The AFRICA CEO FORUM, which is holding its 6th edition on 26 and 27 March in Abidjan, will turn its spotlight on Africa’s disruptive technologies which has come to stay.

For two days, some of the innovators who made history in Africa will tell their stories, like Jesse Moore, founder of M-Kopa, the leading off-grid solar energy company in East Africa and the heads of Google Nigeria, Microsoft, and Orange.

This year’s AFRICA CEO FORUM is specifically devoting a panel to startups, the continent's new pioneers of innovation.

Over 1,200 personalities, all key industrial, financial and political decision-makers, from over 60 countries, will gather for what is now recognized as the biggest and most important meeting of Africa’s private sector.

Talk of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data to robot automation: the world’s digital revolutions are changing the game in Africa and shaking up the continent’s development models. Despite posing a threat to industrial job creation, disruptive technology also points to promising growth opportunities for African champions across diverse sectors.

Some of the questions that, the Forum would be addressed is going to be, how can the potential of Big Data be better exploited to accelerate financial inclusion in Africa? What do drivers of growth eHealth services offer the private sector? How can smart farming and technological innovation dramatically increase agricultural yields?

How can Africa’s internet penetration be boosted? What are the opportunities offered by online higher education? How can solar energy be deployed on a large scale and permanently establish itself as an essential source in Africa’s energy mix?.

AFRICA CEO FORUM 2018 will focus on the opportunities offered by disruptive technologies to stimulate growth and employment on the continent and thereby spark a new era for the African private sector.

Five innovative companies to compete for the Most Promising Company of the Year award

The African Tech ecosystem comprises more than 310 active hubs and is emerging as one of the most promising in the world. Five major African startups, at the forefront of innovation in eCommerce (Capricorn Digital), telecommunications (Africa's Talking), Agritech (Twiga Foods), Fintech (In Touch) and Digital Advertising (Omniup), will compete for the ‘Most Promising Company of the Year’ award.

The jury will be made up of specialist investors, including International Finance Corporation (IFC) experts and the heads of two of Africa’s main venture capitalist firms: TLcom and Omidyar.

This new trophy, which recognizes the nascent African company with the most growth potential, will be awarded at the AFRICA CEO FORUM Awards on Monday night, March 26.

About the AFRICA CEO FORUM

The AFRICA CEO FORUM is an event organized by Jeune Afrique Media Group, publisher of Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, and by Rainbow Unlimited, a Swiss company specializing in organizing events that promote business.

The success of its 2017 edition, which drew around 1 ,200 African and international personalities, has firmly established the AFRICA CEO FORUM as the most important international event dedicated to the development of Africa and its companies in a top-level professional setting conducive to meaningful business networking.

Co-hosting the 2018 edition is the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group).