Koolboks’ journey is closely tied to AfricArena. The startup pitched three times on our stage, first at the Nairobi Summit in 2023, then at the Grand Summit later that year, and most recently at the Lagos Summit 2025, where they won the Best Energy Startup Award.

This week at the AWS Summit in Johannesburg, Christophe Viarnaud joined Colin Iles for a fireside chat on the state of African tech. One point became clear: Africa does not suffer from a lack of startups. It suffers from a lack of corporate courage.

In Africa, the path from education to employment is rarely straightforward. For many young people, especially in underserved communities, reliable information about universities, scholarships, internships, and jobs is fragmented or simply out of reach. The result? Missed opportunities, mismatched careers, and untapped talent.