Africa Tech Festival 2024 – The Home of AfricaCom, AfricaTech & AfricaIgnite is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

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Africa Tech Festival 2024 – The Home of AfricaCom, AfricaTech & AfricaIgnite
Event dates: 11-14 Nov 2024
Exhibition Opening Dates: 12 - 14 Nov 2024Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town
Event dates: 11-14 Nov 2024
Exhibition Opening Dates: 12 - 14 Nov 2024,
Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

UNITING TECH, TALENT & COMMUNITY

Our purpose is to equip and inspire people to design, build and run a better, more inclusive, digital world – to unify Africa’s response to the 4IR and, in doing so, accelerate socio-economic development across the continent.

We are committed to running our event in an environmentally and socially responsible way. We also want to go further and inspire the sustainable development of the industry we serve. By connecting people with relevant networks and knowledge at our event, we’re helping them to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the sector to ensure long-term, sustainable growth. Here are some of the ways we're putting our words into action on Africa's largest tech event.

PROUD TO PARTNER WITH KOLISI FOUNDATION

"The Kolisi Foundation is focusing on a lot of different issues in South Africa. But right now we are facing this pandemic and we are focusing on that by helping the vulnerable and those in need."  - Siya Kolisi

As the country faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Siya and Rachel Kolisi recognized the threat this crisis posed to many in South Africa’s most vulnerable communities. They could not stand by and do nothing and so launched The Kolisi Foundation to respond to these challenges. Through our partnership, we promote updates on their work via our website and newsletter as well as promote them during the event.

Media Credit - Black Bean Productions

PROUD TO PARTNER WITH LA DIFFERENCE

“Connecting the next billion” is a powerful rallying cry supported by major initiatives at Facebook, Google, Huawei and many tier one operators. There are also articles and conferences on the issue and prizes for solutions, all backed-up and propelled by an increasing focus on the Sustainable Development Goals and the mantra ‘leave no one behind’.

La Différence combines business consultancy with design and technology to help entrepreneurs scale sustainable social businesses across Eastern Congo. Our partnership gives them the opportunity to speak at our events and connect with other events in the Informa Tech brand including London Tech Week, helping grow their ecosystem and network.

East Africa Com 2021 Community Partner: 32° East | Ugandan Arts Trust

There is a growing relationship between technology, art and economic prosperity. 32° East | Ugandan Arts Trust are building the very first purpose-built contemporary art centre in Kampala. This centre will provide free computer and WI-FI access and an editing suite for digital artists, filmmakers and sound designers. We look forward to sharing some of their work throughout the East Africa Com event.

Event dates: 11-14 Nov 2024
Exhibition Opening Dates: 12 - 14 Nov 2024,
Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

ELEVATING THOSE AT THE FOREFRONT OF DIGITAL INCLUSION

Africa Tech Festival offers charities and non-profits unparalleled opportunity to tell their story to a wider audience. If you'd like to partner with us in 2021 please contact emily.parrett@informa.com. Each year we offer a select number of free speaker, blog and interview opportunities.

AREAS OF FOCUS

INSPIRING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

We focus on using our content and partnerships to help support the sustainability of the market our event serves. And we also aim to inspire our suppliers, exhibitors and other stakeholders to help us deliver a sustainable event.

Our efforts include:

  • Startup initiatives and support - Microsoft Learning Labs and Twitter Workshops during our events
  • New Award Category for Africa Tech Festival and our regional Awards ceremonies, “Changing Lives Award", honouring the companies making a significant social impact with their tech for good partnerships and initiatives.
  • On the Africa Tech Festival agenda, we now have a section focused on charities and organisations with sustainability initiatives.
  • Our events have a strong focus on universal human rights and community impact, as well as technology and telecommunications.
  • We are continuously improving our work on Gender Equality. This is a priority in our operations and we are focused on balancing the gender of speakers on the conference panels. Our Africa Tech Festival team is also gender-balanced.
  • Empowering the next generation of event professionals.
  • We encourage young people entering the industry to be passionate about sustainable events. Our graduate scheme gives young people the opportunity to be confident with building sustainability initiatives into events. Responsibilities have included building new charity partnerships, writing coverage on partners, as well as full event production.

