The 2026 BigFive Summit
Tue Mar 24, 17:30 - Thu Mar 26, 16:00
Innovation City Cape Town
ABOUT
Join us 24-26 March 2026 at Innovation City Cape Town, for a deep dive into
"The business of African tech."
The BigFive Summit (24-26 March 2025) is Africa's leading B2B technology event. Since its inception in May 2019, the Summit's core audience has been the community that is building, investing in, and taking to market the technology solutions that help African businesses thrive.
The BigFive Summit offers a unique opportunity for aggregators of African businesses (banks, telecoms, digital agencies, media platforms) to interact with the builders of innovative B2B technology solutions (startups) and those funding the innovation (VCs).
Why participate in the BigFive Summit?
- Learn. The BigFive Summit is information-rich and tightly curated to ensure the audience absorbs new information and gets its questions answered.
- Network. The BigFive Summit is a rare opportunity to spend two days elbow-to-elbow with investors, senior corporate leaders, and innovative tech founders.
- Grow. Attending the BigFive Summit is an investment in your personal and professional growth by keeping up on industry trends and making new connections.
PAST BIGFIVE SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTS
The 2025 BigFive Summit made a clear promise -- two days of real talk about the future of tech in Africa. As always, this Summit delivered. From Zach George talking about how Silicon Valley has over-glamorized venture capital to Egla Ntumba shining a light on the loneliness of the start-up journey. These and so many other voices were candid, insightful, informative, and best of all, engaging.
The reel shares some of the best moments from the 2025 Summit. And it provides a glimpse into what you can expect from the 2026 edition.
Here is a partial list of the companies that have participated in the BigFive Summit over the years as speakers, sponsors, and delegates.
BIGFIVE SUMMIT AGENDA
The 2026 BigFive Summit
24-26 March, 2026, Innovation City Cape Town
The 2026 BigFive Summit
24-26 March, 2026, Innovation City Cape Town
Day 1 Tuesday, 24 March 2026
1700 - 1900 Opening Networking Event + “AI: The growth catalyst for African Businesses” Mini-Summit
1700 - 1730 Registration & Badge Collection, followed by Drinks & Networking
1730 - 1740 Welcoming Remarks
1740 - 1800 Featured Talk: Charles Laughlin, Co-founder, BigFive Digital
‘The Solopreneur Unicorn’
It takes a team to turn a startup idea into a unicorn ($1 billion valuation). Yet in Africa, bootstrapping startups can often afford only a few employees. Talent is abundant in Africa. Yet the hard skills required to scale a unicorn come at a price many talented founders cannot afford. AI has already changed this game. BigFive Summit host Charles Laughlin, the publisher of The Africa B2B Tech Report newsletter, explains why he believes there is a unique opportunity for Africa to host the world’s first “solopreneur unicorn”. And this may happen sooner than you think.
1800-1830 Panel Discussion
“AI for African SMEs”
Around the world, micro and small businesses have been eager to experiment with AI tools to get more done with less. This is always the objective whenever small businesses embrace a new technology. We will chat with founders who are building specific applications that small businesses can use to seem bigger than they are. And to reap the benefits accordingly. This panel will answer this question. Is AI the ultimate force-multiplier for SMEs?
Panelists
Michelle Geere, CEO, AdBot
Thapelo Nthite, CEO, Botlhale
John Kitenge, CEO, Param Solutions
1830 - 1900 Wrap-up + more networking
END OF AI WORKSHOP
This event is sponsored by Telkom
Day 2 Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Innovation City Cape Town
0800 - 0900 Badge collection, coffee, and networking
0900 - 0915 Welcome to the 2026 BigFive Summit
0915-0945 Headline Address: Lanyard Myakayaka, Strategy Executive, Telkom
“The Plumbing of Prosperity – Building Africa’s Digital Public Infrastructure”
At the Summit, Lanyard will address a vital topic for the Business of African Tech -- the continent's digital infrastructure. In his talk, Lanyard will speak to how, "just as plumbing enables water to reach communities; digital infrastructure enables opportunity to reach people." Lanyard will also address how Telkom, one of South Africa’s dominant carriers, is contributing to this buildout.
0945-1000 Community Partner Presentation – Chesarae K. Pillay, Head of Partnerships, Capaciti
1015 - 1045 Panel Discussion
“Exploring Inclusive Innovation in Africa”
How is digital innovation reshaping Africa’s informal economies? This session features leaders of African companies using emerging tech and innovative business models to help informal businesses and gig workers participate more fully in the economy, creating economic inclusion, increasing fairness, and improving safety.
Panelists
Imtiyaaz Riley, Founder & CEO, Loop
Simon Ellis, CEO, JemHR
John Kitenge, CEO, Param Solutions
1045 – 1100 Community Partner Presentation – "AI, talent, and the African Tech Opportunity", Nicky Fastovsky, Practice Manager, Salt