Africa’s events landscape is booming, but behind the glitz of concerts, conferences, festivals, and weddings lies a fragmented ecosystem plagued by inefficiencies. From unreliable ticketing systems to chaotic vendor coordination and poor attendee experience, event organisers across the continent continue to grapple with operational challenges. Now, a team of former Jumia and Konga employees believe they have the solution—and they’re building a startup designed to reshape how events are planned, managed, and experienced in Africa.
The founding trio, who spent years working in operations, product, and logistics at two of Africa’s biggest e-commerce companies, say the events industry’s problems mirror the early days of online retail: disjointed supply chains, limited data, and a lack of technology infrastructure. After leaving the e-commerce giants, they began interviewing event planners, vendors, and ticketing firms across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa, uncovering a recurring theme: everyone was struggling to coordinate multiple moving parts.
Their startup, EventFlow Africa, combines ticketing, vendor sourcing, logistics management, and real-time analytics into a single platform. It enables organisers to plan events end-to-end—from discovering verified decorators and caterers to managing payments, tracking ticket sales, and monitoring foot traffic on the day of the event. Vendors also gain a digital storefront, financial tools, and access to demand insights that help them price and plan better. According to the founders, the goal is not just to digitise events but to create a structured marketplace that formalises thousands of small businesses powering the industry.
EventFlow is also experimenting with AI features inspired by their e-commerce days. One tool can auto-generate event budgets based on size and location, while another helps predict attendance patterns using historical and real-time sales data. The team believes these innovations will help organisers cut costs, reduce errors, and improve overall efficiency.
With Africa projected to host more than 26,000 major events annually by 2030, the opportunity is massive. But the team knows scaling won’t be easy. Payments reliability, vendor onboarding, and trust-building remain top priority. Still, their experience at Jumia and Konga—where they navigated scale, complexity, and consumer behaviour across multiple markets—may be their biggest advantage.
If successful, EventFlow Africa could become the backbone of a smarter, more organised events industry across the continent.
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