RUNNING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE EVENT

We focus on reducing our event’s carbon emissions, creating less waste, and considering the sustainability credentials of the items sourced for the event

Our efforts include:

  • Informa Tech, the producers of Africa Tech Festival, are committed to achieving Carbon Net Zero and Zero Waste
  • We work with local partners so that items of waste that can be reused are donated to the local community. Read more on this here.
  • We work closely with our contractors toward all of our feature builds being waste-free. In the physical events, ‘waste’ wood from breaking down stands was diverted from landfill and reused or upcycled.
  • This video celebrates the impact Informa’s content has had on creating growth and opportunity for young Africans in the technology and communications sectors.
  • By switching to LED lighting for AfricaCom, we increase our energy efficiency and our venue is 4start – we are Green Start rated for energy efficiency.
  • On the 20th Annual AfricaCom, we were able to provide 101.2 metric tonnes of wood to the communities of the Seawinds and surrounding areas. The wood ‘waste’ made up 66.6% of the waste generated at the event, contributing to the remarkable overall recycling figure of 97.4% for the entire event.
  • Through rain waster capturing and reverse osmosis capacity, our events at CTICC are water neutral (more is captured than is used).

RUNNING A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE EVENT

We focus on doing business safely and ethically, ensuring our event is a welcoming environment for all, considering wellbeing and accessibility, and creating a positive impact on our host cities.

Our efforts include: 

  • Charity partnerships: CodeSpace, helping young people develop tech careers; The Kolisi Foundation, created as a direct impact of COVID to support local communities in South Africa; La Difference, connecting underserved regions of Africa.
  • Wellness aspects during our events including Strava 'Go the Distance' competitions with FitBit prize and supporting local safaris, including WildEarth.
  • A strong focus on Connecting the Next Billion with a focus on the limitations of the last-mile.
  • Increase in our diversity, equality and inclusivity editorial coverage. Each month we spotlight a woman in tech on our media site Connecting Africa. In 2021, we delivered our first-ever International Women's Day campaign.
  • Many of our event sessions are created in partnership with local organisations who are already doing great work, and we’re really pleased to raise their profile.
Event dates: 11-14 Nov 2024
Exhibition Opening Dates: 12 - 14 Nov 2024,
Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

Help us make Africa's largest tech event more sustainable

Would you like to work with us on the sustainability of our event? Would you like to share your own story and efforts? Got an idea? Contact the event team or reach out to Informa’s sustainability team for more information: sustainability@informa.com

SUSTAINABILITY AT INFORMA

Africa Tech Festival is part of Informa Tech and the Informa Group.  Sustainability at Informa focuses on the long term impacts we have on customers, colleagues, the communities we work in and the environment. 

We recognise that it’s not just about the way we produce our events and products but recognizing that we have a role to play in providing a space to work in partnership together with our markets to inspire the sustainable development of the industries we serve.  This is an ongoing process for us and we’re looking for ideas of how we can improve. 

More information about our work so far can be found here, including our latest sustainability reports.

Event dates: 11-14 Nov 2024
Exhibition Opening Dates: 12 - 14 Nov 2024,
Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town

Graduate Scheme Feedback

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Africa Tech Festival team, in Informa Tech. One of my most memorable moments was helping the team liaise with its charity partners and writing a blog article about the Kolisi Foundation, published on the Africa Com website. Looking specifically at the concept "ubuntu", I discovered the fantastic work our charity partners, the Kolisi Foundation, are doing in South Africa, during the pandemic. I then expanded this to look at how this concept of unity can be brought to our own events - especially at a time of Covid where so many families are living away from each other."

Sophie Whitehead, 2021