Keynote Panel: Big Tech and Telcos: Collaborating on Digital Infrastructure Investment

With the digital infrastructure funding gap in Africa expected to reach $100 billion by 2030, and a projected 615M new internet users by 2025, significant private investment is required to enhance value, reduce costs, and make telecom services more affordable.

As telecom operators face mounting pressure to increase spending, and explore partnerships with global tech and OTT providers, major consumers of African telecom connectivity. This panel unpacks how disruptive solutions, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and co-investments can drive digitalisation and ensure effective last-mile delivery.

• Collaborative investment: how mediation, PPPs, and fair regulatory frameworks can help African governments balance the investment interests of digital infrastructure stakeholders.

• A role for tech giants: is the investment from global tech giants in Africa's digital infrastructure through subsea cables, fibre networks, and data centres, sufficient and equitable?