for the journey that ensures personal development, and global relevance. “MainOne is pleased to be a vital part of this public-private alliance aimed at enhancing and deepening the startup and innovation ecosystems of fast- growing West-African economies. This partnership reiterates our commitment to technology development and the growth of the Nigerian start-up environment, manifested through our support for the Co-Creation Hub, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria Software Cup, and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria’s TENT programmes, among others”, he noted.

The Demo Africa conference is one of the flagship initiatives of LIONS@frica and aims to connect African startups to the global ecosystem. Demo Africa is the place where the most innovative companies from African countries get a platform to launch their products and announce to Africa and the world what they have developed. The selected start-ups also benefit from coaching and mentorship programmes from both local and international mentors and coaches organised by Demo Africa and the US State Department.