GITEX GLOBAL is embarking on a new journey into Africa, leveraging a 42-year legacy of connecting tech titans, governments, start-ups, investors and global innovation hubs, to accelerate, collaborate, and explore new ventures in the world’s rising tech continent.
The first GITEX AFRICA will take place from May 31 to June 2, 2023, in Marrakech, Morocco. It will draw attention from the global community to the continent’s enormous potential and help to create a vision for a digital economy that is more interconnected, sustainable, inclusive, and tech-driven. This will be the first overseas venture for Gitex Global.
GITEX AFRICA is launched in partnership with the Digital Development Agency (ADD), a strategic public entity leading the Moroccan government’s digital transformation agenda under the authority of the Moroccan Ministry of Digital Transition and Administration Reform.
The formal launch of the “Go There” global campaign for GITEX AFRICA will be led by KAOUN International, the overseas events organising company of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), in this eagerly anticipated commercial venture in the highly sought-after tech zone.
At the show’s official announcement and signing ceremony today, Mohammed Drissi Melyani, General Director of the Digital Development Agency, said “Morocco is playing a crucial role to assist and support the development of Africa under the leadership of His Majesty The King Mohamed VI and to link it economically to the rest of the world. We are deeply engaged to contribute to the success of this first edition of GITEX AFRICA and will work very hard to make it exceptional for us all.”
Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of KAOUN International and Executive Vice President of Dubai World Trade Centre, organiser of GITEX, added “The time for Africa is now. Against a stuttering world tech market, Africa has risen and punched well above its weight recently, with big tech investments rocketing and start-ups funding recording the best year ever in 2021 at six times over the global average.”
She added “The Digital Development Agency Morocco is committed to accelerating wide-scale digital transformation of its society and the tech modernisation of the wider African continent. The unified commitment from the stakeholders embodied in GITEX AFRICA shall amplify the African tech opportunities and bring to forth the world’s next biggest digital economy.”
With tech-friendly policies in a continent that is now far more accessible, African investment is rocketing. According to analysts, the tech industry is on course to increase from $115 billion to $712 billion by the year 2050, and start-up investment is growing at a rate that is six times higher than that of other industries. Africa went from having no unicorns to having seven, four of which were born last year, in just six years.
Talent development in Africa is also pacing with tech giants like Microsoft and Google setting up billion-dollar hubs for innovation and talent. Africa is also seeing internet access grow with the number of people with internet access at 522.8 million or 40% of the African population.
The digital economy of the region is set to rise as the youth of the country along with rapid urbanisation will contribute to it. By 2025, 70% of the sub-Saharan African population under 30 years of age and 45% of Africans will live in cities.
Global start-ups and investors share the pervasive optimism and optimistic view regarding the African tech sector, which has been strengthened by the unrivalled opportunities, global visibility, and economic effect brought about by the launch of GITEX AFRICA.
Ramez El-Serafy, CEO of Flat6labs said “Africa is a rising market with boundless opportunities for bold expansion, where start-ups, investors, accelerators, Venture Capitalists, multinational corporations and the entire tech ecosystem can construct sustained growth.”
Pardon Mujakachi, Vice President of Strategy & Partnerships at Chipper Cash, an African unicorn fintech platform offering mobile, cross-border money transfer services, said “GITEX AFRICA will create more opportunities for tech entrepreneurs to shine on the global stage, with Africa a key focal point of innovation and sustainable expansion in emerging economies. Converging the entire tech ecosystem, GITEX AFRICA will propel the continent forward in the incubation of start-ups, scale-ups, and unicorns such as Chipper Cash.”
Morocco is well-positioned to become a regional economic hub by exploiting its strategically advantageous location, political stability, and top-notch infrastructure at the intersection of Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
Morocco ranks 3rd when it comes to African countries in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index. It is also the 5th largest economy in Africa and is the biggest and 2nd biggest investor in Sub-Saharan Africa and west Africa respectively.
Foreign investment in Morocco is rising, particularly in export sectors like manufacturing, through favourable macroeconomic policies, trade liberalisation, investment incentives, and structural reforms. New Moroccan national strategies emphasise value-added industries such as renewables, automotive, aerospace, textile, pharmaceuticals, outsourcing, and agro-food.
Amplifying GITEX GLOBAL’s enduring African association
GITEX GLOBAL has been advancing the African agenda for years, and in 2022 it welcomed the most intense involvement from the African IT sector to date. The largest-ever gathering of African start-ups to be hosted under one roof outside of Africa, “Africa Fast 100″‘s North Star start-up exhibition, intensified this.
In its largest edition yet, GITEX GLOBAL 2022 also featured involvement from key African unicorns, such as Jumia, Flutterwave, and Chipper Cash, while welcoming ministerial delegations from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Morocco, and many more.
GITEX AFRICA 2023 will build on these achievements, curating the most powerful innovations emerging from the world’s next most sought-after market across the fast-growing sectors of fintech, e-commerce, cloud, IoT, AI, telecom, and security.
