All roads lead to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, where several African heads of state are attending the sixth Transform Africa Summit, as part of efforts to collaborate on new ways of shaping, accelerating and sustaining Africa’s on-going digital revolution. Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa will host the two-day high-level meeting with discussions expected to focus on skilling future leaders through the Smart Africa Scholarship Scheme, as well as building a resilient digital ecosystem in Africa through sustainable investment. ALSO READ: Businesses that won big during Transform Africa Summit President Paul Kagame is also expected to address the meeting alongside other Heads of State, including Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, His Majesty King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini, and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia. The Transform Africa Summit, considered as Africa’s leading annual forum, brings together global and regional leaders from government, business and international organizations. The summit comes at a time when Africa is positioning itself as a key geopolitical player, and the trend seems not to budge any time soon. Running under the theme “Connect, Innovate and Transform”, the meeting also aims to enable member states to become more competitive, agile, open and innovative smart economies. “It is an opportunity for meaningful engagements on how governments can attract large-scale investments and enable fast growth and exports as well as for the private sector to thrive in an innovation and ICT-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem, hence transform African nations into smart societies,” reads part of an emailed response from the organizers, Smart Africa. The meeting is expected to host 40 Ministers, Heads of International Organisations, Diplomats, Captains of Industry, and delegates from over 100 countries, according to the organizers. Participants include fintech companies, block chain experts, digital health service providers, Artificial Intelligence firms & experts, ICT Private Sector service providers. Others are Africa’s business influencers, Investment banks & Venture capitalists, Private equity fund managers, Startups, Women & Girls in ICT champions, Tech innovators, Academia, Consultants & leading digitals leaders. The five previous editions have all been hosted in Rwanda. The last edition took place in 2019 with a focus on job creation and emergence of enterprises and since then, it was postponed due to Covid-19 related restrictions and its impact on nations.
