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Rebranded AfricaCom 2016 a success

huawei-product-demonstration-1CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – A bigger event for the entire digital ecosystem, a fresh programme of carefully tailored content as well as live music and enhanced networking experiences, AfricaCom maintained its standing as the largest and most influential Africa-focused tech event in the world.
The recently-concluded, rebranded, event was held at the Cape Town International Conference Centre in South Africa under the theme, “Economic Development and Social Empowerment through Digital Connectivity.”
Breaking records in attendance (10 000 attendees) and engagement (350 speakers and 375 exhibitors), the leading event in African tech and telco brought all the key influencers in the ecosystem together for debate, discussion and collaboration – putting ‘Digital Africa’ on the map.
The weeklong festival format set the bar higher for players through the expansion of the event offerings.
New conference features for 2016 include the Leaders in Africa Headline Keynotes, new content tracks focusing on Enterprise ICT, Big Data, internet of things and Smart Cities.

Freshlyground members entertain  revellers at AfricaCom AFEST live music event .IMAGE - GIFT NDOLWANE
Freshlyground members entertain revellers at AfricaCom AFEST live music event .IMAGE – GIFT NDOLWANE

Social features included the AFEST live music event, featuring leading local, globally-renowned musicians as Black Coffee, Micasa and Freshlyground as well as VIP Experiences including a golf day.
Other conference highlights include Mobile Finance & Commerce, Connecting Africa, LTE Africa, TV Connect Africa and Big Data.
A major highlight was the AfricaCom Awards at Waterfront Lookout Granger Bay.
MTN Ghana Chief Executive, Ebenezer Twum Asante, clinched the biggest individual award after he was named CEO of the Year.
There were 13 winners, with Huawei, also a diamond sponsor, among the major winners.
The company clinched the Most Significant LTE Development, and Delivering Excellence in Customer Experience.
“Wireless broadband access to homes in Africa is a fundamental component to a country’s National Broadband Plans (NBP) on the continent. Connecting people in Africa remains a top priority,” said Dr Mohamed Madkour Vice president of Huawei Wireless Marketing Department.
At AfricaCom, Ericsson published the Global Mobility Report highlighting the prospects of the industry in Africa.
While total mobile subscriptions penetration in the region is currently 85 percent, this number is expected to reach 105 percent by 2022 with over 1 billion mobile subscriptions.
This makes Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with highest growth rate in mobile subscriptions globally.
CAJ News Africa and its technology entity, TechnoAfrica, were Media Partners to AfricaCom 2016.

CAJ News

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