Policy, People and Progress: The Digital Africa Summit Returns to Cape Town, South Africa

The Digital Africa Summit returns to Cape Town on 18 November 2026 for its South Africa Edition, hosted by the GSMA in partnership with Invictus Global Media Group and timed to coincide with Africa Tech Festival week. For the second year running, the city will bring together ministers, regulators, operators, and technology leaders from across the continent for a day of discussion on the decisions, policies and investments shaping Africa’s digital economy. 

The line-up reflects the scale of that ambition. Hon. Samuel Nartey George, Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, and H.E. Amb. Marie-Antoinette Rose-Quatre, CEO of the African Peer Review Mechanism, will join senior industry figures including Ayman Essam of Vodacom Group, Emmanuel Lubanzadio of OpenAI, Daddy Yogo of Airtel Africa, Van Zyl Botha of Herotel and Grégory Pernot of Spectronite, the GSMA’s Angela Wamola and Caroline Mbugua, and founders and business leaders working across Africa’s digital economy.  

It is a gathering that brings together different sides of the same challenge: those shaping policy, those investing in networks and services, and those building the businesses that depend on them.  

 

The Index at the Heart of the Day

At the centre of the programme is the launch of the Digital Africa Index 2026, the GSMA’s flagship assessment of digital progress across the continent. The Index looks beyond network coverage to examine the conditions that determine whether people and businesses can participate in the digital economy. 

That distinction is important. Across much of Africa, networks now reach communities that remain disconnected from the opportunities they offer. Affordability, access to devices, digital skills and relevant services continue to stand between coverage and meaningful use. The Index provides governments with a clearer picture of these gaps, the policies behind them and the reforms that can help close them. 

Ghana offers an encouraging example. In the previous edition, it recorded the strongest year-on-year improvement among the countries assessed, reflecting the impact of deliberate policy and regulatory reform. This year, Minister George will bring that experience into the discussion, connecting the findings of the Index with the decisions being made at national level. 

“The value of the Index is that it turns intuition into evidence. For years, governments have known that digital transformation matters. What they have lacked is a clear, comparable read on which reforms actually move the needle. This gives them that, and it lets them learn from one another rather than starting from scratch each time. That is how a continent accelerates together, not by one country racing ahead, but by the rest being able to follow the path it cut.” 

– Angela Wamola, Head of Africa, GSMA 

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The Conversations Shaping the Agenda

The day is structured around eight conversations,  each addressing a different part of the challenge of building a stronger digital economy. Taken together, they move from governance and policy to investment, innovation and infrastructure. 

The programme begins with governance reform. H.E. Amb. Marie-Antoinette Rose-Quatre, Chief Executive Officer of the African Peer Review Mechanism, will deliver the opening keynote on the role of effective institutions and accountability in advancing digital transformation. The message is an important one: digital progress depends not only on technology, but also on the quality of the institutions and policies that support it. 

From there, the discussion moves to policy in practice. The ministerial panel, bringing together Minister George and Angela Wamola, will explore Ghana’s experience and the reforms that have helped advance its digital agenda. It will also consider what other African countries can learn from that experience as they develop their own digital strategies. 

Investment is another central theme. Drawing on experiences from Brazil and the European Union, Lucas Gallitto, the GSMA’s Head of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Mark Williams, founder of Through Line Advisors and co-author of the BRG report on the EU Merger Guidelines, will examine how regulatory frameworks can attract investment in connectivity while maintaining healthy competition. 

 

From the AI Frontier to the Ground Beneath

The Summit then turns to the technologies and businesses shaping the next phase of the digital economy. 

In a fireside discussion on mobilising compute and talent in Africa, Emmanuel Lubanzadio, Africa Lead at OpenAI, will explore whether the continent can move beyond adopting AI technologies to developing the skills, infrastructure and capabilities needed to shape their future. The question extends beyond access to AI tools. It is about ensuring Africa has a meaningful role in the technology’s development and the economic opportunities it creates. 

The focus then shifts to digital business and inclusive growth. Bringing together founders working across commerce and financial services with industry and economic experts, the discussion will examine what digital adoption means for small businesses and the wider economy. Among those contributing are Dr. Kenfield Griffith, CEO and Co-Founder of tappi, Felix Ochuoga, CEO and Co-Founder of HekoPay, Marilyn Malpus, Partnerships and Commercial Director at GSMA Services, and Chenayi Mutambasere, Director of the Africa Centre for Economic Justice. The session will be moderated by Kanwulia Okafor, Director of Industry Services at the GSMA. 

The afternoon brings the conversation back to the policy environment. Moderated by the GSMA’s Caroline Mbugua, Senior Director of Public Policy and Communications, a panel featuring Ayman Essam of Vodacom Group, Ibrahima Guimba-Saïdou of the Partnership for Digital Access in Africa and Van Zyl Botha of Herotel will examine service neutrality and consumer protection. 

As fibre, mobile and satellite networks increasingly contribute to Africa’s connectivity landscape, the challenge is to ensure that regulation keeps pace, supports fair competition and protects consumers, regardless of the technology through which they access services. 

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Where the Day Lands

All these discussions ultimately lead back to infrastructure. AI needs computing capacity and reliable networks. Digital businesses need connectivity that can support their services. Governments need the infrastructure to deliver public services at scale. Without the necessary investment in networks and spectrum, the ambitions discussed throughout the day will be difficult to realise. 

The closing panel will examine this foundation of Africa’s connected economy, with Akim Benamara, Founder and Chairman of Invictus Global Media Group, as moderator. He will be joined by Isaiah Bendi, CEO of FBIS Group, Daddy Yogo, Group VP of Business Solutions and Architecture at Airtel Africa, and Grégory Pernot, Chief Commercial Officer at Spectronite, to discuss the networks, spectrum and investment needed to support the continent’s growing digital demands. 

“Everything we have talked about all day, the policy, the AI, the inclusion, runs on infrastructure that someone has to actually build and pay for. That is the unglamorous truth of Africa’s digital future. The ambition is continental, but the work is physical. This is where we close the day, because this is where the promises either get kept or they do not.

– Akim Benamara, Founder and Chairman, Invictus Global Media Group

Taken together, the eight conversations trace a connected story, from governance and investment to AI, digital business and the infrastructure beneath it all. The Summit is designed to bring these issues into the same room, recognising that progress in one area depends on decisions made in another. 

Ultimately, the question is not simply how far Africa’s digital economy has come, but what it will take to make its next phase more inclusive, competitive and sustainable. 

 

After Hours

When the formal programme closes, the conversations will continue at the fifth edition of the Hamwe Networking Night. Taking place that evening at a hidden gin bar in the heart of Cape Town, the gathering will bring together leaders and colleagues from across the digital ecosystem for an evening of networking and conversation. 

Because some of the connections that shape the future of an industry begin long after the conference sessions have ended.  

Cape Town, 18 November 2026. Be part of the conversation. 

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