Africa’s digital economy is advancing rapidly. Governments across the continent are rolling out broadband strategies, announcing data-center pipelines, refining cloud policies, and, increasingly, publishing artificial-intelligence road maps. Yet a persistent gap remains between ambition and delivery – between what is announced and what is actually financed, built, interconnected, and used.
That execution gap is the focus of the Africa Digital Infrastructure Outlook Session, convened by Africa Hyperscalers, which brings together regulators, infrastructure operators, investors, and development-finance institutions to assess what is realistically achievable by 2026.
The session, themed “From Ambition to Assets: Building Africa’s Digital Infrastructure Reality in 2026,” is designed as a reality check. Rather than forecasting trends, the discussion will interrogate delivery economics: where capital is flowing, where it is hesitating, and why so many digital-infrastructure projects stall between policy declaration and physical completion.
Proceedings will open with a market brief keynote by Guy Zibi, Founder and Principal of Xalam Analytics, offering a pan-African view of demand signals, infrastructure readiness, and capital flows across connectivity, data centers, and cloud. This will be followed by a high-level panel discussion themed “Translating Africa’s Digital Infrastructure Ambition into Bankability.”
Confirmed speakers include Akin Akin-Taylor, Investment Principal, Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM); Alma Nurshaikhova, Senior Digital Specialist, The World Bank; Dr. Ayotunde Coker, Chief Executive Officer, Open Access Data Centres; Ilias Djouai, Vice President, Investments, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC); Dr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Robert Skjodt, Chief Executive Officer, Raxio Group; Vivek Mittal, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Infrastructure Development Association (AfIDA); and Kazeem Oladepo, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, IHS, who will moderate the session.
By grounding the conversation in execution realities rather than aspiration, the session aims to clarify what will actually be built, what will be delayed, and what risks becoming stranded as Africa’s digital economy moves toward 2026.
