WSO2’s Africa Growth Strategy and the Agentic Enterprise Opportunity

As organizations across Africa accelerate modernization, many are moving beyond basic transformation toward building AI-enabled, agentic enterprises. WSO2 is expanding its presence across the continent to help enterprises modernize legacy systems, unlock data, and create intelligent digital experiences. Ahead of WSO2Con Africa 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, WSO2’s Vice President and General Manager for Africa Dinal Gooneratne discusses the company’s regional growth strategy, customer use cases, and why now is the right time for African organizations to embrace the next wave of enterprise innovation.

Q: WSO2 has announced WSO2Con Africa 2026 in Nairobi. What does this event represent for WSO2 and for the region?

Bringing WSO2Con to Africa for the first time is a major milestone for us. It reflects the momentum we’re seeing across the continent, where organizations are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, customer experience, AI, and modernization initiatives.

WSO2Con Africa 2026 is designed as a forum for technology leaders, architects, developers, and business decision-makers to share practical experiences, learn from peers, and explore how to move from experimentation to production-scale modernization. The conference theme, “Building the Agentic Enterprise”, focuses on how organizations can combine APIs, integration, identity, and AI to create systems that are more autonomous, intelligent, and responsive.

Q: What is driving WSO2’s growth strategy in Africa?

Our strategy is built around three realities we see across African markets:

Rapid digital adoption with consumers expecting digital-first services across banking, government, insurance, telecom, healthcare, and retail.

Legacy modernization as many enterprises are looking to modernize existing systems without disrupting critical operations.

AI readiness as organizations recognize that AI initiatives succeed only when data, APIs, integration, and security foundations are in place.

WSO2’s open-source-first approach, flexible deployment options, and comprehensive platform for API management, integration, identity, and AI orchestration position us well to support these priorities. We’re expanding our regional presence through customer engagement, partnerships, technical enablement, and community-building initiatives.

Q: Which industries are showing the strongest demand for modernization and AI-enabled transformation?

We’re seeing strong demand across several sectors, particularly financial services and the public sector. Banks and fintechs are modernizing core systems, exposing services through APIs, and creating personalized digital experiences. Governments too are investing in citizen-facing digital platforms, identity services, and interoperable systems. Among other sectors, telcos are integrating complex backend environments and launching new digital services faster. Moreover, retailers are connecting channels, payments, and customer data to deliver more seamless experiences. The common thread is the need to connect disparate systems securely while enabling faster innovation.

Q: Can you share examples of how customers are using WSO2 technologies?

WSO2 has a strong customer base across Africa, with organizations using our technology to modernize critical digital infrastructure across financial services, government, and telecommunications.

In East Africa, leading financial institutions including Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), Stima Sacco, Pearl Bank Uganda, CRDB Bank, Bank of Tanzania, and NBC Tanzania are using WSO2 technologies to accelerate transformation, strengthen integration, and deliver better digital banking experiences.

In South Africa, organizations such as ABSA, Tyme Group, and First National Bank are leveraging WSO2 to modernize banking services and improve operational agility.

Across the public sector, WSO2 supports digital government initiatives through organizations including Uganda’s National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U), the Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources in Egypt, the Government of Malawi, Kenya Revenue Authority, Uganda Revenue Authority, and Lesotho Revenue Services, helping to build secure, connected digital services for citizens and businesses.

In telecommunications and digital financial services, M-PESA and AXIAN Group are using WSO2 technologies to deliver scalable, secure digital services across multiple African markets.

These organizations demonstrate how WSO2 is helping enterprises and governments across the continent modernize legacy systems, securely connect complex digital ecosystems, and deliver better experiences at scale.

Q: The term “agentic enterprise” is gaining attention. What does it mean in practice for African organizations?

The agentic enterprise is about moving beyond isolated AI experiments. It’s about enabling intelligent software agents to perform meaningful business tasks, such as assisting customers, automating workflows, analyzing data, and coordinating actions across systems.

For African organizations, this can be especially powerful because it allows businesses to scale services, improve efficiency, and extend capabilities without proportionally increasing operational complexity. However, success depends on having the right foundation: APIs, integration, identity, security, and governance. That foundation is what WSO2 helps organizations build.

Q: What can attendees expect from WSO2Con Africa 2026?

Attendees can expect a mix of strategic insights and hands-on technical learning, including:

• Keynotes from industry and technology leaders
• Real-world customer transformation stories
• Sessions on API management, integration, identity, and AI
• Guidance on building production-ready agentic systems
• Networking opportunities with peers, partners, and WSO2 experts

Join WSO2Con Africa 2026 from September 22–24 in Nairobi, Kenya. Register now and take advantage of the ongoing early bird offer.

Q: Finally, what is your message to organizations currently exploring transformation and modernization initiatives?

This is a pivotal moment. Many organizations have already digitized individual processes, but the next wave of competitive advantage will come from connecting those systems, leveraging AI responsibly, and creating intelligent experiences that can adapt in real time.

I would encourage business and technology leaders across Africa to use this period to modernize their foundations not just for today’s requirements, but for the agentic future that is rapidly emerging. And I warmly invite organizations exploring that journey to join us at WSO2Con Africa 2026 in Nairobi. It’s an opportunity to learn from peers, engage with experts, and build a practical roadmap for becoming an agentic enterprise.

//Staff writer