AfricaCom, Africa’s largest technology, telecoms and media event celebrates its 20th anniversary in November this year, and promises delegates and exhibitors three days of thought-provoking content and cutting-edge technology and a glimpse into what the future holds in terms of digital and its impact on life as we know it.
Taking place from 7-9 November at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), South Africa, organiser KNect365 has introduced a host of innovations of its own to celebrate this auspicious occasion – a brand-new and happening Technology Arena that will provide a glimpse of the potential the future holds for forward-thinkers – whether it is in the Fintech space, or E-Health, education, energy, agri-tech or more.
The Technology Arena will also house an exciting array of new tech (over 100 exhibitors), some of which, will be interactive and on display in demo pods, along with many other novel developments that will debut at the show. Included in this exciting space is another fresh feature, AfricaCom 20/20. This is a brand-new show floor item dedicated to accelerating Africa’s digital transformation and is the centrepiece of the new arena.
Underpinning the event, is a business-critical agenda and, as always, world class speakers, alongside over 400 exhibitors. But AfricaCom is more than an exhibition and a conference. It is now a staging ground for re-imagining and re-defining how we, as Africans and humans, will communicate and transact with one another.
“2017 is a landmark for AfricaCom. Over the past two decades, we have grown from being a purely telecommunications-focused event, to a broader, digital communications show now hosting the foremost group of influencers involved in every aspect of the African digital ecosystem,” explained Tom Cuthell, Portfolio Director of KNect365, the organiser of the event.
“As the digi-sphere continues to expand and impact every aspect of our personal and professional lives, AfricaCom has grown in scope to create a broad platform for everybody involved in powering the digital economy in Africa.”
The importance of this event is unquestionable. Over the past two decades, it has provided a stage for robust debate, as well as identifying the needs for Africa’s growth and the solutions and subsequent policy making that has seen the continent leapfrog the desktop era, straight into mobile.
‘Digital’ is now intrinsic in our daily DNA, tomorrow and the day after. As such, AfricaCom’s bringing together of front-end developers and backend engine drivers, into one place, is an essential service to the custodians of not just Africa’s future, but the planet’s, as we embrace the merging of man and machine in the 4th Industrial Revolution.
