AfricaCom
will include
exhibition split
into technology
zones
The African boom
in investment in
communications infrastructure
A
n exhibition split into technology zones
is run alongside this year’s AfricaCom.
AfricaTech will take over the whole of CTICC
2 within the Cape Town International
Convention Centre, with the zones and
premium conferences dedicated to Internet
of Things, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence,
fintech, cloud computing and data centres.
There will also be enterprise Digital
Transformation meet-the-buyer features,
technology and industry-specific deep
dive sessions and new AfricaTech social
features and spaces. The AfricaTech Centre
Stage will be the centrepiece, examining
how technology innovation can optimise
systems and processes, drive efficiencies,
boost productivity and delight customers in
specific industry contexts such as agriculture,
healthcare, smart cities and finance.
Meanwhile, the AHUB programme is
designed to highlight the critical role of
entrepreneurship in fuelling Africa’s digital
economy and connect African tech startups
and scale-ups to investors and corporate
partners. The theme for AfricaCom is
accelerating business transformation
to strengthen African economies and
is an opportunity to bring together the
connectivity champions critical to enabling
Digital Transformation in Africa.
The event will take place between November
12 and 14, with up to 15,000 visitors, 500
exhibitors and 450 speakers in attendance
over the three days. Speakers will talk about
subjects such as connectivity infrastructure,
disruptive technologies, digital services and
ICT strategy. For more information, including
a full speaker line up and agenda, visit tmt.
knect365.com/africacom
T
MT Finance Africa 2019 returns to
London on November 28 with a
renewed agenda, investing in the next
phase of digital infrastructure and the
leadership strategies for growth and
cross-border investments in Africa.
There will be over 70 TMT C-level key
financial decision makers announced
to speak from across telecoms,
infrastructure, smart cities and fintech,
with sessions from MTN, Orange,
Csquared, Seacom, Standard Bank,
Vodacom, Africa Data Centres and Dark
Fibre Africa.
The increasing pressure on telcos to
diversify revenue streams is expected
to be one of the key driving factors for
M&A transactions in Africa, according
to Mohamed Dabbour, EVP, Head
of Africa at Millicom. “As organic
growth can be slower, we’ll see telcos
www.intelligentcio.com
acquiring companies in other sectors
such as fintech and digital services and
technologies,” he said.
“The fintech industry remains very
fragmented and keeps on attracting a
large number of companies in Africa.”
Telecom infrastructure is another sector
that has enjoyed a tremendous amount
of activity over the past few years and it is
expected to continue to do so due to the
increasing demand for data.
“I believe we will continue to see
infrastructure consolidation, as FTTH and
FTTB gather more momentum in many
African markets where fibre infrastructure is
still developing,” added Byron Clatterbuck,
CEO of South African submarine cable and
fibre company SEACOM. “Datacentres,
both large and small, will continue to
attract investment.” n
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