Monocle Radio: Gitex Africa. It is in its third year and it's among the continents biggest tech and innovation shows it is backed by Dubai, which highlights the role that the UAE has been playing in Africa of late. And like so many other industries and fairs, it has been impacted by the US tariff debate and trade wars.

And what that means for African businesses, entrepreneurs and economies. Well, Tamy Emma Pepin is strategy and communications consultant who joins us from the summit in Morocco now. Tamy, thanks very much for coming on the show. Tell us a little more, first of all about Gitex Africa. What is it exactly?

Tamy Emma Pepin : My pleasure, Chris, and thank you so much for having me.

GITEX Africa is the continent's largest technology and startup event organized under the patronage of the King of Morocco. We are entering day three here, the final day of the summit.

It's been incredibly vibrant, a very busy event with thousands of people here in Marrakech - policymakers, innovators, startups, VC, and they're all converging to shape the future of digital transformation, innovation and life in Africa.

It's way more than a consumer tech event – it’s a major ecosystem moment. We’re seeing new ecosystems that are taking off across all sectors through the lens of this digital transformation.

And as you've mentioned, in the context of the tariffs and a lot of uncertainty from economies that are traditionally stable. So, it's a lot of opportunity for the continent.

We're seeing unity and it's also incredibly layered.

So, I'd like to maybe go over the ecosystems and then perhaps dive into a few of those components.

Some of the core themes of the convention this year, as you’ve mentioned Chris, in its third year, obviously AI and everything that comes with that. So, research, talent engineering, cloud, Internet of Things; and with that obviously comes the infrastructure that's needed to support that.

We’re talking about data centers, land, energy, regional and international data policy around regulatory frameworks for the Internet, smart cities, food, agriculture, climate, renewables to power all of this.

Then there's finance and fintech, banking, telecoms, cybersecurity, education, health and youth and entrepreneurship. So, it's very diverse with a lot of opportunity.

It's obviously all interconnected.

It's been very interesting to see the solutions that are being set forth by local innovators who have a clear understanding of the local dynamics and who are really driven by a passion to solve real problems.

Then we're also seeing the importance of the African Diaspora, which is a huge segment of the global population.

They are not just positioned as a market or as an audience, but as partners in the development of this infrastructure - acting as a bridge between local communities and international partners. And also serving a role in terms of cultural diplomacy.

So it's been really interesting, and I'd like to maybe dive into a few of these themes, starting with the digital economy and AI itself.

We’ve heard at the summit that Africa's digital economy is projected to contribute $180 billion to GDP by the end of this year.

And AI, meanwhile, globally is expected to add $15.7 trillion to the global economy. Other estimates have it at $20 trillion. From the African perspective, what we’re seeing is that innovators, corporates, and institutions, are positioning themselves not just as users of this tech, but as actual builders that are applying the technology to real world challenges and to local realities.

For example, this is impacting, it's impacting all sectors.

In agriculture for example, we're seeing innovators present tools around resource management, water security, soil health.

In education, we’re seeing institutions developing tools to engage parents that might, you know, have lower literacy rates to engage in their child's schooling.

We're seeing a rise in urbanization across the whole continent and with that comes the co-creation of smart cities, comes a need for power and energy, renewables, decentralized grids, digital payment systems. There's been tremendous opportunity there.

Health is also a key sector, and has been at the center of a lot of conversations happening at GITEX here in Marrakech.

The healthcare sector is projected to reach $259 billion by 2030. From the perspectives here, the conversations are around sovereign data systems, data security, local infrastructure.

And this tech is going to apply to everything from the actual systems of how local communities engage with their healthcare providers to access to telemedicine, diagnostics care. Now with that comes conversations around data policy.

There are over 100 government delegations here in Marrakech for the event.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Stefan Schnorr, Germany's state secretary for digital and Transport. He was also giving a keynote address yesterday on the topic of data policy and Germany's role in the collaboration with Africa.

More specifically, he's emphasizing the urgency to create an international framework for digital cooperation and he is strongly advocating for an open and free Internet in a context, where, you know, the Internet …  it's not just browsers on our computers. Here in Africa, Internet of Things is connected to agriculture, to education, to our homes.

So really advocating for a free Internet so that companies from all over the world can communicate. For that, he's advocating for a multi stakeholder approach. And this is also in the context of the UN having to decide if the IGF, which is the Internet Governance Forum, is going to stay in the future or if there's going to be another regulation for the Internet.



 
For more information, tailored insight into Africa’s digital economy, regulatory environment, or investment opportunities — particularly across sustainability, infrastructure, or creative sectors — you can reach Tamy Emma Pepin directly via her consultancy, or by email. Pepin runs a boutique cultural communications office and digital economy agency in Canada and Marrakech, and sits on Morocco’s British Business Association’s Communications Committee.

Monocle Radio is an internet radio station, broadcasting from Monocle’s headquarters at Midori House in London, England. On weekdays, the station produces three hours of live, current affairs-based programmes. It also broadcasts weekly shows on business; culture; design; food and hospitality; print media and urbanism. Music fills the rest of the schedule, hosted by Monocle staff. Monocle Radio (originally Monocle 24) was launched in October 2011 and broadcasts in English, primarily from London, but with an international focus. It is a brand extension of Monocle, a magazine founded in 2007 by Canadian journalist and entrepreneur Tyler Brûlé.