Connecting Africa is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

Day 1 highlights at East Africa Com 2016

https://eaafrica.comworldseries.com/

Amy Turner - Digital Content Marketer, KNect 365

 

Day 1 of East Africa Com was a roaring success!

Throughout the course of today's panels, workshops and keynotes, we gained a great insight into the most pertinent developments, challenges and accomplishments of the ICT and tech sector in East Africa. Here is day 1 summed up in 5 quotes:

“Every company is a tech company”

Tony Wood of @First Consulting made this bold statement in his Introduction and Chairman’s Welcome and it rings true. The digital disruption is happening, from start-ups in their infancy to huge multinational corporations.

“The African model is a collaborative one”

The overriding theme of many discussions on day one has been that of synergy and collaboration. This was summed up perfectly by Convergence Partners Chairperson, Andile Ngcaba, during his Investment Briefing.

“I don’t see 5G LTE being rolled out by 2020”

This was the almost unanimous vote of our ‘Beyond Voice and Data’ panel. One or two of the panelists tried to be optimistic, but as Orange Kenya Telkom End-to-End Engineer, Ibrahim Empamba, stated: “We won’t even get to know the 5G LTE frequency until 2019”.

“We don’t think of Netflix as the competition”

Today saw the introduction of East Africa Com’s first ever dedicated broadcast stream. Rather than viewing them as competition, the panel of media and television experts saw the introduction of Netflix to the market as a challenge and an opportunity to introduce high quality, local content to the East African market.

“We believe connectivity is a basic human right”

Intelsat’s Brian Jakins gets to the crux of the matter and highlights that fact that nearly all major telecoms and tech projects have a similar objective - connecting the last mile. In case you missed it, you can read about Intelsat's Globalized Network here.


Tomorrow we'll have another highlight round up, with a full event report to come.

For those who couldn't make it today head down to the Radisson Blu, Upper Hill Nairobi tomorrow to benefit from the great content, networking and supplier exhibits and showcases.

East Africa Com runs until 19 May. Visit our website for further information.

Stay up to date and join in the conversation on all out social media channels -
Twitter: @AllAboutCom
LinkedIn: East Africa Com: Telecoms, ICT & Digital Media Group
Facebook: Com World Series
Instagram: @ComWorldSeries

Innovation hub

Story

Hot startup of the month: Nigeria's Tech Herfrica

Connecting Africa's hot startup is Nigeria's Tech Herfrica, a social impact organization that focuses on the digital and financial inclusion of women and girls in rural areas of Nigeria.

Story

Omdia View: February 2024

Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

More Innovation hub

Latest video

More videos

Partner perspectives

All Partner Perspectives

Sponsored video

More videos

Industry announcements

More Industry announcements

Upcoming events

Africa Tech Festival 2024
November 11-14, 2024
Cape Town, South Africa
More Upcoming events

Africa Tech Perspectives

Story

Uber's Marjorie Saint-Lot on inclusion and sustainability in Africa

Uber's Country Manager for Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, Marjorie Saint-Lot, shares how the ride-hailing company is approaching public-private partnerships, environmentally friendly initiatives and gender inclusion in Africa.

Story

The 100 most influential African leaders in 2023

A new report from Africa Tech Festival and Connecting Africa puts a spotlight on the top 100 African leaders in the telecoms and technology sector in 2023.

Story

Deep dive into East Africa's tech startup ecosystem

New survey reveals a lack of access to investors, reliance on international VCs and global recession trends as the biggest barriers for East African tech startups to access funds.

More Africa Tech perspectives

Guest Perspectives

Story

Omdia View: February 2024

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

Story

Omdia View: January 2024

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in January 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included a $200 million fintech deal between MTN and Mastercard as well as 5G network trials by Telecom Egypt – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

More Guest Perspectives

Like us on Facebook

Newsletter Sign Up


Sign Up
Tag id test-002