Nominations open for the African tech industry’s best of the best
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, August 24, 2023/APO Group/ —
TAKING place at the Bay Hotel in Camp’s Bay, Cape Town on 15 November 2023, the achievements of some of the African technology, telecommunications, and media industry’s most illustrious pioneers and tech entrepreneurs, will once again be fêted at the prestigious Africa Tech Festival Awards (https://apo-opa.info/3myppVu).
As awards ceremonies go, Africa Tech Festival’s are a standout, not only in their recognition of the achievements of the companies and people who are making a difference in the lives of countless Africans, but for their reputation as an unforgettable evening of fun, food, and conversation in the company of some of the industry’s hottest talent.
The Awards Ceremony will welcome Africa’s leaders to an elegant evening celebration beginning with a cocktail reception at Tides restaurant with its magnificent seafront views, followed by a gala dinner in the Rotunda accompanied by live music. The night will end with an afterparty soundtracked to a live DJ.
As encouragement to enter and commenting on the impact of winning the Start-up of the Year Award in 2022, Motunrayo Opayinka, founder of Womenovate says that it has: “brought significant visibility and recognition to Womenovate. As a result, we experienced various positive changes, including increased brand visibility and new collaboration opportunities. We were also able to expand our network with like-minded individuals, experts, and mentors, which for us is very valuable in our mission to support Nigerian women in STEAM.
“Winning the prestigious award added to our credibility, helping us to further gain trust from our stakeholders, beneficiaries, and the public.”
In 2023, the Africa Tech Festival team have taken the event up yet another notch, introducing a new award category – the Creative Visionary Award –to commend the remarkable forerunners in the African media, broadcasting, and entertainment industries.
Award Categories
Creative Visionary Award – this new award is dedicated to honouring exceptional media, broadcasting, and entertainment professionals across Africa.
Connecting for All Award – dedicated to recognising and honouring network providers and services that have demonstrated exceptional commitment and effort in ensuring connectivity for all.
Innovation for Impact – recognises innovations in products or services that have disrupted traditional approaches, introduced novel solutions, and created tangible value for businesses and individuals in Africa.
CXO of the Year – honours exceptional leaders in Africa and their outstanding contributions in building teams, setting new standards, and delivering on a clear vision in a rapidly changing business landscape.
Changing Lives Award – dedicated to recognising and honouring organisations and initiatives that are committed to improving lives across the continent.
Winning the prestigious award added to our credibility, helping us to further gain trust from our stakeholders, beneficiaries, and the public
Female Innovator of the Year Award – honours the women who have made significant contributions to the fields of tech, media, and telecoms across Africa.
Sustainability Champion of the Year – formerly the ‘Green ICT Champion Award’, this award celebrates the remarkable achievements of individuals or organisation leading the way in the development and integration of sustainable energy solutions for the continent.
Fintech Innovation Award – acknowledges the transformative power of financial technology in driving economic growth, financial inclusion, and digital transformation.
Start-up of the Year Award – acknowledges the entrepreneurial spirit, technological innovation, and potential impact of start-ups in driving growth, solving challenges, and contributing to the advancement of Africa’s tech ecosystem.
HealthTech Innovation of the Year Award – recognises innovative solutions that are changing lives, advancing healthcare, and making a significant positive impact on individuals and communities.
Overseeing the development of the awards and responsible for the overall festival’s successful delivery each year, James Williams, Director, Events | Connecting Africa | Informa Tech comments that: “These awards are all about celebrating the optimists in industry for whom every challenge is a possibility and a solution waiting to be discovered and implemented.
“The wealth of talent on the African continent is exceptional, which makes the public voting to select only one hero per category, a highly competitive process and extremely difficult. That said, it is an honour to be amongst them all and we look forward to this event every year and to sharing their achievements with our connected community.”
Nominations are open until 7 September 2023, with short-listed candidates announced on 11 September 2023. To enter, nominations need to be submitted on the Africa Tech Festival website (https://apo-opa.info/3qHFKtr). The short-listed candidates will be chosen by a panel of judges, and thereafter, the winners will be selected via a public vote.
For more information, please see website here: Africa Tech Festival 2023 – The Home of AfricaCom & AfricaTech (https://apo-opa.info/3myppVu)
To register for a free visitor pass, please use this link. Pre-registration open here (https://apo-opa.info/41MExyC).
