About the BIC Africa Annual Gathering
The BIC Africa Annual Gathering is BIC Africa’s project flagship annual event – an unparalleled gathering – that brings together business incubation and support organisation leaders, startup ecosystem experts, entrepreneurs, policymakers and other stakeholders from the five BIC Africa project countries (Angola, Comoros, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Somalia), and participants from other African and European countries. The annual gathering aims to connect the country projects’ incubation practitioners and entrepreneurs to exchange knowledge and best practices, to strengthen the regional network, to bridge African and the European ecosystems, and discuss how to overcome the challenges faced by the business incubator communities today to support current and future entrepreneurs, with a focus on youth and women.
The BIC Africa project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN).
BIC Africa Annual Gathering 2025 (#BICAfrica2025)
The BIC Africa Annual Gathering 2025 (#BICAfrica2025), co-hosted by the Angolan country project led by IFC Angola and the Delegation of the European Union to Angola, will take place on Thursday 23rd of October 2025 at Palmeiras Hotel in Luanda, Angola and Online. This year’s edition theme is “Empowering Youth-led Startups to transform Agri-Tech, Agri-Business & Value Chains for Food Security”. It will discuss the latest developments and exchange best practices about Agri-Tech innovations, Agri-business support and value chain developments focusing on youth and women-led startups and MSMEs support in advancing food security in Africa, with emphasis on the Angolan ecosystem by featuring key ecosystem actors across from Angola and the other BIC Africa country projects.
The BIC Africa Annual Gathering series has become an important annual event to discuss the latest development on the innovation and startup ecosystem in Africa, and to boost the African entrepreneurs, startups, business support organisations, and ecosystem potential. The first three editions of the gathering were held in 2022, 2023 and 2024 focusing on connecting African business incubators, promoting shared learning and driving innovative startups, and accelerating access to sustainable financing for young businesses in Africa. These three-gathering brought together over 300 stakeholders to explore and connect the regional innovation and startup ecosystems. In addition to panel sessions and focused thematic discussions, the annual gathering enabled participants to network, visit local ecosystem, exchange knowledge, explore and foster partnerships, and participate in other side events.
This year’s meetings will be held in English and Portuguese; more information will be available soon. Save the date and stay tuned.
We are thrilled to announce the fourth edition of the BIC Africa Annual Gathering 2025, which will take place in Luanda, Angola. Co-hosted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Angola and the Delegation of the European Union to Angola, this year’s event builds upon the success of previous editions and brings together stakeholders from the BIC Africa country projects, actors from the European ecosystem and other key stakeholders in the innovation and startup ecosystem.
Our focus this year is on Agri-tech and Agri business enhancing food security and value chain development in Africa through startups and MSMEs and we reaffirm BIC Africa’s commitment to supporting sustainable support to business support organisations and empowering young and women entrepreneurs to scale their businesses. Additionally, by hosting the gathering in Luanda, this event serves as an opportunity to strengthen the Angolan ecosystem by connecting it to other African ecosystems and European networks.
We’re looking forward to welcoming participants and engaging with stakeholders in the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem across Africa.
Robert Sanders, BIC Africa Team Leader at EBN
Previous Editions
2024 Annual Gathering Antananarivo, Madagascar
2023 Annual Gathering Nairobi, Kenya
2022 Annual Gathering Addis Ababa, Ethiopia