Marrakech will once again become the continent’s technology capital when GITEX Africa returns for its fourth edition from April 7 to 9, 2026. Organised by the Digital Development Agency (ADD) in cooperation with KAOUN International, the event is the African extension of GITEX GLOBAL, held annually at the Dubai World Trade Centre. This year’s edition carries the theme “Catalysing Africa’s Digital Economy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Africa’s Largest Tech Gathering Gets Bigger
The 2026 edition will welcome more than 55,000 attendees from across Africa and around the world, alongside global exhibitors, high-growth startups, and hundreds of world-class speakers and industry leaders. That marks a significant leap from the previous year, when the exhibition gathered over 1,500 exhibitors and 45,000 professional visitors from more than 130 countries.
The event will be held at the Marrakech Exhibition and Convention Centre, where thousands of participants will gather for three days of exhibitions, conferences, and networking sessions. Key sectors on the agenda include AI, fintech, cybersecurity, GovTech, agritech, smart cities, and future mobility.
AI Takes Centre Stage – But Cybersecurity Steals the Spotlight
While artificial intelligence remains the headline theme, cybersecurity is now firmly at the centre of Africa’s digital conversation. Organisers have introduced the STAR Summit (Strategic Digital Defence AI Readiness Summit) as one of the main new features of the 2026 edition. Scheduled for April 8 and organised with Morocco’s DGSSI, the summit will focus on cyber resilience, protection of critical infrastructure, governance gaps, investment needs, skills shortages, and the growing risks linked to AI.
Confirmed speakers include cybersecurity officials from the UAE, Ghana, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, alongside private sector voices from MTN Group and Aramex. The urgency behind this focus is hard to miss; across Africa, critical public services are moving online faster than institutions can build adequate security frameworks around them.
Startups, Investors, and $350 Billion in Capital
One of GITEX Africa’s most compelling draws is its startup and investor matchmaking program. The investor pool includes nearly 400 venture capitalists, angel investors, and corporate funds managing more than $350 billion in assets. For African founders, that kind of access is rare on home soil.
Agritech startup Deepleaf won $50,000 in funding at the previous edition, and similar opportunities are expected in 2026, including both financial support and international visibility.
Morocco’s Bigger Play
Morocco’s repeated hosting of GITEX Africa is not incidental. The country has been methodically building its credentials as a continental digital hub. The hyperscale data centre market in Africa is forecast to grow from $6.7 billion in 2025 to more than $28 billion by 2030, and Morocco intends to be well-positioned in that expansion.
Through its D4SD initiative, Morocco aims to build an Arab-African digital cooperation platform focused on sharing expertise, developing skills, and deploying AI solutions aligned with regional development priorities. The country also ranks among the best startup ecosystems in Africa according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025, and GITEX gives that ecosystem a global stage every year.
What It Means for the Rest of the Continent
For African tech stakeholders, GITEX Africa 2026 represents a rare convergence of capital, policy, and innovation under one roof. The 2026 edition is expected to deepen cooperation in AI, fintech, cybersecurity, and GovTech while boosting tech investment flows across Africa.
Three days. One city. And a continent’s digital future is on the table.
