AfricaCom and AfricaTech are anchor events of the new Africa Tech Festival, which will take place – online – from November 10-12th this year.
Said to be the world’s Africa-focused digital infrastructure and emerging tech event, the Africa Tech Festival has always attracted a stellar line-up of critical thinkers, analysts, futurists, keynote and inspirational speakers. 2020 will more than deliver on that reputation, with a stimulating array of visionary industry presenters, raconteurs and even some sporting greats.
Below are just some of the more than 200 speakers who will be at this year’s virtual event.
Connectivity champions:
- Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom
- Alioune Ndiaye, CEO – Middle East and Africa, Orange
- Juliet Mhango, chief human capital development & transformation officer, Cell C
- Dejan Kastelic, group chief technology officer, Vodacom
- Elisabeth Medou Badang, SVP Africa & Indian Ocean, Orange
- Sonia Jorge, executive director – Alliance for Affordable Internet & head of Digital Inclusion Program at The World Wide Web Foundation
- Olusola Teniola, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.
Forefront of the 4IR:
- Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, Deputy Chair at the Presidential 4IR Commission (South Africa)
- Unathi Mtya, chief technology officer at Grindrod Bank
- Toyosi Odukoya, head of digital transformation, West Africa, the Coca-Cola company
- Moustapha Cisse, at the African institute of Mathematical Sciences; head of AI centre, Google
- Nitin Gajria, director – sub-Saharan Africa, Google
- Kojo Boakye, director, Africa Public Policy, Facebook
- Nomso Kana, governor, Nuclear Energy Foundation Agency, nuclear scientist, Presidential 4IR Commissioner
- Emmanuel Lubanzadio, head of Public Policy sub-Saharan Africa, Twitter
- Atsushi Yamanaka, chief advisor, Rwanda ICT Innovation Ecosystem Strengthening Project.
These industry leaders will also be joined this year by some of the continent’s most inspirational personalities and sporting greats.
That technology can have a huge positive impact on addressing all manner of challenges, including very real basic human needs, goes without saying. However, caught up in the daily grind or only having the big picture in mind, consideration for those less fortunate for whom technology could literally be life or death, can often be disregarded.
When it comes to being inspiring, look no further than Karen Smit, Principal Specialist: Specific Needs at Vodacom, Bernard Chiira, Director, Innovate Now, Global Disability Innovation Hub and Shannon Smuts Brauer, Founder & CEO at Pure Good Food, who has been shortlisted for the Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative’s Africa’s Business Heroes Competition 2020. They are joined by a number of other equally motivating presenters, such as Rapelang Rabana, founder and CEO of Rekindle Learning, who will share their experiences and punctuate just how telecommunications and technology can, and is, providing a helping a hand to those who need it.
For truly extraordinary achievements and enthralling stories, delegates will have the opportunity to tune into some of the continent’s (even the world’s) most remarkable humans who have put it all on the line and lived to tell the tale.
A man who needs very little introduction though, particularly in South Africa, and who will no doubt attract an eager audience, is Siya Kolisi, Springbok rugby captain who led the team to their latest World Cup victory. Considered one of the continent’s ‘Most Influential Africans’, Siya will be on screen with his wife and co-Founder, Rachel, to discuss the launch their Kolisi Foundation – heart in one project. The Kolisi’s will share how one by one, everyone can make a difference.
Chris Bertish, adventurer at Mavericks Big Wave champion, SUP Trans-Atlantic paddler and Guinness World Record holder….. Defying all odds, he navigated 4660 mi (7500 km) solo, unsupported and unassisted for 93 days, across the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco, Africa to the Caribbean Island of Antigua. The Stand-Up-Paddle (SUP) Crossing was an unparalleled global feat, which also raised money and awareness for conservation and to helped disadvantaged children in Africa, through the Lunchbox Fund and Operation Smile.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change,” comments Hein Wagner, Global Adventurer, and Founder at Hein Wagner Academy, who was born blind. This has not prevented this in demand motivational speaker from living life to its fullest at all, as he’s competed in triathlons, marathons, the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, the Cape Epic, even participating in a yacht race – across the Atlantic Ocean. Hein is deeply connected to nature, with a keen interest in climate change, and is actively engaged in inspiring those around him to take note. He uses technology on a daily basis, for example, an artificial intelligence (AI) app that helps him ‘see’, by vocally describing the object or person Hein points his phone at.
Going virtual in 2020, presents an excellent opportunity for a wider audience to connect with these speakers and the exceptional content these events are known for year on year. All that is required to feel inspired, is an internet connection to join a community that is actively shaping Africa’s digital future.
To register for a FREE delegate pass – click HERE
For further information please visit the 2020 website
Comment on this article below or via Twitter: @IoTNow_OR @jcIoTnow
