Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network Summit comes to Cape Town

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Innovation is crucial for staying competitive,now and in the future, in an exponentially changing world. Innovation allows once intractable problems to be tackled with creative, sustainable solutions that save lives, enable human potential and bring hope to millions. Major advances in technology allow entrepreneurs to innovate and share at an unprecedented scale, all over the globe. Entrepreneurs tap into these opportunities, grow businesses, create jobs and develop sustainable, scalable solutions.

Uniting women

Dell calls this "future ready", and is committed to helping the entrepreneurs of the future create lasting value and impact. The 2016 DWEN Summit will unite women entrepreneurs and give them the power and tools to create prosperity, stability and opportunity in every country around the globe.

"The role women play in driving the global economy is becoming more and more foundational to the health and well-being of our world," said Karen Quintos, chief marketing officer at Dell. "Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network is all about fostering relationships and providing gateways to the resources women founders need to succeed. There's no better place than South Africa, a burgeoning center of entrepreneurship, to have these important conversations."

The conference was previously hosted in the emerging entrepreneurial hotbeds of Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi, Istanbul, Austin, and most recently, Berlin. Speakers at this year's conference will include leading female CEOs, founders and thought leaders to be announced prior to the event.

Why South Africa?

With the world's youngest and fastest-growing population, Africa has become known as the world's largest source of untapped talent. With half of its 1 billion population less than 21 years old, Africa has the youngest population in the world today and it is expected that by 2040, half of the world's young people will live there.

Based upon Dell's Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard and the research put forth over the past few years, South Africa and the US proved to be the only two countries out of the 31 countries examined that actively promote growth-oriented female entrepreneurs through gender public procurement policies. Africa leads the world in the number of women starting businesses, with almost equal levels of male and female entrepreneurs. In fact, in countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia, women entrepreneurs are the majority.

While there are many economic, cultural, political and technological differences across Africa, the continent is home to one of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies and holds extraordinary promise as an incubator of the next generation of tech talent. Widely considered one of the leading areas for young entrepreneurs, South Africa has set the stage for international success stories and it is said that by 2025, its GDP should grow at least 5 to 6 per cent, matching that of leading economies such as Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

Global research

At the Cape Town DWEN Summit, Dell will announce the findings of a new study on women's entrepreneurship. The current 2015 Women Entrepreneur Leaders Index is a global study that measures high-potential female entrepreneurship based on individual aspirations, business environments and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Created in partnership with top researchers and experts, the new 2016 research will act a diagnostic tool for countries to expand opportunities for women entrepreneurs.