5th India - Africa Entrepreneurship & Investment Summit

Why India Africa Entrepreneurship Forum?

There is a growing realization that despite deep historical, commercial, and cultural ties, the entrepreneurial ecosystems between India and Africa remain to be connected in a meaningful way. Doing so presents a tremendous opportunity to harness the creative capacity of entrepreneurs in both regions to work together to solve common and pressing problems and accelerate trade and investment in the process. This is the mission of the India-Africa Entrepreneurship Forum (IAEF). Africa’s fifty-four states produced a combined GDP in excess of US$3.2 trillion - almost the same as India. The economic growth of the continent that is estimated to be 3.2 percent in 2023 also houses six of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

With 57,000 startups valued at $450B, India is the Third largest entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world. Over 650 African startups on the other hand, received total funding of $5.2B in 2022 (a 1700 precent increase since 2015) raising the combined valuation of about 900 startups to roughly $50B.

This gap presents an unprecedented opportunity for Indian and African entrepreneurs to partner with each other in their co-creating, co-founding activities, providing bilateral knowledge, funding and market opportunity to its early stage enterprises, thereby strengthening existing efforts in increasing trade and development between the two economies.

Collaboration between startups and large but entrepreneurial businesses, on the other hand can increase the reach and impact of innovation, according to Accenture Africa research, which increasingly correlates with higher economic performance at enterprise and economy-wide levels. By leveraging the power of ecosystems and open innovation, African economies can accelerate progress, unlocking Africa’s abundance for all.

It is in this context, India Africa Entrepreneurship Forum (IAEF), has evolved to become the go-to platform that connects entrepreneurs and investors actively involved in the India Africa corridor. These dynamic ecosystems and subsystems have much in common, and much to gain from interacting.

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

Energy/Sustainablity
AgriTech
Health/MedTech
EdTech/Skill Development
Smart Infrastructure
Critical Minerals

IMPORTANT CONTACTS

Convener - Baljinder Sharma: baljinder@launchafrica.vc
Co-Convener - Nirmala Sankaran: nirmala.sankaran@heymath.com
India - Shubham Sharma: shubham@africa-india.org
Africa - Emmanuel Okorwoit: emmanuel@africa-india.org

Time	Sessions
Day 1: Thursday 17th July 2025
Official Inauguration : Trademark Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya
08:30am to 8:50am	Registration of Delegates
08:50am to 09:00am	Introduction

