Our CEO Engagements are a key focus of Accelerate Cape Town and is a forum for the CEO’s of our corporate members and other top-level business leaders in the region to network at a senior level across business and government.

The level of the speaker and format of the engagement ensures a good level of discussion and debate on key topics for both the Cape Town city region and South Africa. At times, these events observe Chatham House rules to ensure honest robust debate with a level of confidentiality. This forum is a premier business forum with engagement from some of the top business executives in the Cape Town city region.

Networking and thought leadership are key focus areas of Accelerate Cape Town. We provide a high-profile platform of projects and networking events for business leaders to meet their peers, Government and other stakeholders. These events stimulate discussion, ensure ideas and best-practice are shared, and foster partnerships to catalyse economic growth within the region.

One of our mechanisms to facilitate this is Accelerate Cape Town’s Thought Leaders breakfasts. These meetings are centred on topical issues that concern the economic development of the region.

Cape Town is a key business hub in South Africa, but young black professionals have not always found it an easy place to network and meet mentors in their careers. Companies in Cape Town also have the need to attract, retain and develop black talent and to support these objectives, Accelerate Cape Town, with Allan Gray, developed the Inspiration Sessions.

The Inspiration Sessions are large networking events for young professionals with an inspiring speaker and followed by a cocktail function for maximum engagement. They aim to address key needs expressed by black professionals living in the Cape Town region:

• To meet their contemporaries and build networks with their peers and other aspirational professionals
• To find inspirational mentors, particularly senior black business leaders
• To be exposed to business leadership and opportunities through these networking sessions.

Accelerate Cape Town creates programmes on key issues impacting on business in the Cape Town city region. As part of these programmes, we host dynamic workshops where we ensure a robust discussion and unpacking of issues between business and appropriate parties. The outcomes ensure an action-oriented plan with additional engagements to drive key topics forward.

Our workshops vary depending on the topic being discussed and Accelerate Cape Town ensures that our corporate members brainstorm and debate issues with Government and Higher Education. We also provide forums for our members to discuss pertinent issues, in particular operational streams such as HR, digital innovation, talent management and work readiness, as well as opportunities for universities and business to collaborate along the innovation value chain.