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: 8.20 am
Lunch by the Clubhouse: From 1.30 pm

All CCT Africa 2026 attendees are invited to participate.
Attendees MUST confirm participation in advance
by emailing racheljones@theintelligentnetwork.net.
as there are limited places

4 pm – 6 pm | MASTERCLASS: AI FOR TELCOS

101 and Building Blocks of AI
Using AI – Applications and in Operations, Business and Service Expansion Opportunities

All CCT Africa 2026 attendees are invited to participate.
Attendees MUST confirm participation in advance by emailing racheljones@theintelligentnetwork.net.

6.15 pm | Welcome Cocktail Reception
Location: Gov's Beach

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

Day One: Tuesday 14th July 2026

8.00 am Registration and Coffee

8.25 am Welcome Remarks

8.45 am Opening Address

8.45 am | THE EVOLVING PAN-AFRICAN DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND CONNECTIVITY ECOSYSTEM IN AFRICA - THE LAST 12 MONTHS AND THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

The last 12 months and the development of the connectivity and digital infrastructure landscape - what progress has been made, and what developments have had an impact on closing the gaps?

Growth and demand patterns
New partnerships and collaboration; inland connectivity and subsea development
Digital innovation and new services
Enterprise demand for cloud services and hyperscaler investments
New developments in AI
The next 12 months
What impact will the changing geopolitical environment have on development?
Edge and AI in the context of Africa: what does the African continent need to prepare for?
Key cross-border collaboration, strategic partnerships and scalable development, access and affordability
Investment opportunities; bringing the private and public sectors together to advance digital infrastructure
development and overcome bottlenecks
The telcos of tomorrow: innovation, new platforms and business models; what collaboration needs to happen between mobile and fixed-line operators
How can we leverage new technologies e.g. Satellite Leos
How can cross-sector collaboration be more effective? - government, energy, digital infrastructure

Moderator: Tim Passingham, Chairman, CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Speakers:
Mahesh Jaishankar, CEO, CMC NETWORKS
Andile Ncgabe, CEO, CONVERGENCE PARTNERS
Dietlof Mare, Group CEO, MAZIV
Veemal Gungadin, CEO, MAURITIUS TELECOM
Alpheus Mangale, CEO, SEACOM

9.45 am Coffee Break

10.15 am | 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

New terrestrial fibre routes – progress update from the 2025 summit
Joining the dots – what needs to happen next? Which countries, which routes, where are the bottlenecks?
How many corridors need to be built?
- moving traffic North & East; linking Central African countries
- The East-West terrestrial connectivity: Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, and Malawi
What does it take to finance the new routes?
How can we work together to deliver the fibre connectivity needed across Africa?
- Fibre sharing, infrastructure sharing, cross-border fibre projects and in-country mergers, inland partnerships, sub-fluvial solutions; can a mesh network be created connecting different regions,
- Educating government and public bodies on private sector activity and projects
Linking inland connectivity with subsea connectivity to deliver end-to-end connectivity

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

Speakers:
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
El Hadji Maty Sene, Wholesale Director, SONATEL
Edward Lawrence, Founder, YAFIBER

11.30 am Coffee Break

11.45 am | FINANCE AND INVESTMENT INSIGHT EVALUATING FINANCING AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND MARKET OUTLOOK– MOVING TOWARDS A COLLABORATIVE INDUSTY APPROACH TO ACCELERATE THE PACE OF DEVELOPMENT

Current and future investment opportunity outlook; role of private equity, public funding and institutional finance; networks, fibre links, building DC capacity, drivers of M & A, affordability and cost of capital
Understanding challenges; market fragmentation, risk premiums and how to treat risk, why invest
Evaluating digital infrastructure initiatives; view from the DFIs
Improving quality and type of investments
Bringing private and public sector together to work together on specific projects
How can the challenges of an uncertain investment environment be overcome? Long-term capital outlook
Overcoming key challenges of doing business in Africa; taxation, regulatory regimes, attracting private sector investment through incentives, and developing win-win partnerships for both parties

Moderator: Russell Southwood, CEO, BALANCING ACT

Speakers:
Kuutti Kilpeläinen, Head of Digital Infrastructure & Solutions Portfolio, FINNFUND
Nicholas Williams, Head, ICT Division, AFDB
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 Higgenbottam, CEO, VERDANT CAPITAL

12.45 pm | Lunch

2.15 pm | SUBSEA CONNECTIVITY INSIGHT BEYOND THE CONSORTIUM MODEL: ASSESSING THE IMPACT AND DETERMINING WHAT’S NEXT IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUBSEA MARKET?

