Global Tech Community To Unite At GITEX AFRICA

GITEX AFRICA 2023, now the largest tech and start-up show in the African continent, will make its highly anticipated debut on 31 May to 2 June, with the final preparations underway across 10 halls and 45,000sqm of exhibition space in a purpose-built super venue at Place Bab Jdid, Bd Al Yarmouk in the Red City of Marrakech. It will welcome 900 tech companies, government entities, start-ups and participants from more than 100 countries while attracting tens of thousands of attendees from all over the world.

Morocco will centre the global tech community’s attention on Africa’s united commitment to advancing the digital economy next week, converging the best minds from governments, businesses, big tech, start-ups, investors and youths to accelerate and catalyse the continent’s ambitious digital transformation journey.

GITEX AFRICA is by far the largest business event launch of any industry in the Middle East and Africa in recent years, and is affiliated with GITEX Global in Dubai, the world’s largest tech and start-up show, rated by global tech executives as the world’s best global tech event. Held under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, GITEX Africa is hosted by the Digital Development Agency (ADD), under the authority of the Moroccan Ministry of Digital Transition and Administration Reform.

“The Kingdom of Morocco is proud to host GITEX AFRICA under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, ” said H.E. Dr Mezzour.  “We’re witnessing a historic event, the first-ever edition of GITEX AFRICA, and the largest tech networking and learning business event in the African continent. This event will be an opportunity for Moroccan and African start-up owners and young programmers to get in touch with regional and global investors and business incubators. An opportunity as well to network with actors in both public and private sectors.”

Sidi Mohammed Drissi Melyani, the General Director of ADD, added that hosting GITEX Africa underlines Morocco’s commitment to work alongside the private and public sectors to accelerate Africa’s digital infrastructure development while promoting cross-continental e-governance policies that improve digital transparency, openness and process integration: “The Kingdom of Morocco, as well as the whole African continent, is so honoured to host the first edition of GITEX AFRICA Morocco. This event is an important opportunity to value the efforts deployed by all the Moroccan stakeholders in the field of digital development. It is also a platform for networking between exhibitors, investors, researchers and tech operators around innovative solutions and digital transformation. This first edition will definitely contribute to enhancing digital transition in Africa as a future innovation hub, led by its young talents and competitive start-ups.”

GITEX AFRICA’s impressive scale in its debut edition reflects the ambitions of Africa’s digital movement, with cross-continental initiatives such as Smart Africa’s vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030 propelling the continent to the forefront of the global digital economy.

“For too long, the world’s second-largest continent has been under-stated and overlooked for its profound digital opportunities and aspirations,” aptly stated LohMirmand, CEO of KAOUN International. “At GITEX AFRICA, our mission is to curate an event that will serve the purpose of the African community in accessing business development, investment and learning opportunities.  We focus on empowering the new generation of tech and creative talents to augment the culture of entrepreneurship and provide a single occasion that shall bring together the public and private sector leadership to build tangible meaningful outcomes.”

That GITEX AFRICA hosted the sold-out sign fuelling further expansion months before its grand opening is testament to the world’s confidence and optimism in the African digital opportunity, amplified by figures that underline the aspirations of African countries in their quest for digital excellence. Africa’s vibrant start-up ecosystem also continues to grab headlines with the creation of seven unicorns over the last few years. Analysts Briter Bridges also reveal that African start-ups raised a total of $5.4 billion across 900-plus deals in 2022 alone. The influx of global interest will see GITEX AFRICA host more than 400 disruptive start-ups from 30 countries, including 200 international award-winning start-ups and 11 unicorns eager to share their achievements and access the promising African innovation hub.

They will all have the opportunity to connect with 250 investors from 34 countries with $200 billion worth of assets under management. As the ultimate start-up incubator and a magnet for flourishing VC funds, GITEX AFRICA will deliver a structured and carefully curated scouting platform for these investors, of which 70 per cent will be coming from outside the continent. LohMirmand says “GITEX integrates Africa strategically into the hyper-connected tech ecosystem across 100 countries. It now firmly plugs Africa into the global entrepreneurial innovation economy boasting of resources imperative for the region to dynamise its digital transformation mission.”

The event will also accentuate the progress of Morocco’s digital development strategy, strengthening its position as one of Africa’s countries with solid ICT infrastructure, and underlining its status as having one of the continent’s most advanced telecommunications markets. According to IDC, Morocco’s IT market comprising hardware, software and IT services, is expected to reach a value of $1.7 billion in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 4.3 per cent to reach $1.9 billion in 2026. In 2023, growth is expected to be driven by enterprise and service provider spending in the North African country as organisations increasingly look to adopt hybrid cloud as a step towards their digital transformation initiatives.

World’s best minds gather at Africa’s most impactful leadership conference agenda

 Africa’s most impactful leadership conference programme will meanwhile gather 250-plus speakers from 50 countries to share valuable exchanges and insights with a curious business audience motivated to draw on international experience applied to an African-centric context. The GITEX AFRICA Digital Summit will lead 10 conference tracks housing 140-plus hours of mind-stretching content exploring the most pertinent transformational topics advancing Africa’s digital agenda, from generative AI and digital cities, or fintech and agritech, to healthcare, energy, innovation, sustainable development goals, and a spotlight on the world’s most exciting start-up ecosystem.

GITEX AFRICA 2023 is open from 11:30 am to 6:00 pm on 31 May, and from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on 1 – 2 June. Day 3 admission will be for trade professionals only with a special invitation for students ages 16 and above.

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