06 Oct 2020

This year’s Global Expo Botswana, will be virtually held from November 17 to 18.  

In an interview, Global Expo Botswana Project Manager Mr Dipopego Tsheko said after the expo was cancelled in April, Botswana Investment and Trade Centre decided to hold the expo virtually in November. 

This, he said was part of BITC’s broader COVID-19 response strategy. 

He further explained that about 200 companies from Botswana and the rest of the world would have virtual exhibition booths to showcase their products and services.

Mr Tsheko stated that there would be a provision of Business to Business meetings where the exhibitors could interact with the virtual attendees to discuss possible prospects.

He noted that the virtual expo would run alongside a planned virtual Global Expo Investment Battlefield.

“The virtual Global Expo Investment Battlefield is a platform whereby start-ups will virtually pitch their business ideas or concepts from the comfort of their homes or offices in a bid to secure investment from a panel of local and international angel investors and venture capitalists in exchange for some shares in the start-up companies,” explained Mr Tsheko. 

The Investment Battlefield, he said would have a virtual pitching sessions where first round of virtual pitches for the top 10 selected companies would be held on November 18. 

He stated that companies would be judged by some local chief executive officers and the grand finale for the top five finalists would be held on November 20.

The top five would be judged by some reputable local and international Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists to be announced, explained Mr Tsheko.

“It will be headlined by an Israeli based company called Empower Africa, whereas the other one will be held on November 19 and it will be headlined by a Silicon Valley based company called Africa Code Foundry,” he said, adding that both companies were reputable and were looking to accelerate empowerment and scale prosperity by driving investment, trade, and job creation in Africa

Mr Tsheko indicated that the November 18 webinars would be about agricultural investment opportunities in Botswana and how Empower Africa could assist in driving foreign direct investment into the agriculture sector in Botswana.

“The second one is about an engineering residency program whereby Africa Code Foundry seeks to establish a coding academy for software engineers in Botswana in collaboration with Botho University,” he said. ends