(Please note that all requests are adjudicated and there may be some delay before you hear back from us).
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Tech Festival.
For Africa Data Centres, which operates the continent’s largest interconnected, vendor- and cloud-neutral data centre platform, the collaboration strengthens its service portfolio by enhancing performance and expanding connectivity options within its facilities
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 13, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa Data Centres (www.AfricaDataCentres.com), a business of Cassava Technologies, a global technology leader of African heritage, has partnered with fibre optic cable infrastructure provider Oni-Tel Fibre Networks to strengthen connectivity across its Gauteng facilities. Under the agreement, Oni-Tel will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity to Africa Data Centres’ Midrand and Samrand campuses through its Infinity fibre interconnection platform.
Purpose-built for data centre interconnectivity on a resilient network with direct access to Gauteng’s key data centre hubs, this provides customers with fast, high-capacity bandwidth and secure, carrier-grade performance, supporting the levels of uptime required in today’s data-driven environments.
Our partnership with Africa Data Centres enables us to deliver our premium fibre interconnection solution into some of the most strategically important data centre hubs in Gauteng
“As enterprises accelerate cloud adoption, AI deployment, and data-intensive workloads, they need dependable, scalable connectivity within trusted local data centres. By partnering with Oni-Tel, we’re giving our customers access to enhanced fibre infrastructure that supports their growth and innovation, while maintaining secure, enterprise-grade environments for businesses navigating South Africa’s digital economy,” said Adil El Youssefi, CEO of Africa Data Centres.
For Africa Data Centres, which operates the continent’s largest interconnected, vendor- and cloud-neutral data centre platform, the collaboration strengthens its service portfolio by enhancing performance and expanding connectivity options within its facilities. Customers gain greater interconnection choice, high-availability architecture, seamless bandwidth, and the ability to scale efficiently as their infrastructure requirements grow.
“Our partnership with Africa Data Centres enables us to deliver our premium fibre interconnection solution into some of the most strategically important data centre hubs in Gauteng. Through Infinity, customers benefit from ultra-low latency connectivity, scalable capacity, and secure, carrier-grade infrastructure designed to keep their businesses ahead in an extremely competitive digital landscape,” said Ellisha Gobind, Chief Commercial Officer at Oni-Tel.
Africa Data Centres’ facilities across the continent serve as key interconnection hubs, supporting enterprises, cloud service providers, financial institutions, mobile network operators, fixed network operators, and other users. Oni-Tel’s dark fibre solution further expands the range of carrier-neutral options available to Gauteng customers, enabling improved network speed and performance.
As demand for secure, high-performance digital infrastructure continues to rise, Africa Data Centres remains focused on building a robust, interconnected ecosystem that supports enterprise innovation and long-term growth across South Africa and the wider region.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Data Centres.
The memoir also reflects on the challenges that came with building at such speed, including the pressures of scaling a global company, regulatory scrutiny as the industry matured, and CZ’s personal experience serving a four month sentence in a U.S. federal prison
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 13, 2026/APO Group/ –Few figures have been as closely associated with the rise of the cryptocurrency industry as Binance (www.Binance.com) co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ). In his new memoir, Freedom of Money, A Memoir of Protecting Users, Resilience, and the Founding of Binance, CZ offers a candid account of the early days of crypto, the rapid explosion of Binance, and the personal consequences of building at the centre of one of the fastest moving industries in modern finance.
Available globally from 08th April 2026 on Amazon Kindle and Paperback, Freedom of Money traces CZ’s journey from his early life and unconventional path into technology through the founding and rapid growth of Binance during a period when the cryptocurrency industry was expanding at unprecedented speed.
Part memoir and part reflection on the evolution of digital assets, the book offers readers a builder’s perspective on what it was like to grow a global platform in a new industry where the rules were still being written.
“While many people congratulated me on being number one, something else gave me more satisfaction,” CZ writes in the book. “I was getting messages from users all around the world thanking us for providing them with financial access or even financial freedom.”
The memoir also reflects on the challenges that came with building at such speed, including the pressures of scaling a global company, regulatory scrutiny as the industry matured, and CZ’s personal experience serving a four month sentence in a U.S. federal prison.
