Africa’s largest technology gathering returns to Marrakech this week as GITEX Africa Morocco opens its fourth edition from April 7 to 9, bringing together a record number of companies, investors, and delegations across three days of programming built around AI, fintech, and digital infrastructure.
The scale of this year’s event is notable. Over 1,450 exhibiting companies and startups are participating, with more than 400 international investors representing over $350 billion in assets and an expected attendance surpassing 50,000 visitors. New delegations from Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Guinea, Hungary, Luxembourg, Thailand, and Zambia are joining the event for the first time, widening its international footprint beyond its traditional European and African base.
Morocco Bets on Its Own Startups
The most visible domestic story at this year’s edition is the expanded Morocco 300 initiative. The programme brings 300 Moroccan startups to the floor, representing 31 sectors and 32 cities across the Kingdom. Morocco’s Digital Development Agency framed the initiative as an effort to accelerate the internationalisation of local companies, giving them a platform to engage with a global network of investors, tech executives, and corporate buyers.
Morocco’s Minister of Digital Transition, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, set the tone at the event’s pre-launch press conference. “For us, GITEX is not just an exhibition,” she said. “It is a major opportunity to develop digitalisation and artificial intelligence in Morocco, to support startups, and to showcase the capabilities of our youth to the world.”
$350 Billion in Investor Capital on the Ground
The startup showcase sits inside a broader programme called North Star Africa. Following a record-breaking 2025 in which African startups secured $3.9 billion in funding, the programme offers over 800 local and international startups the opportunity to pitch, grow, and attract investment. The investor access is significant: more than 400 investors representing $350 billion in assets will be on the ground, actively evaluating the continent’s next generation of high-growth ventures.
New Sectors, Same Structural Urgency
GITEX Africa 2026 introduces new sector showcases reflecting the continent’s fastest-growing technology priorities, including data centre intelligent infrastructure and a fintech and future of finance track spotlighting mobile money, AI-driven financial inclusion, and cross-border payments.
The organiser’s framing this year has shifted from exploration to execution. The event’s stated theme positions 2026 as the edition where Africa’s digital ambitions move from conversation to active implementation, a claim the continent’s startup ecosystem will now be expected to back up.
