Deep Tech Reports and Findings: Government Officials

Welcome to your course on Deep Tech Reports and Findings: Government Officials!

For deep tech startups there are distinct challenges and distinct chances to succeed. Government officials hold a critical role in promoting a flourishing environment for technology-based entrepreneurship in Africa. Deep tech ventures carry real potential for economic growth and innovation, but that potential only becomes local jobs and local solutions when the right support and conditions are deliberately put in place.

This course moves from the evidence about deep tech and tech-driven entrepreneurship, to the six strategic interventions a government can lead, to the Startup Act as a concrete policy instrument, with Senegal and Tunisia as working examples, and finally to how you would design and implement an Act in your own region. It closes with a graded quiz and an ungraded project that applies the ideas to your country.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Define deep tech and explain what makes tech-driven entrepreneurship a distinct kind of venture in Africa.
• Identify the gaps that hold deep tech startups back and the six strategic interventions that respond to them.
• Describe the goal and six areas of focus of a Startup Act, using the Senegal and Tunisia cases for comparison.
• Apply four implementation guidelines to design a localised Startup Act for your own context.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for government officials, policymakers, regulators and ecosystem builders across Africa who shape the conditions for technology-based entrepreneurship. It is highly beneficial for individuals who are:

• Responsible for innovation policy, startup support programmes, or a national Startup Act.
• Seeking to design or evaluate strategic interventions for local deep tech startups.
• Working to align startup support with national digital and economic strategy.