Cape Town is considered the Innovation Capital of Africa.
Some even refer to it as a place that is equivalent to Silicon Valley due to the prevalence of technology startups in the region.
Whether Cape Town is truly an innovation capital of Africa is debatable.
We are however certain about the origins of this tag.
We know that it was partly a public relations exercise by leading economic organisations in Cape Town.
One of those organisations became what we’ve come to know as the “Silicon Cape”.
The organisation was formed by Vinny Lingham and Justin Stanford. Lingham had spent some time in Silicon Valley, California and he felt that Cape Town needed the same intervention.
He wanted to enable local tech entrepreneurs to have ease of accessing venture capital.
To an extent the organisation managed to connect tech entrepreneurs and venture capital firms. Importantly, the organisation developed a tech community in Cape Town.
Sadly, Silicon Cape is no longer what it used to be.
The organisation is no longer as active as it was in its early years. The inactivity of Silicon Cape has left a vacuum in the Cape Town tech startup ecosystem.
This is not to say there are no other organisations that are working towards the advancement of the tech startup sector in Cape Town.
The difference is that the Silicon Cape was an important brand that enabled the international community to have a door to knock on when they are looking for insights and information about tech startup investments.
Once upon a time there was an address and a door to knock on whenever there was technology investment matter to raise.
The organisation could serve as a voice about tech startup matters. The Silicon Cape has tried to revive itself.
At some point it appointed Vusi Thembekwayo as its Chairman. It was hoped that his name and industry weight could draw attention to the organisation and potentially bring it back to life. It seems Silicon Cape has not fully reaped the rewards of being led by Vusi Thembekwayo.
The inactivity by Silicon Cape has not stopped the advancement of tech startups in Cape Town. What is missing however is a sense of community. There are no tech community events, there’s no online community for tech startups in the same way that they organised them.
Those that exist are organised by tech companies themselves and they are not industry led initiatives.
It’s time for an organisation to take the lead and bring the tech community together.
This is important for entrepreneurs who are starting their companies. It is important for the international community as well as the government to know that there’s an organisation that advances the interest of the tech startup community. If Cape Town is the innovation capital of Africa, then Silicon Cape needs to rise again and do its job.
Part of this means that there’s a need for those with interest in the advancement of tech to fund its operations. There’s also a need for the community to commit by becoming paying members of the community such as Silicon Cape.
All of this requires an overhaul of its leadership. Current technological developments require tech leadership.
The intervention of organisations such as Silicon Cape can play a meaningful role taking tech to another level not just in Cape Town but across the country and continent. If Silicon Cape succeeds it will have rippling effects across the continent in the form of strong tech startup community. It’s time for Silicon Cape to come back.
Wesley Diphoko is a technology analyst and the Editor-In-Chief of FastCompany (SA) magazine.
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