Global tech giants & African startups converge in Nairobi for major AI showcase

Nairobi will host East Africa’s largest artificial intelligence gathering from May 19 to 21, as AI EVERYTHING KENYA X GITEX debuts in partnership with Kenya’s Office of the Special Envoy on Technology. Organised by GITEX through its global events arm and local partners, the three day programme spans two venues. The Inclusive AI Everything Summit opens May 19 at the Sarit Expo Centre, followed by a two day expo on May 20 and 21 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. ALSO READ: The future of work will be AI-driven Conveners say the event is designed to accelerate AI deployment across East Africa, with a focus on food systems, financial inclusion, cybersecurity and sovereign AI infrastructure. More than 300 million people live in the broader East African market the organisers are targeting, within an African AI sector projected to reach $16.5 billion by 2030. Ambassador Philip Thigo, Kenya’s Special Envoy on Technology, said hosting the event reflects Kenya’s ambition to shape AI policy and investment across the region. This is where East Africa advances toward co-authoring a future where lives are uplifted, social gaps are bridged, and shared prosperity is realised through innovation.” ALSO READ: Africa’s AI drive shifts toward execution Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of GITEX’s global organiser, said the Nairobi edition will connect policymakers, investors and technology companies around shared standards and cross border partnerships. “We’re proud to bring a new ecosystem of communities, networks, and relationships to a region where the enthusiasm and intent to forge new alliances, actuate visionary strategies, and pursue decisive, coordinated action in the name of inclusive AI integration and digital sovereignty are tangible,” she said. The opening summit will convene government officials, multilateral institutions and industry executives to debate financing models, local talent pipelines and data governance frameworks. Speakers are expected from the European AI Office, Goldman Sachs, IBM and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, alongside representatives from Mozambique, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania. Organisers say about 60 percent of attendees will travel from outside Kenya. Policy to practice The expo segment shifts to implementation. Sector forums will examine compute access, digital public infrastructure, predictive security and the preservation of African languages in AI systems. The exhibition floor will feature companies including Cisco, ASUS, Fortinet, HP, Kaspersky, Mastercard and Zoho, alongside regional data centre operators such as Africa Data Centers and iX Africa Data Centres. Mastercard plans to present AI driven fraud detection and agentic commerce tools. Shehryar Ali, the company’s senior vice president and country manager for East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, said AI is already reshaping credit scoring and payments security across the continent. Industry estimates project up to 230 million digital jobs linked to AI adoption in Africa over the coming decade. The event also positions itself as a capital marketplace. Kenya attracted $1.04 billion in venture funding in 2025, more than a quarter of Africa’s total, according to organisers. More than 100 investors from 21 countries, managing a combined $50 billion in assets, are expected in Nairobi. Participating firms include Norrsken22, Partech, Novastar Ventures and Seedstars. Programming includes a Venture Scaling Forum on capital access and profitability, and the Supernova Challenge startup pitch competition, which offers equity free prize funding and international exposure. Workshops will run alongside the main sessions, covering AI process design, open weight models such as Meta’s Llama and Mistral, cybersecurity simulations and rapid product prototyping. The International Telecommunication Union will host an AI Readiness Roundtable and lead its first global AI Readiness Hackathon in Nairobi, while ISACA will convene security executives to examine AI driven cyber offense and defense. Organisers frame the week as a test of whether policy, capital and infrastructure can move in step. For Kenya and its neighbours, the question is no longer whether AI will shape the digital economy, but how quickly regional institutions can translate ambition into deployment.

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Global tech giants & African startups converge in Nairobi for major AI showcase