09:00 to 09:10am	Welcome Address by Satyanarayan R - Chairman, CL Educate Group
9:10am to 9:20am	Inaugural Address: Mr Vimal Shah - Chairman BIDCO
09:20am to 09:40am	Keynote Address: Mr Ravi Venkatesan - Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship followed by Q&A Session
09:40am to 10:20am	Panel Discussion: Building the India Africa Business Bridge - Challenges/Opportunites & Way Forward
	His Excellency Mr. Sushil Prasad - Acting High Commissioner of India in Kenya, Mr John Mwenda - CEO Kenya Investment Authority
	Sushil Jiwarajka - Chairman Infrastructure Corporation of Africa, Busisa Moyo - CEO United Refineries Zimbabwe
10:15am to 11:00am	Panel Discussion: Can India Help Africa Build its own AI?
	Dr Shreeram Iyer - Founder Prisma.ai , Amb Philip Thigo MBS, Moderator: TBD
11:00am to 11:15am	Tea Break and Networking
11:15am to 12:00am	From Labour Arbitrage to Global Competency Centers - India's Outsourcing Journey : A Conversation with Mr Raman Roy
	Hosted by Tomi Davies
12:00am to 1:00pm	Building Scale : How Government, Capital & Networks can enable the Next Generation of High-Impact Ventures.
	Vipul Parekh - Co-Founder BigBasket, Dr Tonny Mwansa - CEO Kenya Innovation Agency, Anna Ekeledo - CEO AfriLabs : Moderated by Anirudh Damani
1:00pm to 2:00pm	Networking Lunch
2:00pm to 3:30pm	RoundTable Discussions
	Green Energy/Sustainablity
	Powering Partnerships : Co-creating Clean Energy Futures
	Moderator TBD
	AgriTech
	Seeds of Innovation: AgriTech Solutions for Food Security and Prosperity
	Chair : Mr Busisa Moyo, Moderator TBD
	Health/MedTech
	From Ideas to Impact: MedTech Solutions for a Healthier India and Africa
	Chair: Dr Jitendra Verma, Moderator TBD
3:30pm to 5:00pm	EdTech/Skill Development
	Empowering a Billion Dreams: Education and Skills for Africa’s Next Leap
	Chair: Dr Bimal Kantaria, Moderator Sreenivasan Ramakrishnan
	Smart Infrastructure
	From Networks to Nations: Smart Infrastructure as a Growth Engine
	Moderator : Mr Milan Ratilal Zatakia; Chair: Mr DP Mohanty - Regional Managing Director, SAFAL group; Mr Shreyas Patel - Country Head, Axestrack
	Critical Minerals
	Mining the Future : Harnessing India-Africa Synergies in Strategic Minerals
	Chair: TBD Moderator: Sandeep Hamilton
5:00pm to 5:30pm	Coffee Break
5:30pm to 6:15pm	India Africa Economic Partnership: The Next Ten Years
	Bridging Aspirations : The Role of Capital and Policy for the Next Growth Wave for India and Africa
	Presentation by Mr Shailendra Kumar - Co-founder Narnolia Group
	Dr David Ndii - Chairperson, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Government of Kenya
6:15pm to 7:00pm	Panel Discussion: Backing Bold Ideas: Catalysing Growth Across the Indian Ocean
	Mr Mehul Pandya - MD Care Ratings India; Mr Hanno de Vriend - Amicorp; Gideon Muriuki - CEO Cooperative Bank; Ms Temabye Vayavooree - Executive Vice President Global & International Corporates, Mauritius Commercial Bank; Moderator : Mr Soumya Bannerjee IFC
7:00pm onwards	Networking Cocktails followed by Dinner


Day 2 : Friday 18th July 2025
09:00am to 09:30am	Registration of Delegates
09:30am to 09:40am	Welcome Address & Review of Day 1
09:40am to 09:50am	Keynote Speech
09:50am to 10:30am	Connecting Entreprenurial and Innovation Networks: What Can India & Africa Learn from Each Other?
	Mr Akskay Grover - President TiE Africa, Ms Sheena Raikundalia, Ashish Patel - Partner Aavishkar Capital, Moderator: Priya Arora
10:30am to 11:00am	Seed Money to Unicorns: How Government Fund of Funds is Shaping India's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem?
	Presentation by Mr Pradeep Gupta followed by Panel Dicussion with Anirudh Damani - Arth Ventures, Vipul Parekh - Big Basket
11:00am to 11:30 pm	Sustainable Finance for the Global South
	Mr Harish HV - MD ECube Advisors Ltd, Thomas Abila - Amboseli Energy Partners LLC, Co-operative Bank, Saurav Chatterjee - CEO CARE Ratings Africa Ltd
11:30am to 12:30pm	Opportunities for Trade & Investment in East Africa(TBD)
	Mr Sandeep Khapre - CEO BDO East Africa, Dr Julius Kipngetch Group CEO Jubilee Holdings, Dr James Mworia - Group CEO Centum Investments
12:30pm to-1:30pm	Networking Lunch
2:30pm to 3:30pm	Feedback from RoundTables: Presented by Moderators
1:30pm to 2:30pm	Open House:
	Ms Utkarsha Kohli - Former Head of Policy InvestIndia, RCM Reddy - Chairman Schoolnet India, Kinyua M’Mbijjewe - AgCuity Consulting, Julius Opio - ICC, Shashank Reddy, Moderator: Thaheer Mullin
3:30pm to 4:00pm	Concluding Remarks & Closure