“This memoir is not a sanitized corporate story,” CZ said. “It reflects on what it was like to build during a time when the crypto industry was still taking shape – the successes, the mistakes, and the lessons that came from both.”
Freedom of Money offers a founder’s perspective on the challenges and opportunities that shaped digital assets during their formative years
Alongside the events that defined CZ’s career, Freedom of Money explores broader themes of money, technology and responsibility, and how his views on financial freedom have evolved over time.
Reflecting on a Defining Period in Crypto
Over the past decade, Binance has played a significant role in the growth of the digital asset ecosystem, helping support the development of infrastructure used by millions of users globally.
Freedom of Money provides CZ’s personal perspective on that period of rapid innovation and expansion in the cryptocurrency industry.
Richard Teng, Co-CEO of Binance, said: “The story of Binance is closely tied to the early evolution of the crypto industry. Freedom of Money offers a founder’s perspective on the challenges and opportunities that shaped digital assets during their formative years.”
Yi He, Co-Ceo of Binance, added: “The early days of crypto were fast-moving and full of possibility, even if not always fully understood. This book captures the energy of building in that moment and the incredible progress the industry has made since.”
Rachel Conlan, Chief Marketing Officer at Binance, said: “For many people, the story of crypto has been told through headlines and market cycles. What this book offers is a first person account from someone who helped build the infrastructure behind the industry’s growth.
Availability
Freedom of Money (https://apo-opa.co/4muGafd) is available globally 08 April 2026 on Amazon Kindle and Paperback.
The book is published in English and Chinese, with additional translations under consideration.
All proceeds from CZ’s authorship of the book will be donated to charity
At AEW 2026, Senegal’s Energy Minister Birame Soulèye Diop is expected to outline Senegal’s integrated hydrocarbons, gas and power strategy at AEW
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 13, 2026/APO Group/ –Senegal is reinforcing the policy architecture behind its new hydrocarbons era, with the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum and Mines launching reforms to the legal framework for local content in the extractive sector in March 2026. The reforms are aimed at improving national value retention while maintaining momentum on upstream and infrastructure development.
The move comes as Dakar works to translate first oil and first gas into broader industrial growth, stronger domestic participation and long-term energy security. Against this backdrop, Birame Soulèye Diop, Senegal’s Minister of Energy, Petroleum and Mines, will speak at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 – taking place in Cape Town from October 12-16 – where he is expected to present Senegal’s roadmap for balancing investor engagement, gas monetization and sovereign energy development.
Minister Diop represents the kind of pragmatic African leadership that is turning resource potential into real economic transformation
In January 2026, 3.8 million barrels of crude oil were exported from the Sangomar field, while the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project is expected to nearly double its LNG cargoes in 2026 as the FLNG ramp‑up continues. Beyond current production, Senegal is also pushing to expand its resource pipeline. Petrosen has announced plans for a $100 million onshore exploration program in 2026, while the government has also signaled a stronger strategic focus on Yakaar-Teranga, with Senegalese investors encouraged to take a greater role in developing the 25 trillion cubic feet gas resource to prioritize domestic needs while keeping export optionality on the table.
Dakar is now focused on the next phase: using domestic gas resources to lower electricity costs, improve fuel security and support industrial competitiveness. A key pillar of this strategy is the 250 MW Gandon power plant, expected to be supplied through new gas infrastructure linked to the GTA system, alongside the broader Cap des Biches and northern gas corridor buildout. At the same time, Dakar is continuing to strengthen the regulatory foundations of its power transition. In March 2026, the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum and Mines validated Senegal’s first national standards for solar photovoltaic equipment, a move designed to improve quality, safety and performance as the country scales renewable energy deployment in parallel with oil and gas infrastructure.
At AEW 2026, Minister Diop is expected to provide strategic insight into how Senegal is navigating the transition from discovery and commissioning to full-scale execution. His participation is set to reinforce Senegal as one of the few frontier African producers pursuing an integrated model that combines hydrocarbons, gas-to-power and renewables under a single national development agenda.
“Minister Diop represents the kind of pragmatic African leadership that is turning resource potential into real economic transformation. Senegal is showing how first oil and first gas can become the basis for industrial growth, stronger regional integration and long-term energy security and his insights will bring great value to AEW 2026,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.