AfricaCom 2012 - reaching for growth - 19 Nov 2012

Approximately 8 000 people from 112 countries and 250 companies representing Africa's growing ICT industry last week gathered at AfricaCom 2012 which took place in Cape Town, South Africa. Under the theme 'Reaching the Next Frontier for Growth', the conference featured several sessions where a range of key speakers, representing the spectrum of Africa's ICT sector, presented.

There were several sub-themes serving as hot topics at this year's event, with a particular focus on data analytics, mobility, innovation and connectivity to the development of commerce on the continent.

Day 1: Africa Industry Outlook was led by Informa Telecoms & Media's analyst team and gave an overview of new revenue opportunities in the African digital market. Mobile Money Lab looked at mobile money services from companies such as MTN and Fundamo/Visa and new models from companies like Zunguz, Pbel and Ching. A new session, the Entrepreneurs Incubator Hub was dedicated to promoting innovation in the market.

Day 2: The morning session's keynote speaker was Alan Knott-Craig, arguably the most experienced man in the mobile market and the current CEO of mobile operator, Cell C. He gave an inspiring and entertaining presentation on the evolution of the telecoms market in Africa and future challenges and opportunities.

Two panel discussions followed; one on the evolution of the digital ecosystem and one on handset strategies with Nokia, MTN, Orange, Unitel and Qualcomm.

Day 3 started with a keynote session on service innovation. Social entrepreneur Marlon Parker reminded the audience of how creative and innovative Africans are. A panel discussions on digital services concluded that content and apps are very much in demand in Africa but must be affordable and accessible.

Social media services was also a hot topic, first mentioned by the CEOs of Groupon South Africa talking about their digital strategy, then in a panel discussion with representatives from Facebook, Viadeo and Mxit.

The rest of the sessions focused on innovation, with contributions from entrepreneurs, content providers, app developers and various social media players.

If you missed out this year, you better be sure not to miss out in 2013!

Have a great week!

Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985