Design thinking to fast-track Africa’s tech talent hub prospect

Design thinking will fast-track Africa’s goal to become the epicenter of talent by the year 2040, according to Ashley Immanuel, chief operating officer of Semicolon.

This was disclosed at the Innovest Afrika Investment Summit and Demo Day, marking the completion of the inaugural Innovest Ignite Accelerator program.

Immanuel spoke on the need to seriously consider design thinking in talent management to achieve Africa’s goal of becoming the hub of tech talent acquisition by 2040.

“When we train talents, we train design thinking because innovation is important. Having this knowledge is important, not only for the product but for the society at large,” Immanuel said.

She further spoke on the impact of talent management among businesses and implored teams to invest in talent infrastructure.

“The impact of talent among businesses cannot be overemphasised. Most businesses will live or die depending on the team’s strength. What motivates people is purpose and growth. Although Nigeria is behind, we need to begin to make investments that we should have made 30 years ago in talent infrastructure.”

Tim Brown, chief executive officer of IDEO, defines design thinking as a human-centred approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate people’s needs, technology’s possibilities, and business success requirements.

Based on a report by McKinsey, Africa will have the world’s largest working-age population by 2040.

Femi Moito, founder and CEO of Innovest Afrika, emphasised the organisation’s global reach and commitment to accelerating African-founded startups.

“Innovest Afrika works with African startup founders wherever they are located globally. Our goal is to accelerate 5000 African-founded startups by 2030, and the Lagos accelerator is just the beginning. Our founders have benefited from an intensive program of local and international expertise, gaining access to a vast network of investors and mentors,” Moito said.

The Demo Day featured ten graduating startups from the accelerator program, where they pitched their innovative solutions to a panel of esteemed judges.