IN just over two weeks, we will be making our way to the Troutbeck Hotel in Nyanga for the third edition of the In Conversation With Trevor (ICWT) Ideas Festival.

This is a place where visionaries connect to collaborate, network and inspire each other as they create the real economy.

Through the #IdeasFestival2024, we are taking the ICWT into a live space and amplifying the impact, learnings, innovation and thought leadership.

This year’s theme is Transformative Ideas to Power Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The speaker line-up and panels emphasise the intersection of leadership, artificial intelligence, innovation and gender equality.

Corporate governance and ethics, executive development, travel and tourism and personal growth are among the issues that will receive attention during the three-day event. We will have fireside chats, ideas storming panels and masterclasses.

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Pioneering and veteran banker Nick Vingirai will speak on “Restoring Trust and Integrity in the Banking Sector”.

Nation-building is close to my heart and I am delighted that two distinguished citizens and entrepreneurs, Olivia Muchena and Nkosana Moyo, will lead this aspect of the agenda.

We are delighted that for the second year running, we will have the Ideas Tank featuring the Eight2Five Innovation Hub cohort.

We are grateful for this partnership.

Last year, two start-ups attracted investor interest and non-disclosure agreements had been signed by the time we departed Nyanga.

So, clearly this is not just another conference.

This is our Davos, for lack of better term.

Currently at 68K subscribers and 9,4 million views on YouTube alone, ICWT has touched and changed lives.

The platform is sitting on over eight million views on Instagram and four million TikTok views.

The show has also spawned the annual Africa Day Gala Dinner, Masterclasses and the very active TrevorBookClub WhatsApp platform. This year, we launched the Startup Series in partnership with the Eight2Five Innovation Hub powered by Old Mutual.

Last year’s #IdeasFestival emerged with a detailed communiqué that will inform this year’s engagement.

One of last year’s key take-aways was the urgent need to build an ideal startup ecosystem.

Start-ups and small and medium enterprises are vital engines for economic growth and job creation.

Giving them a leg up is hugely important for a robust economy.

We hope to come out of Nyanga with the building blocks of a vibrant start-up ecosystem including proposed legislation.

Chad Makho, a start-up ecosystem passionate evangeliser, will lead this important assignment.

The Ideas Festival is gathering of people who care about their country and want to be the change agents through their ethical and principled daily pursuit of purpose.

We are creating a movement of ethical and principled nation-builders a conversation at a time.

  • Trevor Ncube is chairman of Alpha Media Holdings and host of ICWT