Looking for the top startup events in Africa for 2026? This guide covers 23 of the continent’s most relevant startup conferences, technology exhibitions, founder gatherings, investor summits, and fintech and AI events.
Africa’s event calendar is concentrated in a handful of major innovation hubs. Across cities including Marrakech, Cairo, Nairobi, Lagos, Cape Town, Accra, Johannesburg, and Algiers, these events bring founders together with investors, corporations, regulators, researchers, and startup ecosystem organizations.
The selection is based on more than attendance alone. Each event offers meaningful value to founders, investors, corporate innovation teams, or ecosystem organisations. The guide includes continental flagships, founder and ecosystem conferences, curated investor summits, and specialist fintech, AI, and deep-tech events, spread across North, East, West, and Southern Africa.
Event visibility is one of the signals StartupBlink tracks when ranking ecosystems in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index. Cities that host recurring international events tend to score higher on global connectedness, and many of the ecosystems below, including Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo, Cape Town, and Marrakech, appear in our ranking of the top startup ecosystems in Africa.
| Event | Month | Date / next edition | City | Country | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RiseUp Summit | Feb | Feb. 5–7, 2026 | Cairo | Egypt | Cross-sector |
| Africa Tech Summit | Feb | Next: Feb. 10–11, 2027 | Nairobi | Kenya | Startup / VC |
| Sankalp Africa Summit | Feb | Feb. 25–26, 2026 | Nairobi | Kenya | Investment |
| Africa Deep Tech Conference | Feb | Feb. 24–27, 2026 | Lagos | Nigeria | AI / Deep Tech |
| SA Innovation Week | Mar | Mar. 16–20, 2026 | Johannesburg | South Africa | Startup / VC |
| GITEX Africa | Apr | Next: 2027 (TBA) | Marrakech | Morocco | Cross-sector |
| AVCA Conference | Apr | Next: Apr. 2027 | Abidjan | Côte d'Ivoire | Investment |
| 3i Africa Summit | May | May 6–8, 2026 | Accra | Ghana | Fintech |
| AI Everything Kenya x GITEX Kenya | May | Next: May 12–14, 2027 | Nairobi | Kenya | AI / Deep Tech |
| GITEX Nigeria | Aug | Aug. 31–Sept. 3, 2026 | Abuja & Lagos | Nigeria | Cross-sector |
| Deep Learning Indaba | Aug | Aug. 2–7, 2026 | Lagos | Nigeria | AI / Deep Tech |
| Nigeria Fintech Week | Sep | Sept. 22–23, 2026 | Lagos | Nigeria | Fintech |
| Seamless Africa | Sep | Sept. 8–9, 2026 | Johannesburg | South Africa | Fintech |
| Techne Summit | Oct | Oct. 3–5, 2026 | Cairo & Alexandria | Egypt | Cross-sector |
| OffChart NXT | Oct | Oct. 22–23, 2026 | Port Harcourt | Nigeria | Startup / VC |
| Moonshot by TechCabal | Oct | Oct. 28–29, 2026 | Lagos | Nigeria | Startup / VC |
| AI Expo Africa | Oct | Oct. 28–29, 2026 | Johannesburg | South Africa | AI / Deep Tech |
| Africa Tech Festival | Nov | Nov. 17–19, 2026 | Cape Town | South Africa | Cross-sector |
| Tech in Ghana | Nov | Nov. 24–25, 2026 | Accra | Ghana | Startup / VC |
| Africa Early Stage Investor Summit | Nov | Nov. 25–26, 2026 | Cape Town | South Africa | Investment |
| Africa Fintech Summit | Nov | Nov. 18–20, 2026 | Kigali | Rwanda | Fintech |
| African Startup Conference | Dec | Dec. 5–7, 2026 | Algiers | Algeria | Startup / VC |
| AfricArena Grand Summit | Dec | Dec. 2026 (TBC) | Cape Town | South Africa | Investment |
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Biggest Startup and Technology Events in Africa
The biggest events on the continent combine large exhibitions, international delegations, and the broadest exposure for founders, investors, and corporates. They are built around scale and reach rather than curation.
GITEX Africa in Marrakech
Location: Marrakech, Morocco Next edition: 2027, dates to be announced 2026 edition: April 7–9
GITEX Africa is the continent’s largest technology exhibition, run by KAOUN International, the organiser of GITEX Global in Dubai. Its 2026 edition drew more than 55,000 participants to Marrakech across enterprise technology, startups, government delegations, and international investors.
For startups, the value is scale and access: a dedicated startup and investor programme sits inside a much larger exhibition of enterprise buyers, telecom operators, and public-sector procurement teams from across Africa and the Gulf. Its scale makes it particularly useful for founders seeking corporate customers, government buyers, international partners, and investor exposure.
Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town
Location: Cape Town, South Africa Date: November 17–19, 2026
Africa Tech Festival, anchored by AfricaCom and AfricaTech, is one of the continent’s longest-running technology gatherings. It convenes telecom operators, enterprise technology vendors, hyperscalers, and a growing startup and investment programme at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Its centre of gravity is connectivity and digital infrastructure rather than early-stage venture, which makes it most useful for founders building in telecoms, cloud, data, and enterprise software, and for corporates and investors tracking Africa’s infrastructure layer. Co-located AI and startup summits broaden the programme beyond its telecom roots.
GITEX Nigeria in Abuja and Lagos
Location: Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria Date: August 31–September 3, 2026
GITEX Nigeria brings the GITEX platform to West Africa’s largest economy under federal government patronage, opening in Abuja with a government and AI leadership summit before moving to Lagos for the main exhibition. The 2026 programme spans a Startup Festival, an investor track, and a dedicated financial-technology and digital-assets programme.
The Lagos leg is built around investment-ready founders, accelerators, and the investors active across Nigeria’s fintech and software ecosystem. For companies entering or scaling in Nigeria, it concentrates regulators, corporates, and capital in one place.
RiseUp Summit in Cairo
Location: Cairo, Egypt Next edition: to be announced (2026 edition: February 5–7)
RiseUp is one of North Africa’s largest entrepreneurship gatherings, held most recently at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. It brings founders together with investors, corporate partners, and startup support organisations from across the Middle East and Africa.
Its programme is weighted toward founder education, market entry, and investor access rather than exhibition scale, and it is a strong entry point into the Egyptian ecosystem. Programming spans funding, AI, creative industries, and cross-border expansion.
Techne Summit in Cairo and Alexandria
Location: Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt Date: September 26–27, 2026 (Cairo); October 3–5, 2026 (Alexandria)
Techne Summit is a Mediterranean technology and entrepreneurship event that in 2026 spans two Egyptian legs: a capital and policy programme in Cairo on September 26–27, and its established gathering in Alexandria on October 3–5. It connects founders, investors, and corporates across the Mediterranean and North Africa.
The Alexandria event combines startup competitions, investor meetings, and workshops, while the Cairo leg leans toward capital and policy audiences. Together they suit founders looking to expand between North Africa and southern Europe.
Best Startup Conferences and Founder Events in Africa
These events prioritise direct founder access, pitching, and ecosystem networking over exhibition scale. Several are the strongest entry points into a specific national market.
Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi
Location: Nairobi, Kenya Date: February 10–11, 2027
Africa Tech Summit Nairobi is one of East Africa’s strongest events for investment and dealmaking, convening founders, investors, corporates, and regulators from across the continent. The next edition takes place on February 10–11, 2027.
Its programme is organised around structured tracks covering payments and digital assets, AI, climate technology, and startup growth, with a curated investor showcase and international delegations. That format makes it particularly useful for founders raising capital and investors seeking African deal flow.
Moonshot by TechCabal in Lagos
Location: Lagos, Nigeria Date: October 28–29, 2026
Moonshot is the flagship gathering of TechCabal, one of Africa’s most-read technology publications. It draws founders, operators, investors, and technology leaders to Lagos, with more than 5,700 attendees at the 2025 edition.
The 2026 programme adds a Startup Festival, an investor conference, and deal rooms alongside tracks on emerging and climate technology. Its combination of media reach and investor density gives founders unusual access to both capital and coverage.
OffChart NXT in Port Harcourt
Location: Port Harcourt, Nigeria Date: October 22–23, 2026
OffChart NXT is the evolution of the #StartupSouth Conference, the platform that has convened founders across Nigeria’s south for a decade. It brings founders, investors, operators, corporates, and policymakers together around opportunities emerging beyond Africa’s traditional startup hubs, with delegations from across Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe expected in 2026.
The multi-track format carries over from earlier editions, with a startup challenge, exhibition space, and structured investor access alongside the main programme. Organisers report over 1,500 attendees annually and more than 30 cities represented. For founders and ecosystem organisations looking past Lagos and Abuja, it is the clearest entry point into Nigeria’s southern markets.
African Startup Conference in Algiers
Location: Algiers, Algeria Date: December 5–7, 2026
The African Startup Conference is a pan-African, government-backed gathering held under the patronage of the President of Algeria in cooperation with the AfCFTA Secretariat. Its 2026 edition centres on deep tech, AI, robotics, and science.
It convenes startups, investors, and policymakers around a continental startup and technology roadmap, with pitch activity and investor meetings. For founders and ecosystem organisations focused on North Africa and cross-border trade, it is an important annual meeting point.
