AfricaCom Newsletter Archive

We want to hear your views on the game-changing technologies at the forefront of digital transformation across Africa.

The AfricaCom Insights Survey is the largest of its kind and is your chance to predict what we'll see as Africa moves into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Complete the survey for your chance to win an All-Access Pass to this year's event.

Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform, launched the first edition of its Innovation Challenge at the 2019 Transform Africa Summit holding in Kigali from 14 to 17 May. Through this initiative, Africa50 will crowdsource innovative solutions to help increase access to high-speed internet in under-served areas in Africa.

Individuals and organizations with a strong passion for developing innovative solutions are encouraged to apply.

Digitisation and new services are driving Africa's future. As we build up to our brand new AfricaTech event, Ovum’s Africa Digital Outlook 2019 report provides analysis of the most important developments and growth prospects in Africa’s digital market. 

Access the free report to find out the most significant growth areas for service providers and the potential for digital services.

Few markets embody the state of Digital Africa as well as East Africa. It’s a region of singular innovation and unique achievements which have reverberated across Africa and the world.

Today, East African markets are entering a new phase, according to Xalam Analytics, built upon accelerated adoption of mobile broadband, digital services, cloud andIoT, all key pathways to the fourth industrial revolution.

Recent years have seen a surge in interest in enterprise digital transformation. Disruptive new technologies such as Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, quite recently considered to be ‘on the horizon’, are now being implemented.

To help our audience successfully navigate this digital transformation, we're pleased to announce the launch of a new event within AfricaCom called AfricaTech.

There is no question that broadband, digitisation and new services are driving Africa's future. Ovum predicts that the number of LTE subscriptions in Africa will rise from 50.5 million at the end of 2018 to 271.6 million by the end of 2023. With this comes a huge increase in the uptake of digital offerings such as mobile money, digital media and IoT services.

The East Africa telecoms, media and technology market has recorded tremendous growth over the past year, supported by increased investment in networks and services, and high demand from consumers. What will the next phase of growth be powered by? What are the key developments and strategies in the market?  

Download our report, in association with Ovum, to find out. Plus! Which East African country is considered Africa's 'sleeping giant'?

AfricaCom 2018 welcomed a record number of tech and telecoms leaders to Cape Town in November to shape Africa's digital future. 

As 2018 draws to a close, here are a few of their plans and predictions for the year ahead, with plenty more hosted on our YouTube channel.

This year, AfricaCom welcomed a record number of innovators in tech, media and telecoms through its doors at the CTICC in Cape Town. 

During the event we interviewed over 100 thought-leaders who were in attendance. Here are a few of our highlights, with plenty more hosted on our YouTube channel.

This year, AfricaCom is proud to announce that we’re teaming up with not-for-profit Katerva, described as the 'Nobel Prize for Innovation', to ask the AfricaCom community, “What challenge could we tackle together?”  

We’d like your ideas on how AfricaCom & Katerva can drive large-scale socio-economic upliftment on the African continent, through technological innovation.

Africa’s communications industry is on the verge of dramatic change. In advance of AfricaCom 2018, we asked the AfricaCom and Connecting Africa community what the future looked like to them.

More than 80% said that the level of IT and technology investment was increasing within their organisation and most agreed that FinTech and Mobile Money would be the tech sector attracting the most investment in coming years.

6 African Tech Startups Spanning FinTech, HealthTech, EdTech And More Want Your Vote.

Africa is home to thousands of innovative startups developing solutions to change the way we live, learn and work across the continent.

Tech startups from across Africa have submitted their video pitches to AfricaCom and we are pleased to announce our six shortlisted companies! 

The emergence of telecom AI use cases will vary greatly in application and scale across the globe.

The deployment of AI on the continent of Africa, in the coming years, will have to overcome a number of market and societal barriers to see the potential of artificial intelligence fully realised.

Nevertheless, Tractica estimates that spending on AI-driven software for telecom use cases in Africa will grow from $4.4 million in 2018 to more than $265 million in 2025.

Hear from MTN, Ovum, ICASA and more on key issues in tech and telecoms.

The AfricaCom Digital Week will put you at the forefront of emerging technologies and innovation shaping 'Digital Africa' - wherever you are in the world.

Join our expert speakers from 10 - 14 September at the free-to-attend virtual event bringing together the converging industries and innovations shaping Africa's digital future.

Africa's future will be transformed by AI, IoT, 5G and other disruptive tech.

Tech is impacting every industry in Africa and transforming lives across the continent. With the Fourth Industrial Revolution taking hold, hype is growing around key new technologies like AI and the IoT.

But what opportunities will we really see from these new technologies over the coming years? And what challenges does Africa face in bringing the benefits to everyone, urban and rural?