All around the world ‘Africa rising’ has become the much and arguably over-used term to describe the burgeoning growth and promise that the continent is offering. However, in South Africa and around the continent the technology scene is showing signs of, indeed, being on the rise. Perhaps one of the most important indicators is the growing number of international investors, developers and techies arriving on our shores.

Kresten Buch is the founder and driving force behind 88mph, a technology and startup incubator which has offices in Nairobi, Kenya and Cape Town, South Africa. Buch is from Denmark and achieved success in the tech industry in Europe before a chance meeting with a Kenyan put him on a trajectory with Africa.

“I wanted to do more angel investing and had started thinking about it when I went to Stanford. I made a Kenyan friend who suggested I come to Kenya and look around,” says Buch. While admittedly in Kenya on more of a holiday then a business trip Buch began to consider the potential upsides to investing in Africa.

“When I was in Kenya I started thinking that if you want to invest you need an investment horizon of about ten years. I didn’t think Europe or the US was very interesting looking at a ten year perspective but it looked like Africa could be quite an interesting market in so many ways,” explains Buch.

Amongst the factors that persuaded the young Dane that a move to Africa was a savvy one were widespread mobile penetration, population density, urbanisation and a relatively young population.

It is some of those very same factors that brought American venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur Philip Kiracofe to South Africa as he looks to get involved in the burgeoning tech scene. Kiracofe initially started visiting the continent back in 2004 on a variety of holidays and personal trips but it was in 2011 that he noticed that the ecosystem had finally become viable for overseas investment.

“It was after meeting up with a bunch of people from the tech world that I thought the industry was finally at that stage when it was interesting for Horizen to come in and set up a small fund. For the better part of 2012 I was doing due diligence, consulting and advising,” says Philip Kiracofe, partner, Horizen Ventures Africa.

Horizen Ventures Africa has been actively fund raising since the beginning of 2013 and will be of a ten million US dollar fund. They plan to make their first close by the end of the year.

Both Kiracofe and Buch are not only optimistic when it comes to the potential markets that Africa offers but also the level of talent that is on the continent. Kiracofe for instance believes that not only does South Africa have impressive engineering talent but that coupled with the design capabilities present in a city like Cape Town that massive potential exists. “When you put those two together it puts Cape Town in a very rare class and we see that as having great potential,” says Kiracofe.

American app developer Aaron Marshall is a recent addition to Cape Town’s burgeoning tech system. Marshall and his partners in the USA are the creators of an app called Over which allows users to place textual artwork over photos and has already garnered more then 2 million users of its product. Marshall has been looking to expand his operations in South Africa and admits he is blown away by the level of applicants he has seen. “I have interviewed a couple of people and I was very impressed. I think the skills are definitely here,” says Marshall.

Its not all calm seas and plain sailing though, international investors and start-ups face some tough challenges when it comes to doing business on the continent and specifically South Africa.

One of those challenges is the issue of experience and skills level. “In Europe and the US experience and skills levels are significantly higher than in Kenya while in South Africa it’s definitely closer,” says Kresten Buch. He tempers that observation by noting that local techies have huge levels of drive and enthusiasm and that time will see the gap close.

In South Africa start-ups and potential investors are seeing themselves hamstrung by the country’s rigid intellectual property laws and regulations on foreign exchange. Kiracofe explains, “The current exchange controls make it very difficult to export technology and that of course limits your ability sell anything that you create and we invest in. Assuming you make a ton of money they make it very difficult to get the money out. So in terms of having conversations with investors that’s not a very good combination.”

Buch and the team at 88mph have already seen the fall-out from exchange control as promising companies they have incubated are destined to seek their fortunes overseas.

“I have seen two of our entrepreneurs having to leave because investors don’t want to invest in SA companies and because of all kinds of looping structure requirements startups basically have to leave,” Buch confirms.

All three of the entrepreneurs believe that the best thing the South African government could do would be to loosen restrictions and as Buch says ‘just get out of the way’.

Kiracofe weighs in saying, “there is a strong federation and lobby working right now to address these issues but frankly as long as government doesn’t interfere the market can flow pretty nicely. All the components are there, the talent and the capital, and it is really just a matter of not impeding the progress.”

Although there are admittedly challenges that must be faced it is clear that for these three entrepreneurs and their fellow international’s Africa is a very attractive destination. The injection of international experience and skills can only benefit the local tech space.

“That’s what I hope to bring. It’s a globalised market now; you don’t have to build for your local market. Its great to build for your local market and often times it’s the best place to start. With my app experience and my network in the US, there is definitely going to be cross pollination there,” says Marshall.

The future is indeed bright for the local tech scene and it is only a matter of time before the continent takes its natural position as a global force in technology. “Africa is ripe for innovation and opportunity. It’s just more interesting and I think Cape Town and South Africa particularly have the potential to be a global influence,” concludes Marshall.