NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Welcome to AI Expo Africa
Africa’s Largest Artificial Intelligence & Intelligent Automation Trade Show & Conference – Connecting Enterprise Buyers with Global & Local Suppliers

(2 Day Event) 28th-29th October 2026
Sandton Convention Centre, JHB, South Africa

AI Expo Africa, now entering its 9th successful year, is the largest business focused Artificial Intelligence (AI), Autonomous Enterprise and smart tech trade event in Africa, uniting 1000s of Enterprise buyers, suppliers & innovators across the region.

AI Expo Africa 2026 9th Edition Overview
AI Expo Africa 2026 will be an IN-Person ONLY event. Engage in our four track speaking programme, watch demonstrations and learn about Enterprise case studies and the application of smart tech solutions in Business & Government TODAY. Discuss your deployment challenges, hear about latest best practice and ethical considerations allied to the vibrant innovation and start up ecosystem driving the AI deep tech industry in Africa.

Want to find qualified Enterprise buyers & distributors of your products & services in Africa?
Want to build your brand, earn trust & drive demand?

With a community of 50k+ smart tech practitioners, our show format is built upon the phenomenal success of the previous eight annual events that have cemented AI Expo Africa as the largest business gathering of its kind, attended by Enterprise buyers, Governments, AI practitioners, decision makers, international trade missions, vendors, SMBs and global brands all focused on real world business applications you can deploy TODAY. Its a great place to find new clients, channel partners, learn about local trends and find new markets.

Description

The market is consolidating, and the stakes have never been higher. Secure your access to the deals that will define the future.

Moonshot by TechCabal returns this October under a new mandate: Courage & Conviction: Building for a New World. The training wheels are off, and Moonshot 2026 positions itself as the stage where African tech declares its ambition, not to catch up, but to lead.

Across nine exciting content tracks, ranging from Emerging Tech (AI & ML) and Clean Tech & Climate to FUEL: The Investors Conference and Government & Policy, Moonshot will host 7,000+ global attendees, featuring the continent’s most resilient builders, funders, and thinkers. This is where we are calling the ecosystem to be brave again to back bold ideas, design for African complexity, push for disciplined execution and build systems that can compete globally and endure locally.

Whether you are a founder ready to design solutions from first principles, an investor seeking highly disciplined deal flow, a big tech company owning critical infrastructure, or a policymaker shaping the digital economy, Moonshot 2026 offers unparalleled access to the most important players and decision-makers in Africa.

Date/Time: 28 October, 5:00 AM – 29 October, 12:00 PM (Africa/Lagos)

Join us on 28 October in Amsterdam for 2X Global’s Member Meetup in the Netherlands, hosted in partnership with Climate KIC.

We are bringing together members, investors, fund managers, and ecosystem partners for an evening of connection and conversation around gender-smart investing, climate finance, and inclusive capital. This will be an opportunity to meet peers across the 2X Global network, exchange ideas, and explore how we can collectively advance investment approaches that deliver both gender and climate outcomes.

Time: 18:00 – 20:00

In 2025, Adolescents 360 (A360) marked a decade of listening to girls and putting their voices, aspirations, and lived experiences at the center of adolescent-responsive programming.

Over 10 years, A360 has evolved from testing girl-centered innovations to generating evidence, adapting approaches, reaching scale, and working with governments to strengthen and institutionalize adolescent-responsive programming.

Join us for a special thought leadership conversation bringing together young people, government partners, implementers, and funders to reflect on a decade of experience and what it can teach us about the future of adolescent health.

We’ll explore what worked, what changed, and what did not work as expected; the lessons that challenged our assumptions; and what it takes to listen meaningfully, adapt as programs grow, scale without losing responsiveness, and build approaches that can last beyond individual projects and funding cycles.

At the heart of the conversation is a simple question:
What does a decade of listening to girls teach us about designing health programs that can adapt, scale, and create lasting change?

Time: 08:00 AM ET

Since their launch, Energy Compacts have given governments, businesses, and civil society organisations a way to put voluntary, measurable pledges behind Sustainable Development Goal 7. Each commitment is registered with UN-Energy, and progress is tracked through an annual reporting process. The 2026 edition, published in New York in September, marks the fifth cycle. Of the 164 Compacts now on the registry, 67 submitted updates this year. Taken together, the results show real momentum: about 308 million people have gained new or better electricity access, and 36.2 million have moved to clean cooking. Pledged and delivered capacity includes 338 GW of new renewable energy, while efficiency measures have avoided 417 TWh of consumption. On finance, US$ 389 billion has been mobilised toward a total of US$ 1.6 trillion pledged. With only four years left until 2030, this webinar brings the global network together to review the findings, share lessons, and discuss how to close the gap between commitments and delivery.