Conference Agenda

Registration open from 8:00AM - 17:30PM

Africa has laid strong foundations in connectivity and investment. How can the ecosystem turn that momentum into large-scale, sustainable delivery. 

• Why the next phase is about scaling what already exists 

• How demand, capital and infrastructure are aligning 

• Where global platforms and African operators are delivering together 

• What successful scale looks like in real markets 

Africa’s growth depends on how governments and industry collaborate to scale connectivity, compute, energy and digital services. Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are emerging as a critical mechanism to align national goals with private-sector innovation, unlock capital, and harmonise policy across borders. 

• How policy decisions shape where connectivity and compute scale 

• Co-designing regulatory, licensing and investment frameworks 

• Supporting national goals while enabling regional growth 

• Creating conditions that attract long-term private capital 

• Aligning infrastructure policy with talent development and digital service growth 

The regulatory landscape remains one of the most decisive factors shaping Africa’s digital infrastructure growth. Fragmented licensing, unclear rights‑of‑way processes, inconsistent site permitting, and grid‑related approvals continue to slow the rollout of towers, fibre routes, and data centres. These barriers inflate deployment costs, hinder co‑location and open‑access models, and create uncertainty for investors seeking scalable, multi‑sector infrastructure strategies. 

For towercos, fibre operators, hyperscale and edge providers, and energy partners, predictable regulation is essential to enabling shared‑infrastructure buildout, long‑term investment, and cross‑sector coordination. 

Discussion points: 

• Which regulatory models best support cross‑infrastructure growth 

• Which permitting, rights‑of‑way, and licensing bottlenecks most impede deployment speed and project viability 

• How can governments, regulators, and infrastructure players better align on investment priorities 

Ensuring people, business and governments can use, afford, and benefit from the networks and digital infrastructure that has been built 

• Why network coverage does not automatically lead to adoption or usage 

• The role of affordability, devices and digital literacy in closing the usage gap 

• How local data processing and services support jobs, innovation and AI readiness 

• What operators, platforms, and governments can do to turn infrastructure into impact 

• How local data processing and services supports jobs, innovation and AI readiness 

How policy and regulation shape where networks are built and how investment flows.

• Regulatory frameworks that support competition and long-term connectivity investment 

• Coordinating telecoms, spectrum, data and energy regulation 

• Creating certainty for cross-border infrastructure and capital deployment 

• Where regulator-industry collaboration has accelerated rollout 

Open access has long underpinned Africa’s connectivity growth, enabling affordable and efficient use of shared digital infrastructure. Today, the model is being reconsidered as operators consolidate assets, operating costs—especially energy—continue to rise, regulatory scrutiny increases, and cross‑sector ecosystems spanning fibre, power, data centres and edge become more complex. 

This session explores whether open access can still deliver on its original promise. We’ll examine how shifting industry structures, regulatory and commercial pressures, and wider economic challenges are reshaping multi‑tenant approaches and the future of shared infrastructure across the continent.  

Understanding the pace and shape of growth across different regions 

• Why growth follows a gradual curve rather than instant scale 

• How power availability, policy and demand evolve together 

• Different maturity paths across African markets 

• What ‘success’ looks like at each stage of development 

Energy remains one of the biggest operational costs for digital infrastructure operators, from towers to data centres, with fuel and generation expenses rising sharply in recent years. Grid reliability challenges and connection delays continue to slow the rollout of towers, fibre networks, and new data centre capacity. 

This roundtable brings together leaders from across the energy and digital infrastructure ecosystem to discuss how organizations are managing power today, what drives decisions to outsource versus manage energy internally, and what successful energy partnerships now look like in a shifting operational and regulatory environment. 

Efficiency and cooling strategies are now central to how data centres are designed, operated and scaled 

• Cooling approaches suited to African climates 

• Reducing water and energy intensity through design 

• Retrofitting existing facilities vs new builds 

• How efficiency improves long-term economics 

Why demand, connectivity and policy are shaping clear data centre hubs 

• Why data centre growth clusters in specific markets 

• How fibre, latency and proximity to users influence location decisions 

• Lessons from South Africa, Kenya and West Africa  

• How emerging hubs are positioning themselves for growth 

As mobile networks evolve, the traditional macro layer is no longer the sole foundation of connectivity. The rise of 5G, private networks and new digital applications is accelerating the move toward infrastructure deployed closer to the end‑user. From small cells and indoor systems to edge data centres, the network is becoming denser, smarter and more distributed. 

