Tech Treat is a grassroots initiative, developed by Explore Africa Foundation to increase and improve the African Tech community. Tech has led to rapid innovations across the globe, providing digital solutions to day-to-day challenges faced by the average individual. Most people are end-users of these innovative solutions. As tech continues to advance, the number of practitioners in it is required to increase and improve. Africa cannot continue to just “benefit” from these innovations though. Africans have some of the smartest minds in the world and will excel in tech. This is already observed in the many insightful endeavors many have delved into. Many more, however, do not have the same opportunities. Tech Treat thus is the means through which Explore Africa Foundation spreads the message of tech and innovation across Africa through Events and community integration, availing opportunities to individuals who otherwise would not have access.
Tech Treat is convened to increase and improve the African Tech Community
- The Tech Treat platforms are adapted such that individuals who didn’t know about tech are allowed to interact with those who know to enable them to learn and improve themselves, thereby increasing the tech community.
- Furthermore, individuals with a background in tech get the opportunity to interact with individuals with more experience and applied knowledge from whom they learn, thereby improving the quality of the tech community.
Tech Treat promotes the ideology to connect, learn, earn and grow. This is based on the assertion that for organic and sustainable growth in the tech industry, practitioners need to earn reasonably from their tech skills. To earn, it is expedient to learn, and connecting with those who know is a fundamental prerequisite for learning. Tech Treat instils this fundamental ideology in the minds of individuals in a specific order: connect, learn, earn, and grow.
The Inaugural Tech Treat Event
Tech Treat has held annually across different cities and towns in Nigeria since it was formally launched on July 14th 2022 with a groundbreaking event held at L. A Kings Hotels, 31 Ken Saro-Wiwa Road (Stadium Road), Port Harcourt. The events facilitate the convergence of Tech minds from across the state and beyond, bringing together the finest and the novices. It witnesses the attendance of over 1,000 individuals, providing a platform for synergy and over 6 hours of contact among participants. It also served as a blueprint upon which many Tech events and initiatives have (and are still being) developed in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria, Nigeria and beyond. The aftermath of the inaugural event for instance has seen the rise of many in tech-related endeavors, consolidating the vision of increasing and improving the African Tech Community.
There are typically four sessions split into two broad segments. The first session is a pre-event “Meet and Greet” session held concurrently with the accreditation process. During this session, participants and volunteers get familiarized with themselves based on the basic interest of “Tech Treat” and their expectations. The second session featured several talks on various topics relating to the African Tech space. These talks are facilitated by the finest innovators within and around the host city and cut across diverse facets of the tech industry, including Graphics design, programming/programming languages, UI/UX, Branding, Photography design/Development, blockchain technology, Tech Business/Strategies, etc.
The third session is typically an interactive session that features talk shows. In this session, the facilitators of the talks in the preceding session and other tech giants have sit-down sessions where they answer questions from the audience to the best of their abilities and based on their experiences.
The final session of the event features a more thorough meet-and-greet session that extended from the interactive session. Participants have the privilege and opportunity to meet with facilitators and discourse, meet with others with similar interests, and meet the organizers/volunteers. This section serves to consolidate the connections created. It is strategically positioned so that the bonds have a stronger and longer-lasting effect.
Highlights
Tech Boot – Brands are allowed to establish boots within the host arena, where participants can directly interface with the brand and get first-hand experience with their products and services. Brands with boot access are allotted some time on stage with which they can explain the fundamentals of their innovative solutions to participants. Each brand is also be required to select a designated minimum number of participants to train in the theory and practice of their craft for at least three months.
Explore Africa Magazine – Tech Treat features the launch of Explore Africa Magazine (Tech Edition) for the year. Explore Africa Magazine is one of the platforms through which Explore Africa Foundation showcases African assets and endowments. It is a not-for-sale magazine published by Explore Africa Media LTD and distributed through partners within and outside Africa. The tech edition showcases the latest trends in tech development in Africa and provides a historical perspective and other vital educational materials that help readers to understand what is happening in the tech space around the continent. Donations made through advertisements in the magazine are utilized directly in the pursuit of the vision of the foundation, ensuring that somewhere in Africa, someone’s life is getting improved.
Tech Challenge - The tech Challenge birthed during the inaugural event has undergone an evolutionary process and is fast becoming the zenith of challenges in the tech space. The selection of participants is on the spot, giving all participants equal opportunities to partake. The prize has also evolved to reach excesses of $200 for the winners, $100 for the first runners-up and $50 for the second runners-up.
My Tech Story – Explore Africa Media LTD has established contacts with some of the big players in the tech industry around the world. Interviews are scheduled and these videos will be premiered during Tech Treat events. Through this initiative, participants will get to hear directly from the magnates in the tech industry.
Business Pitching – With the exquisite ideas and opportunities in the tech space, it is without doubt that there are countless tech entrepreneurs in the African Tech Space who actively seek platforms to build their journey upon. Tech Treat presents the unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to share their great ideas and gain access to prospective sponsors by offering the tech stage on the day of events for the pitching of next-generation tech ideas and innovations.
Tech Treat Training – In the course of the events, Explore Africa Foundation selects participants observed to be diligent and committed to their clearly defined tech goals. These are enrolled in the Tech Treat training, a tech training covering areas in programming, UI/UX design and development, website design and development, photo/videography, content development, graphics, branding and strategy. The training runs for a predetermined period and is aimed at helping participants to develop the fundamental skills and garner the prerequisite knowledge required to carve themselves a niche for themselves in the tech space.