Assessing the impact of the paradigm shift away from the consortium model; are we at an inflection point, and what do the private cables mean for the market, industry and monetisation models?
Evaluating status of capacity and demand, current and future – how to bring capacity to smaller countries and
reach inaccessible and disconnected places
Taking a global perspective, Asia-Africa traffic, Asia-Europe traffic; impact on landlocked countries, impact
around Africa
Upgrading infrastructure; state of existing cables and increased pressure
Shift to hyperscale; what does this mean for the future?
Evaluating future strategies for subsea build; building end-to-end vs branches; driving down the cost for land-
locked countries to access subsea cables;
Creating a framework that enables investment and future build beyond hyperscale; understanding the supply chain, resiliency and diversity; route diversity and cable landing diversity – what more is needed and how can it be financed?
Mobilisation of vessels – can we find solutions to mobilisation challenges by collaborating?

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
Prenesh Padayachee, Group Chief Digital Officer, SEACOM
Ryan Sher, COO, WIOCC

3.30 pm | 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

Evaluating alternative business models to deliver local access solutions in urban and rural areas
- How can costs be reduced and quality improved, reaching low-income communities
- FTTH saturation in Kenya and South Africa; how do fibre operators and ISPs reinvent themselves?
- Market development out of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria
Assessing new market developments; pre-paid models, direct access, increasing WiFi hot spots, growth in value-
added services
Rural TowerCo partnerships and shared rural networks
Using LEO satellites to complement existing connectivity
How can the challenges of using LEO satellites be overcome, putting in place a regulatory framework, public-private partnerships aligned with national priorities, digital sovereignty and security, affordability, access to power, and capacity constraints

Moderator: Russell Southwood, CEO, BALANCING ACT

Speakers:
Eric Stevance, CEO, AFRIBONE
Shaun Morgan, CEO, KONNEKT DIGITAL NETWORKS
Mohamed Ibrahim, CEO, INTERFIBER NETWORKS
Jacques du Toit, CEO, VOX TELECOM

4.30 pm | Coffee Break

4.45 pm | PAN-AFRICAN INTERCONNECTIVITY: KEEPING CONTENT LOCAL - CAN WE SOLVE THE CHALLENGE OF TRAFFIC TROMBONING?

What is the actual problem we are trying to solve, and understanding why the traffic leaves the continent?
Key challenges to overcome: lack of fibre connectivity and digital infrastructure, financing and investment, topology, regulation, licensing fees - how can these challenges actually be overcome?
Content delivery and distribution - impact of drivers of demand and content location; data sovereignty, resilience, security
Improving network efficiency leveraging existing IXPs
Investment in fiber connectivity; which routes will really make a difference? Collaborative action

Moderator: Tim Passingham, Chairman, CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Speakers:
Peter van Burgel, CEO, AMS-IX
Ivo Ivanov, CEO and Chair of the Board, DE-CIX GROUP AG, CEO, DE-CIX INTERNATIONAL
Ejovi Aror, Group Managing Director, Director, IPNX NIGERIA LTD
Jennifer Holmes, CEO, LINX

5.45 pm COCKTAIL RECEPTION Location: The Deck, Pool Area

Hosted By: Touchnet Telecommunications

7.45 pm CCT AFRICA 2026 DINNER Location: Buddha Bar

Hosted By: NOKIA

Day 2: Wednesday 15th July 2026

7.45 am – 8.45 am

BREAKFAST BRIEFING: UPDATES ON CCT AFRICA 2025 AND CCT AFRICA 2024 MOU
INITIATIVES

CCT Africa attendees are invited to attend this specific briefing focused on updating the CCT Africa community
on progress made in some of the workstreams created at the previous CCT Africa summits including Afrinap, Inland
Connectivity, Subsea Resilience and AI

8.45 am | Coffee and Breakfast

Hosted By: Recorded Future

9.00 am | AI INSIGHT AI INSIGHT: BEYOND THE HYPE: WHAT DOES AI LOOK LIKE IN THE CONTEXT OF AFRICA –
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES AND PREPARING FOR AI IN AFRICA

Global development of AI and across Africa; national AI strategies within specific Africa countries, what does AI
mean in the context of Africa?
Identifying key challenges and opportunities; network demands, network evolution, effects of AI at scale, how can Africa prepare for what is coming from a digital infrastructure perspective?
Evaluating potential for small AI; data sovereignty, how far away is Inference and Edge AI?
Role of government and other sectors e.g. energy
Importance of datasets and digitisation
How can AI be used to expand service opportunities; adopting services for AI
How can AI be used to drive business expansion, value creation and growth
Real use-cases and applications

