CCT Africa 2026 Agenda

Monday 13th July 2026

7.30 am - 3 pm | EXCLUSIVE GOLF EVENT

Location: Tamarina Golf Club, Tamarin Bay, 90922, Mauritius

Meeting Time: 7.30 am

Tee-off Time: 8.40 am
Lunch at Tamarina Hotel From 1.30 pm

Hosted by Ciena & Angola Cables

Golf Registration is now closed for CCT Africa 2026

6.15 pm | Welcome Cocktail Reception
Location: Gov's Beach hosted by CASSAVA TECHNOLOGIES

7.45pm | Beach BBQ
Location: Gov's Beach hosted by WIOCC

CCT Africa 2026 Agenda

TUESDAY 14 JULY 2026

08:00 | Registration & Coffee

08:30 | Opening Welcome Remarks

Opening Address
Dr the Hon Avinash Ramtohul, Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mauritius

08:45 | THE EVOLVING PAN-AFRICAN DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND CONNECTIVITY ECOSYSTEM IN AFRICA - THE LAST 12 MONTHS AND THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

Moderator: Tim Passingham, Chairman, CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Speakers:
Ziaad Suleman, SVP: CEO, South Africa & Botswana, CASSAVA TECHNOLOGIES
Mahesh Jaishankar, CEO, CMC NETWORKS
Andile Ngcaba, Chairman, CONVERGENCE PARTNERS & SOLCON CAPITAL
Dietlof Mare, Group CEO, MAZIV
Veemal Gungadin, CEO, MAURITIUS TELECOM
Alpheus Mangale, CEO, SEACOM

09:40 | Coffee Break

10:00 | INLAND, CROSS BORDER AND END-TO-END CONNECTIVITY

Enabling the Development of New Inland Connectivity Corridors Through Effective Partnership and Collaboration Strategies

Effectively Integrating Inland and Cross Border Fibre Connectivity with Subsea Cable Routes to Enable End-to-End Connectivity

Moderator: Lanre Kolade, Founder & CEO, KOLTRONICS NIGERIA LTD

Speakers:
Marco Gagiano, SVP: Global Head of Connectivity & C2, CASSAVA TECHNOLOGIES
Ian Paterson, CEO, CSQUARED
Alex Nkuyahaga, CEO, KILIMANJARO TELECOM
Alex Masu, Head of Africa & Middle East – Network Investments, META
Stanley Jegede, Chairman, PHASE 3 TELECOM

Edward Lawrence, Founder, YAFIBR

11:10 | Coffee Break

11:30 | FINANCE AND INVESTMENT INSIGHT

Evaluating Financing and Investment Opportunities and Market Outlook

Moving Towards a Collaborative Industry Approach to Accelerate the Pace of Development

Moderator: Russell Southwood, CEO, BALANCING ACT

Speakers:
Moritz Thompson, Investment Director - Pan Africa, AIIM
Kuutti Kilpeläinen, Head of Digital Infrastructure & Solutions Portfolio, FINNFUND
Ilias Djouai, Vice President, Heavy Industry Telecoms & Technology, AFRICA FINANCE CORPORATION (AFC)
Kwanele Onyango, Executive: Telco, Media & Technology, Client Coverage, Corporate & Investment Banking, STANDARD BANK SOUTH AFRICA
Edmund Higenbottam, CEO, VERDANT CAPITAL

Michel Rogy, Regional Practice Director for Digital & AI, THE WORLD BANK

12:30 | Lunch Sponsored by Mauritius Telecom

Location: Mare Mare Restaurant

14:10 | SUBSEA CONNECTIVITY INSIGHT

Beyond the Consortium Model: Assessing the Impact and Determining What's Next in the Development of the Subsea Market

Moderator: Chris George, Founder, SELF INFRASTRUCTURE

Speakers:
Angelo Gama, CEO, ANGOLA CABLES
Stuart Blythe, Partner, BAKER BOTTS
Pete Hall, Managing Director, CIENA
Avinash Chettiar, Chief Technology Officer, EMTEL
Justin Gianchand, Network Investment Manager, META
Prenesh Padayachee, Chief Technology and Operations Officer, SEACOM
Ryan Sher, COO, WIOCC

