Join ANDE, alongside members, for the first session of the Pan Africa Webinar Series!

ANDE’s Africa Chapters are launching the Pan-African Webinar Series; a quarterly platform designed to strengthen knowledge-sharing across Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystems and create space for practical insights, peer learning, and dialogue among organizations supporting small and growing businesses (SGBs). For the first session, we are partnering with our member, Stanford Seed to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming enterprise growth and what it means for intermediaries supporting entrepreneurs.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping how enterprises across Africa are built, scaled, financed, and supported. As AI tools become more accessible, barriers to entry are lowering, product development cycles are accelerating, and many operational processes are becoming increasingly automated. Founders are building leaner teams, digital capability is emerging as a key competitive advantage, and data-driven decision-making is becoming standard practice.

At the same time, workforce expectations are evolving. Many businesses are moving toward hybrid human–AI collaboration, requiring greater digital fluency, adaptability, and new skill sets. Investors, too, are leveraging advanced analytics to evaluate opportunities, monitor portfolio performance, and manage risk with greater precision.

Yet much of the enterprise support ecosystem — including incubators, accelerators, SME development programs, and investment support structures — was designed for a pre-AI era. As AI adoption accelerates, ecosystem intermediaries face an important question: how must support models evolve to ensure small and growing businesses (SGBs) remain competitive and resilient?

This session brings together entrepreneurs and ecosystem leaders to explore how AI is shaping enterprise growth in practice. From the entrepreneur’s perspective, we will explore how founders are integrating AI into operations, product development, and workforce management. In addition, the session will, in recognition of International Women’s Month, explore how AI-driven shifts uniquely impact women entrepreneurs and gender inclusion in enterprise ecosystems, to celebrate 

From the ecosystem perspective, we will explore how ANDE members are adapting support programs, evolving investment approaches, and addressing capability gaps across the ecosystem.

Session Objectives

• Examine how AI is reshaping enterprise growth and entrepreneurship support across Africa
• Identify capability gaps and systemic vulnerabilities affecting both founders and support institutions
• Catalyze coordinated action toward building inclusive, future-ready enterprise ecosystems
• Highlight gender-related considerations and opportunities for supporting women-led SGBs in an AI-enabled ecosystem.