By: Yusuf Ramon

Fast-growing tech community, ATC Africa, held the fourth edition of its annual Tech Starters Conference on Saturday, February 3, 2024. The event which took place at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan attracted attendees looking to kickstart their careers in technology from various areas in Ibadan and its neighbouring cities. 

The event which is designed to assist young individuals in the tech industry find a clear direction and survive the overwhelming hassles of the industry began in 2020 as one of the initiatives of ATC Africa. There was a lineup of 20 speakers from diverse sectors within the technology industry for this year’s event, but a few of them were absent. 

The first keynote speaker and Program Manager at Kibo, Mr Oluwaseun Hazmat spoke on how newbies can leverage tech communities and emphasized the impact of these communities in the South West region of Nigeria. In his words, “There is a large spectrum in tech and a space for every skill. However, skills alone are not enough; you will need guidance.” He went further to speak on the willingness of starters to serve and devise a way to leverage their soft skills in technology. 

The converner of Ibadan Tech Expo, Mr. Danjuma Balogun, was up next and he discussed scaling products from Ibadan to the world. He believed that Ibadan is one of the best places to set up a tech business, especially for experimental purposes. According to him, “You can start up a business in Ibadan and run a few ads to gain the attention. People in Ibadan are lovely and test virtually every product from businesses based in the city.” He encouraged the attendees to build businesses in tech from scratch in Ibadan until they are globally accepted.

Shortly after, the team lead of ATC Africa and converner of the event, Mr Tope Moses mounted the stage and spoke on the motivation behind the event and how ATC Africa came into existence. He also encouraged the attendees to be passionate about joining communities for learning. He stated that, “Building a community is more than having users join, the users should be passionate about learning also.” He went further to recognise and appreciate the sponsors of the event. 

Oche Writes, one of the guests, who was recently nominated for the 30 under 30 award emphasized the importance of personal branding for every tech starter. He used his journey as an example and repeatedly stated that “If you don’t know how to get the attention of people, you will struggle a lot but if you can get this attention, it will be an easy ride.” 

As the event progressed, other keynote speakers took to the stage. These include the founder and CEO of Zee Africa, David Adeleke; Tableau Ibadan Lead, Mr. Ayobami Atolagbe; Software Developer and Content Creator, Victor Madu; Third Party Risk Analyst, Segun Olaniyan; and professional Software Engineer, Niyi Ibikoya.

Also, the winners of the Hackathon and Product Exhibition presented a real-time an individual’s location using his social media. The facilitators of the events also engaged the attendees in some fun activities at intervals to keep the event lively and some participants walked away with cash prizes and merchandise. 

The event ended with a photo session involving all attendees, team members, and speakers around 5 pm.