Moderator: Winston Ritson, Founder, RITSON.IO

Speakers:
Ibrahim Dikko, CEO, BACKBONE CONNECTIVITY NIGERIA (BCN)
David Edoja, CEO, ANALYTICS INTELLIGENCE
Veemal Gungadin, CEO, MAURITIUS TELECOM
Andile Ncgaba, CEO, CONVERGENCE PARTNERS
Johnson Agogbua, CEO, KASI CLOUD

10.00 am Coffee Break

10.30 am | TELCO BUSINESS MODELS

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

Key demand drivers; consumer and enterprise, mobile, broadband, population age, finance, entertainment – what isdriving the innovation
Key opportunities to create more value and new revenue streams new digital services, new business focusedservices, financial services
Future of networks and connectivity to support services – new advanced technologies; mobile technologies
How to overcome key challenges; increased costs, regulatory hurdles, macro-economic factors, cost of devices, affordability
Developing optimum partnership strategies; what collaboration needs to happen between mobile and fixed-line operators
Building a next-generation AI-native telco

Moderator: Tim Passingham, Chairman, CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Speakers:

11.30 pm | Coffee Break

11.45 am | DATA CENTRES, INTERCONNECTIVITY AND THE CLOUD
UNLOCKING THE VALUE OF THE CLOUD FOR ENTERPRISES AND DEVELOPING OPTIMUM PARTNERSHIPS

l Drivers of demand, digital transformation and adoption of digital services and products; scale, agility, resilience,reliability, storage, power, national vs multi-regional strategies, connectivity
Key challenges; price and affordability, regulatory environment, security, data residency and data localisation, balancing compliance with performance - How can demand be accelerated and when will the hyperscalers come?
Where do the future opportunities lie? Fintech, retail
Opportunities for local cloud regions and local players; are there new players that will deploy cloud; support for local players
Public vs private clouds, multi-cloud strategies
Developing partnerships to support cloud migration and upskilling

Moderator: Russell Southwood, CEO, BALANCING ACT

Speakers:

Snehar Shah, CEO, IX AFRICA

Yonas Maru, CEO, BCS

Charly Bahous, CEO, TOUCHNET TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Dr Krishnath Ranganath, CEO, UNICLOUD AFRICA

1.00 pm | Lunch

2.15 pm | EVALUATING ALTERNATIVE DATA CENTRE MODELS AND STRATEGIES: BUILDING AND
DEVELOPING DATA CENTRES TO MEET EXISTING AND FUTURE DEMAND

Location and scale of existing facilities; what more is needed and when will the anticipated customer demand come? Can it be accelerated; changes since CCT Africa 2025
Alternative solutions to cope with lack of demand and meeting existing interconnect requirements; new opportunities
Impact of AI on datacentre development and new build
Edge and Inference; potential for edge data centres
Power availability and power strategies; future power forecasts and Africa’s grid infrastructure; building successful energy partnerships
How do we find the solutions to the challenges; access to reliable, stable power; co-power projects and funding, balancing goals of digital growth and sustainability targets

Moderator: Chris George, Founder, SELF INFRASTRUCTURE

Speakers:
Shivendra Nautiyal, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, EMTEL
Judy Nguru, Senior Data Center Strategic Negotiator, GOOGLE
Menno Parsons, CEO, MASTERPOWER TECHNOLOGIES
Lars Johannisson, CEO, RACKCENTRE
Robert Skjodt, CEO, RAXIO DATA CENTRES
Wojtek Piorko, Managing Director, Africa, VERTIV

3.30 pm | REGULATORY INSIGHT

IMPACT OF RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS AND AI ON AFRICA’S CHANGING REGULATORY
LANDSCAPE: REGULATION FOR TOMORROW AND PREPARING AFRICA FOR A DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE
FUTURE TO REALISE ITS ECONOMIC POTENTIAL

Understanding the complexities of different regulatory environments; challenge for cross border connectivity and regional integration and cross border harmonisation, regulatory fragmentation
Insights gained from regulatory developments in Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria
Lack of regulatory coherence and how to overcome
Data sovereignty in a cloud/AI world; sovereign cloud models, data localisation, security, developing AI compute in Africa, African datasets
Government digital strategies and their impact on policy and regulation; strategic considerations; unified
standards
Exploring current and future regulatory initiatives e.g. Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration project (EARDIP)
Identifying areas of collaboration and co-operation between private and public sector – strategic partnership with cloud, telecoms and technology companies and governments

Moderator: Russell Southwood, CEO, BALANCING ACT
Speakers to be Confirmed

4.30 pm | End of CCT Africa 2026 Executive Summit

7.00 pm | CLOSING CCT AFRICA 2026 RECEPTION
Location: Mare Mare Restaurant