Tech in Ghana in Accra
Location: Accra, Ghana Date: November 24–25, 2026
Tech in Ghana is the country’s longest-running technology conference, running since 2017 as a twice-yearly platform in Accra and London. The Accra 2026 edition takes place on November 24–25 at The Palms Convention Centre.
It convenes founders, corporates, regulators, investors, policymakers, and academia around Ghana’s digital economy, with programming across fintech, AI, digital infrastructure, and the creative industries. Its cross-border format connects the local ecosystem to international delegations and capital.
SA Innovation Week in Johannesburg
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Next edition: to be announced (2026 edition: March 18–20, NASREC)
SA Innovation Week is South Africa’s national innovation platform, launched in 2026 by the Technology Innovation Agency with the SA Innovation Summit. Its 2026 edition combined provincial activations with a three-day flagship at the NASREC Expo Centre on March 18–20.
The programme combines conference programming with startup commercialisation, pitching, corporate adoption, and early-stage investment. It connects entrepreneurs with capital and corporate supply chains, and gives investors a coordinated view of South African deal flow.
Best Startup Events in Africa for Investors and Fundraising
These events place deal flow, pitching, and structured founder-investor meetings at the centre, from continental venture summits to curated impact and private-capital gatherings.
AfricArena Grand Summit in Cape Town
Location: Cape Town, South Africa Date: December 2026, exact date to be confirmed
The AfricArena Grand Summit is the finale of AfricArena’s annual tour of regional pitch events, which in 2026 ran through Kinshasa, Nairobi, and Dakar before the Cape Town summit. It showcases the startups surfaced across that tour to an international investor audience.
The format centres on curated startup pitches, investor matchmaking, and corporate innovation rather than exhibition scale. The 2026 Grand Summit takes place in Cape Town in December, with the exact date to be confirmed.
AVCA Conference and VC Summit in Abidjan
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Next edition: April 2027, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire 2026 edition: April 27–30, Nairobi
The AVCA Conference, run by the African Private Capital Association, is the continent’s leading private-capital gathering, convening general partners, limited partners, development finance institutions, and growth-stage founders. Its 2026 edition brought more than 800 delegates from over 50 countries to Nairobi, including more than 220 institutional capital allocators.
The 2027 edition moves to Abidjan, extending AVCA’s reach into Francophone West Africa. It is the best fit on the continent for institutional investors and fund managers, and for later-stage founders building relationships with the funds deploying across Africa.
Africa Early Stage Investor Summit in Cape Town
Location: Cape Town, South Africa Date: November 25–26, 2026
The Africa Early Stage Investor Summit (AESIS), run by the African Business Angel Network and VC4A, is the continent’s specialised event for early-stage investors. It gathers business angels, seed and early-stage funds, and syndicates investing in African ventures on November 25–26 in Cape Town.
Its investor-centric format makes it most valuable for angels and seed funds refining their approach to the continent, and for founders who want to understand how early-stage African capital is evolving.
Sankalp Africa Summit in Nairobi
Location: Nairobi, Kenya Next edition: to be announced (2026 edition: February 25–26)
The Sankalp Africa Summit, run by Intellecap, is one of the continent’s leading gatherings for impact-driven entrepreneurship. Its 2026 edition took place in Nairobi on February 25–26.
It combines founders in agritech, cleantech, and financial inclusion with impact investors, development finance institutions, and inclusive-business capital. That focus distinguishes it from the broader technology expos and makes it the reference event for catalytic and impact capital in East Africa.
Best Fintech Events in Africa
Africa’s fintech calendar spans central-bank-backed policy summits, association flagships, and payments trade shows, across Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Africa Fintech Summit in Kigali
Location: Kigali, Rwanda Date: November 18–20, 2026
The Africa Fintech Summit is a leading platform for the continent’s financial-technology sector, held twice a year with one African edition. The 2026 African edition takes place in Kigali on November 18–20.
It connects fintech founders with investors, banks, regulators, and international financial-sector players, and includes an early-stage startup pitch component. Its blend of capital, policy, and product makes it a key event for payments, lending, and financial-infrastructure startups.
3i Africa Summit in Accra
Location: Accra, Ghana Next edition: to be announced (2026 edition: May 6–8)
The 3i Africa Summit, launched in 2024, is a major pan-African digital-finance gathering hosted by the Bank of Ghana with GhIPSS and the Global Finance and Technology Network. Its 2026 edition took place in Accra on May 6–8.
Built around innovation, investment, and impact, it convenes central banks, regulators, fintech builders, institutional investors, and founders, with programming on tokenisation, digital public infrastructure, and cross-border payments. Its regulator and central-bank access is unusual among African fintech events.
