Countdown to Africa Tech Festival

Africa Tech Festival returns to Cape Town in just over five weeks. The 29th edition runs from 16 to 19 November 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. It arrives as investors put significant capital into African data centres, cloud platforms and AI. Yet Africa still hosts only about 1% of the world’s data centres. That gap frames much of this year’s programme.

When and Where Africa Tech Festival 2026 Takes Place

Africa Tech Festival 2026 opens with VIP and partner events on 16 November. The expo and content sessions run from 17 to 19 November across CTICC1 and CTICC2. The organiser, Informa Festivals, plans more than 400 speakers. It reports that the 2025 edition drew over 15,000 attendees. The programme is built around six pillars: telecoms and connectivity, data centres and cloud, AI, cybersecurity, startups and digital transformation.

Why AI Infrastructure in Africa Shapes the Agenda

AI infrastructure in Africa remains thin compared with the size of the continent. According to financial journalist Rob Rose, quoted by EWN, Africa accounts for only about 1% of global data centres. Rose points to lower construction and operating costs than in many developed markets. He also warns that large data centres consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. Rose argues that closer cooperation between government and business could unlock more projects, as it did for renewable energy. He also sees job potential at a time of very high unemployment.

Power is the most immediate hurdle. Current surplus generation will not be enough for data centres preparing for agentic AI. Africa must plan for much higher demand.

The festival programme takes on these issues directly. A panel called The Next Wave of AI Infrastructure Growth will debate where to build new capacity. It will also cover hyperscaler partnerships and local compute for data sovereignty. Other sessions examine which African markets attract investment and how power availability shapes that interest. A separate panel asks what will make Africa an AI producer, not just a consumer.

Africa Tech Festival Speakers to Watch

The first Africa Tech Festival speakers were announced in August. Four of them stand out because of the decisions they influence:

• Solly Malatsi:
  As Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, he shapes the policy that AI and data centre investors depend on, and his department is a strategic partner of the event.
• Alex Okosi:
  Google’s managing director for Africa will speak on the scale of investment flowing into cloud and AI infrastructure on the continent.
• Emmanuel Lubanzadio:
  OpenAI’s Africa lead will focus on AI adoption and readiness, and he already spoke at the 2020 edition as head of public policy for sub-Saharan Africa at Twitter.
• Marcel Louw:
  Digital Realty’s managing director for Africa brings the data centre view, and Digital Realty owns 55% of Teraco, the dominant operator in South Africa.

Telecom operators matter here too. MTN recently named South Africa and Nigeria as the first markets for its AI data centre push. The group sends chief consumer officer Enzo Scarcella. Senior executives from Airtel Africa, Tunisie Telecom, Amazon, Sasol and Standard Bank complete the early line-up. More names are due before November.

Questions to Watch at CTICC Cape Town

Three questions will show whether the debates at CTICC Cape Town lead anywhere. First, where will new compute capacity go, and who will supply the power? Second, can fibre, 4G, 5G and satellite links reach underserved communities faster? Third, who actually benefits from the investment?

David Monaghan, vice president of Africa Tech Festival, frames the agenda in similar terms. In the programme announcement, he says the debate has moved beyond whether firms adopt AI or cloud. It now centres on how decisions are made, who benefits and what must be in place for sustainable growth. The organisers add that compute, capital, skills and partnerships will decide who benefits from Africa’s growth.

Not every conversation happens on stage. The invitation-only Ministerial Summit brings together ministers, regulators, development finance institutions and private-sector leaders. ATF Connect arranges one-to-one meetings onsite. AFEST and the Africa Tech Festival Awards may take place at venues outside the CTICC.

Conclusion: What Africa Tech Festival 2026 Must Deliver

The 2026 programme targets the continent’s biggest infrastructure gaps. The real test is whether the festival produces commitments on capacity, power and partnerships, not only panel debates. The organisers describe the event as the place where these decisions are debated, tested and made. Registration for Africa Tech Festival 2026 is open on the official website. Watch for the announcements in Cape Town from 16 November.