By Doh James Sonkey and Christie Noela
The 4th edition of the Silicon Mountain conference took place last November 10 to 12, 2022 under the theme, “Local Solutions for a Sustainable Digital Economy” in Buea, South-west Region of Cameroon.
This year, focus of the conference was to push forward the entrepreneurship and innovation agenda, by showcasing the solutions young entrepreneurs build in the ecosystem and most importantly, to understand why these solutions are not consumed locally.
The opening of the conference featured a sports walk followed by a press conference at the Buea Council Chambers.
During the second day, activities of the conference were organized simultaneously in the three different hubs (Activ Spaces, Jongo Hub and Mountain Hub) that Silicon Mountain harbours in Buea.
This year’s edition just like previous ones was sponsored by Orange Cameroon with a cash prize of FCFA 1,000,000 for the winner of the hackathon.
“Orange Cameroon is behind Silicon Mountain because Silicon Mountainanswers to one of the needs of Orange Cameroon by bringing what matters to the communities.” Explained Noussi Giselle. She added that Orange had an open platform for education and mentorship for startups.
The third and last day of the event took place at Chariot Hotel wherein Mambe Churchill of BUYAM and the Paramount Chief of Buea, HRH Chief Endeley Robert Esuka gave their keynote addresses.
During the three-day event, attendees got a close-up look at the latest technologies and innovations, all of which were exhibited by entrepreneurs, software engineers, graphic designers, and technicians in general.
It is equally important to note that exhibitors, attendees, and even sponsors of this mega tech conference benefitted from the opportunity to share and listen to different experienced entrepreneurs, discover new technologies and talents, network and most importantly build new connections and relationships that will push Cameroon’s tech ecosystem forward.
In his take-home message, Ayuk Etta of Mountain Hub told all to consume and buy local technology to put Cameroon on the map.