15:15 | Coffee Break

15:30 | LOCAL ACCESS, LAST MILE AND SATELLITE CONNECTIVITY INSIGHT: CLOSING THE CONNECTIVITY GAP

Evaluating Local Access and Last Mile Business Models and Solutions

Realising the Potential of LEO Satellites to Overcome Longstanding Connectivity Challenges

Moderator: Russell Southwood, CEO, BALANCING ACT

Speakers:
Opeyeni Olaniran, EMEA Leader, Business Development - Project Kuiper, AMAZON LEO
Mohamed Ibrahim, CEO, INTERFIBER NETWORKS
Robert Aouad, CEO ISOCEL SA
Derek Friend, President & CEO, LASER LIGHT AFRICA
Jacques du Toit, Chief Executive Officer, VOX TELECOM

16:45 | PAN-AFRICAN INTERCONNECTIVITY

Keeping Content Local – Can We Solve the Challenge of Traffic Tromboning?

Moderator: Marc Halbfinger, Founder & Managing Director, RED HMH

Speakers:
Peter van Burgel, CEO, AMS-IX
Angelo Gama, CEO, ANGOLA CABLES
Ivo Ivanov, CEO and Chair of the Board, DE-CIX GROUP AG
Ejovi Aror, Group Managing Director, IPNX NIGERIA LTD
Jennifer Holmes, CEO, LINX
Ben Ryall, Edge Strategy Manager, META

17:45 | Sunset Cocktail Reception

Sponsored by Touchnet Telecommunications
Location: Pool Deck & Beach, Sugar Beach Resort

19:45 | CCT Africa 2026 Dinner
Sponsored by Nokia
Location: Buddha-Bar Beach

___________________________________________________________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 15 JULY 2026

07.50 | CCT Africa Workstream Update Meetings

08:30 | Coffee & Breakfast

08:45 | FIRESIDE CHAT

Michel Rogy, Regional Practice Director for Digital & AI, THE WORLD BANK

09:00 | AI INSIGHT

Beyond the Hype: What Does AI Look Like in the Context of Africa?

Opportunities, Challenges and Preparing for AI in Africa

Moderator: Tim Passingham, Chairman, CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Speakers:
Ibrahim Dikko, CEO, BACKBONE CONNECTIVITY NIGERIA (BCN)
David Edoja, CEO, ANALYTICS INTELLIGENCE
Veemal Gungadin, CEO, MAURITIUS TELECOM
Vladimir Prodanovic, Principal Program Manager, NVIDIA

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman, CONVERGENCE PARTNERS & SOLCON CAPITAL

Johnson Agogbua, CEO, KASI CLOUD

10:00 | AI IN AFRICA

Building Micro AI Factories with Sovereign AI Clouds

Key Strategies and Deployment Lessons Learned

Speaker: Vladimir Prodanovic, Principal Program Manager, NVIDIA

10:20 | Coffee Break

10:45 | TELCO BUSINESS MODELS

TELCOS OF TOMORROW: INNOVATION, NEW SERVICES AND GROWTH MODELS: CREATING OPTIMUM PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES

Moderator: Tim Passingham, Chairman, CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Speakers:
Dr Dimakatso Polokelo, COO, ABARICOM
Yonas Maru, CEO, BCS
Never Ncube, CEO, DANDEMUTANDE
Aurelien Bayart, Head of Network Infrastructure, East and Central Africa, NOKIA
Martin Cox, Group Chief Commercial Officer, PARATUS

Julius Cheptiony, Chief Commercial Officer, TELKOM KENYA

11:45 | Coffee Break

12:00 | DATA CENTRES, INTERCONNECTIVITY AND THE CLOUD

Unlocking the Value of the Cloud for Enterprises and Developing Optimum Partnerships

Moderator: Russell Southwood, CEO, BALANCING ACT

Speakers:
Jyoti Ball, General Manager, Sub Saharan Africa, AMAZON WEB SERVICES
Snehar Shah, CEO, IX AFRICA
Sandile Dube, Managing Director, EQUINIX

Charly Bahous, CEO, TOUCHNET TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Vinay Hiralall, Managing Executive, LIQUID C2

13:00 | Lunch