This panel unpacks how non‑macro assets are reshaping deployment strategies, unlocking new commercial models, and redefining what “coverage” means for operators, enterprises and infrastructure investors across Africa. 

• Are macro towers still sufficient to deliver increasingly complex and dense mobile network coverage? 

• What new business and commercial models are emerging to support the rollout of non‑macro infrastructure? 

• How prepared is Africa’s fibre and energy backbone to support widespread non‑macro deployments? 

• How does the shift toward edge data centres reshape opportunities for the wireless connectivity sector? 

Connectivity, cloud and data centres only scale as far as reliable power allows 

• Why reliability and quality matter more than raw generation capacity 

• Power as a limiting factor for data centres, fibre and towers 

• Why digital infrastructure demand is small but strategically important 

• What energy providers need from the digital sector to plan long term 

How do operators reduce energy intensity, improve uptime and optimise every megawatt?  

• How do DCOs and network operators reduce PUE and energy waste 

• Intelligent monitoring: using software automation and DCIM to optimise performance 

• Integrating grid,diesel and storage for resilient hybrid power models  

• Real-time visibility using predictive maintenance, load balancing and cost optimisation 

Expected discussion outcomes: 

• Clearer understanding of the signals hyperscalers use to assess new African markets 

• Practical insight into how demand, latency and local processing requirements shape expansion decisions 

• Alignment on how partnerships with operators and government supports expansion 

Why solar, storage and hybrid systems are becoming core infrastructure 

• Where decentralised energy makes commercial sense 

• Edge power for towers, IXs and regional data facilities 

• Storage and battery economics 

• What’s scalable today vs what’s still experimental 

Regulation determines who can generate, buy and sell power to digital infrastructure 

• Embedded generation for DCs and towers 

• Grid liberalisation and private offtake models 

• What works across different African markets 

• How regulation affects investment decisions 

Expected discussion outcomes: 

• View of how financing expectations differ between early-stage and mature markets 

• Understanding of what makes a project bankable at different stages of development 

• Better alignment between developers & capital providers on timelines and structures 

Planning energy systems that support digital infrastructure over the next 10-15 years 

• Why grid expansion alone won’t meet digital demand 

• The role of anchor digital infrastructure customers 

• Renewables, gas and hybrid models supporting DC growth 

• Building local skills and supply chains 

Across West Africa, governments, telecom operators, cloud and data centre developers, energy partners and investors are accelerating efforts to expand digital infrastructure, unlock new economic value and strengthen digital sovereignty. From national broadband plans and open access fibre policies to hyperscaler interest, AI-ready data centres, satellite integration and hybrid power solutions, the region is rapidly moving from planning to execution. 

But as infrastructure builds multiply, key questions remain: 

• How can governments create regulatory frameworks and incentives that attract long-term capital while protecting consumers and national interests? 

• What roles should operators, fibre and tower companies play in delivering ubiquitous, affordable connectivity across urban and peri-urban markets? 

• Where are cloud platforms and hyperscalers signalling real demand, and how can this translate into viable data centre ecosystems? 

• What are the practical models that align energy, power and sustainability priorities with large-scale digital infrastructure builds? 

• How can investors and development partners best structure bankable projects that account for policy risk, power constraints and demand realities? 

• And what mechanisms can strengthen cross-sector collaboration so that connectivity and compute investments reinforce each other rather than operate in silos? 

Expected discussion outcomes: 

• Shared understanding of which cooling & efficiency approaches are being used successfully in different African climates 

• Clarity on the trade-offs operators are making between CapEx, OpEx, and long-term efficiency 

• Practical insight into when retrofitting existing facilities makes sense vs new build 

• Better alignment between operators, investors and vendors on what ‘efficient’ means in live projects