Nigeria Fintech Week in Lagos
Location: Lagos, Nigeria Date: September 22–23, 2026
Nigeria Fintech Week is the flagship event of the Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR) and one of the continent’s largest fintech gatherings; its 2025 edition drew more than 12,500 attendees across a multi-city format. The 2026 edition takes place on September 22–23 in Lagos, with activity extending to Abuja and Port Harcourt.
It convenes founders, banks, investors, regulators, and policymakers around payments, digital assets, financial inclusion, and infrastructure. Its association backing gives founders direct engagement with Nigerian regulators and the banking sector.
Seamless Africa in Johannesburg
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Date: September 8–9, 2026
Seamless Africa, organised by Terrapinn, is one of the continent’s largest payments, fintech, banking, and retail events, held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on September 8–9, 2026.
Its audience skews toward banks, payment companies, and merchants rather than pure early-stage startups, but a dedicated startup and investor component makes it useful for fintech founders selling into financial institutions and retailers across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Best AI and Deep Tech Events in Africa
The continent’s AI calendar ranges from commercial enterprise expos to grassroots research gatherings and frontier-technology startup events, so the four below serve genuinely different audiences.
AI Everything Kenya x GITEX Kenya in Nairobi
Location: Nairobi, Kenya Date: May 12–14, 2027 2026 edition: May 19–21
AI Everything Kenya x GITEX Kenya is the East African edition of the GITEX and AI Everything portfolio, run by KAOUN International with Kenya’s Office of the Special Envoy on Technology. Its inaugural 2026 edition ran May 19–21; the next edition is set for May 12–14, 2027.
The format combines a policy summit with an enterprise expo and startup programming, co-located with startup, cybersecurity, and agritech events. It connects AI companies, startups, investors, and government across one of Africa’s fastest-growing technology hubs.
AI Expo Africa in Johannesburg
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Date: October 28–29, 2026
AI Expo Africa is the continent’s largest enterprise AI and intelligent-automation trade show, now in its ninth edition, held at the Sandton Convention Centre on October 28–29, 2026. It draws around 3,500 delegates, most of them decision-makers.
Its focus is applied, business-facing AI: enterprise buyers, technology suppliers, government, and a startup zone with investor activity. Founders selling AI products into African enterprise and government get the most from its case-study and procurement-oriented programme.
Deep Learning Indaba in Lagos
Location: Lagos, Nigeria Next edition: to be announced (2026 edition: August 2–7)
The Deep Learning Indaba is Africa’s leading machine-learning research and community gathering, held in 2026 at Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos on August 2–7 under the theme Sovereign Intelligence. It convened more than 1,000 participants from 45 countries.
Unlike the commercial AI expos, its programme is built around technical training, research presentations, and community building, spanning GPU programming, quantum machine learning, and applied AI in health and climate. It is the reference event for Africa’s AI research and technical talent.
Africa Deep Tech Conference in Lagos
Location: Lagos, Nigeria Next edition: to be announced (2026 edition: February 24–27)
The Africa Deep Tech Conference is a startup-oriented frontier-technology gathering, launched in 2026 in Lagos by the Africa Deep Tech Foundation with Omniverse Africa. Its inaugural edition ran February 24–27.
It connects founders, funders, corporates, policymakers, and researchers across AI, robotics, quantum computing, biotechnology, Web3, and XR. More commercially oriented than the research-focused Indaba, it is aimed at builders commercialising hardware and frontier technology on the continent.
Who Should Attend Startup Events in Africa?
Startup founders can use these events to meet investors, identify customers, explore new markets, and develop relationships with corporate and ecosystem partners. Many offer startup exhibitions, pitch competitions, investor matchmaking, or dedicated founder programmes.
Investors and venture capital firms attend to discover African deal flow, meet founders, compare regional markets, and build relationships with other investors, angel networks, corporations, and ecosystem organisations. Our ranking of the best countries for startups is a useful companion when deciding which markets to prioritise.
Corporations can use the events for technology scouting, startup partnerships, procurement, corporate venturing, and direct engagement with founders. Specialist fintech, AI, and deep-tech events also provide access to sector-specific technology providers and decision-makers.
Startup ecosystem organisations and government agencies can organise delegations, promote their ecosystems, attract founders and investors, develop international partnerships, and study how other cities and countries support entrepreneurship.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive special discounts for our community on select startup and technology events in Africa.
If you are a startup event looking to partner with us for your next event, contact us for speaking engagements and promotional activities.
If you are a startup event looking to generate leads for your next event, check out advertising opportunities with StartupBlink.
