Find the top talent working at the intersection of law and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa
The ALT Network celebrated its 5th anniversary in September 2022 and we have been busy working on plans for the next stage of the ALT journey. When we started in 2017, there was little talk of the role of technology in delivering legal services in Africa but a few legal tech entities had already started to make their mark. The tech sector was starting to grow particularly in financial services but there were still big gaps in regulation and understanding of tech innovation and in the role of legal services to facilitate that growth or to innovate themselves using technology. Our goal then was to create a community of African lawyers, regulators, and tech companies and to provide a one-stop shop for information, advice, and collaboration to bridge the legal and regulatory gaps We’d identified in the industry.
Five years on, the ALT community has grown from strength to strength with engagement and activities across the continent and relationships with major tech sector entities and actors such as the Africa Tech Summit, HiiL, and Tech Cabal Media. Our objective of facilitating pan-African relationships and business connections between tech companies and law firms has been particularly rewarding as we quickly became the main source of information and networking for entities operating at the law and technology nexus in Africa.
It has become clear, however, that there remains a gap between investors and tech companies; between regulators and tech companies, and between legal tech companies and the legal marketplace. As such, we are now focusing the next five years on raising the profile of African lawyers, law firms, and tech companies through the creation of the first and only legal directory with a tech focus and certainly the only one in Africa! Our goal is to promote you and your services and products to a broad range of stakeholders both on the continent and beyond and to ensure that the expertise that exists in Africa is known and easily accessed. The current international directories don’t focus on the fast-growing tech sector which is why the ALT Network with its standing across the continent and beyond is well positioned to tell this African story and ensure new providers and investors as well as the regulatory community have the support they need as they embark on growing their business.
The new directory will be a dynamic and exciting platform that will be launched in November marking our 5th anniversary. I will be sending you an overview of the directory and a sample profile, as well as a run-down of features and benefits to give you an exclusive look at your exciting new resource. Please keep an eye out for that and let us know your thoughts. As a current member, you will automatically have a free listing in the directory for 4 months, with more detailed information on the directory to follow.