Prox Weekly's Last Edition 👋🏾

Hey fam!

I hope you had a restful Christmas season and have your new years resolutions for 2023.

I wanted to say thanks for this year and share some news - but before that, a little recap.

(If this was forwarded to you make sure to subscribe here to get African Tech News in your inbox).

Prox Fortnightly launched in June this year while I followed my curiosity about Africa’s tech space.

I wanted to share what I was learning while building a company in Africa and investing in African startups.

Before I knew it, I was profiling founders, sharing my learnings and reporting on Africa’s biggest tech stories. The cadence changed and it became Prox Weekly (a name I didn't love, but it worked).

I didn’t expect my curiosity to turn into what it is today:

• A community of over 2,000 readers from 25 countries

• Four in-person events in Singapore, London, Rwanda and Kenya with over 500 people in attendance

• Dozens of founders and investor connections through content, storytelling and events

• Getting the moniker ‘the African speed dating guy’ 😂

• A platform to connect with Africa’s and the world’s best minds and leaders in technology.

I learned a lot in the last 6 months - about African tech, about realities on the continent and about life.

Putting those learnings together, I’m at an inflection point. Which is why this is the last edition of Prox Weekly.

Hear me out..

Ironically, my biggest learning while travelling was that no one was telling Africa’s tech growth story to the rest of the world.

Now - some of you reading this are deep in Africa’s tech scene.

But a lot of you are reading this because you don’t have exposure to what’s happening in African tech.

A few of you didn’t even know Africa had a tech scene

I would post videos riding on Boda bodas (motorbikes) in Kenya and hear that was the first time some of you had seen Africa other than on TV..

This was mind-blowing to me. And I realised something.

Outside of our tech bubble, global decision-makers, tech workers, the diaspora and the general public don’t know much about Africa's transition to the world’s next frontier of technology.

It feels like we’re all in on this big secret that everyone else is oblivious to.

Now, I can keep a secret. But if that thinking isn’t updated, perceptions on the continent won’t change.

Africa will keep being categorised as corrupt, unsafe or even worse - just a nice place to go on safari.

If we don’t tell the stories of what’s happening in Africa, our tech ecosystem will continue to exist in a bubble.

That impacts how global decisions are made and how capital will flow into the continent.

And that’s the role we can play - telling Africa’s tech story to the rest of the world.

Which is why we’re saying bye to Prox Weekly 👋🏾 (I didn’t like the name anyway..)

From next week, we will be changing to Tech Safari.

Tech Safari is your tour guide on African tech.

It’s a bi-weekly newsletter that covers the top stories in African tech and startup news.

Here is what to expect:

• Tech Tuesdays - your weekly insight into the biggest stories in African tech

• Startup Saturdays - a round-up of all the startup activity, events and opportunities from that week.

I also hope to continue the deep dives and feature guest writers in the future.

If that’s not what you signed up for - all good, you can unsubscribe at the bottom of the email.

If you’re excited by this, great - I’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday!

And if you want to get involved, you can send me an email and:

• Tell me the topics you want me to cover

• Sponsor the newsletter and reach a global audience of investors and founders interested in African tech

• Roast (or praise) the new logo and name

• Share this with your friends who should learn more about Africa's Tech News (subscribe link here)

Thanks again for being a part of this!

Have a great start to the New Year and we'll be back for an even better 2023 💪🏾

Cheers,

Caleb