Africa Mobile & IT Expo (#Mobex15) Opens in Accra July 29 -31

Most business fairs which happen in Ghana are usually towards various sectors other than the tech industry. I can’t remember any recurring tech-oriented fair and conference in Ghana aside Innovation Week at AITI-KACE.

This event looks promising, bringing together over 50 exhibitors comprising startups, mobile network operators, consumer electronics makers, device manufacturers, etc.

“The Africa Mobile & ICT Expo is an assembly of captains, investors and enthusiasts of the ICT industry as well as all things and everything technology.” Mobile technology lovers, students and professionals, telcos, regulators and policy makers have converged for 3 days of conferences, seminars and exhibitions at the Accra International Conference Centre, from July 29–31.

The Vice President, H.E. Kwasi Ammissah Arthur, opened the ceremony early Wednesday morning.

The event will host several conferences, seminars, etc. which will discuss topics such as “The Mobile Device — A Tool For Economic Empowerment“, Understanding Data Protection, Cyber Bullying & Security, M-Commerce: The Opportunities and Risks, etc.

Sitting in on the Thought Leadership Conference on The Mobile Device as a tool for Economic Empowerment, Prof. Nii Noi Quaynor, stressed the fact there needs to be more effort in building capacity, forming groups and developers working together to build synergy.

Miss. Dorothy Gordon, Director-General of AITI-KACE also commented on how a lot more training-based education has to be enforced in the Ghanaian educational system, citing that most people who complete various academic programs in Ghana, have little hands-on experience prior to finding a job.

MobEx15 looks like it will be an exciting 3-day event. What seemed to be missing was the presence of young people. Most people that were at the conference were middle-aged though most of the topics, seminars and even job fairs are targeted at young people.

If this is going to be a yearly event, it looks like a promising start. It will be better to have a lot more young people involved, though. That will be great for the discussions to move beyond the conferences and make the impact they are meant to make.

Here are links to the schedule and the brochure for the conference.

If you were at the conference and I missed something, feel free so share in the comments. Nonetheless, how do you think such conferences can specifically contribute to our growth as software developers, tech entrepreneurs and makers?