Global Tech Africa, GTA, Conference 2026 is set to move to Kano, with organisers targeting technology-enabled industrialisation, expanded market access and stronger trade connections across a Sahel market estimated at more than 350 million people.
The conference, organised by Futuremap Foundation in partnership with the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, MTN Nigeria and other partners including the National Communications Commission, NCC, will hold from November 3 to 5, 2026, in Kano.
Speaking at the World Press Conference in Lagos ahead of the event, Executive Director, Futuremap Foundation, Dr Shuaib Sani Shuaib, said the decision to take GTA to Kano was informed by the need to bridge the gap between producers and consumers through technology.
According to him, Kano’s strategic position as a gateway to the Sahel makes it suitable for conversations around industrial production, market access, regional trade and technology.
He illustrated the challenge with the story of a young man in Kano who had the skills and raw materials to produce leather shoes but lacked access to the market where potential buyers could be found.
He said: “The leather is there, the skill to make the shoe is there but then hundreds of kilometers away there is another young man that wants to buy the same shoe.
“But at the end of the day there is a disjoint between these two individuals for the fact that the producer does not know how to be able to link up to the person that is going to be buying the shoe.
“So the Global Tech Africa Conference is trying to bring the missing piece into this and is trying to use technology to be able to bridge the gap between market access and industrialization.”
Shuaib said the conference, themed, “Connecting Africa, Accelerating Growth,” with the sub-theme, “Industrialization, Market Access & the Sahel Gateway,” would focus on practical ways technology could strengthen industrial and trade corridors across Africa.
He said the organisers were particularly interested in areas including digitalisation of industrial value chains, agriculture and leather production, traceability and export readiness, digital payments for cross-border trade, smart logistics, e-commerce, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
Shuaib said GTA 2026 would build on the outcome of the 2024 Lagos edition, which attracted more than 6,000 participants, featured over 100 speakers and delivered more than 85 sessions, while facilitating trade and investment commitments valued at $5 million.
He said the Kano edition would bring together technology leaders, industrialists, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and development partners to examine how technology could be deployed to unlock industrial and commercial opportunities across the continent, particularly in the Sahel.
According to him, the conference is also designed to explore opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, by strengthening the relationship between technology, industry and trade.
“We also wanted to ensure that we use technology to strengthen a corridor that is not much spoken about for the fact that Sahel has been neglected in a lot of areas,” he said.
“And we believe because of the population, the market size, the resources that are there, it’s high time for platforms like the Global Tech Africa Conference to be able to have a focus on that.”
Shuaib said the organisers had set specific targets for the Kano edition, including at least 15 industrial partnerships, 1,000 business-to-business meetings, 10 trade corridor agreements and a digital industrial accord that could serve as a reference for digital industrialisation across Africa.
He added that GTA 2026 was also targeting a pipeline of more than 500 potential jobs and at least three sister-city or regional trade agreements involving participating countries.
He said the conference would feature speakers from across Africa and beyond, drawn from government, academia, development organisations and the private sector.
He added that activities leading to the main conference would include mixers, masterclasses and an innovation challenge, while special initiatives at the conference would include decision labs, deal rooms, industrial design sprints, cross-border collaborations, trade simulations, challenge rooms and a policy lab.
Giving an overview of the programme, Project Manager, GTA, Mubarak Yusuf, said the conference would provide opportunities for young people, startups and small and medium-sized enterprises to build capacity and connect with investors and other stakeholders.
He said: “We are also going to be having a lot of sessions which include keynotes, fireside chat and live conversations and panels. We are expecting sessions on artificial intelligence, climate innovation, technology and industrial development.”
Yusuf said the programme would also feature investor meetups, founder networking, investor roundtables and business engagements.
He said the conference would conclude with a cultural and networking programme designed to bring together the business, government, technology and investment communities.
He urged businesses, investors, technology companies, government institutions, development partners, entrepreneurs and ecosystem organisations to participate in the Kano edition.
“Global Tech Africa is inviting businesses, investors, technology companies, government institutions, development partners, entrepreneurs and ecosystem organizations to participate in Kano edition and contribute to a practical conversation about how technology can support industrialization and market access,” Yusuf said.
Also speaking, SM Innovation, MTN Nigeria, Chinyelu Chikwendu, said MTN was supporting the initiative because of its alignment with the company’s focus on connectivity, innovation, business growth and skills development.
Chikwendu said MTN was “always excited to be a part of anything that has to do with the progressing growth of Nigeria and Nigerian businesses.”
She said the telecommunications company currently served more than 100 million people and businesses in Nigeria and over 300 million across Africa, adding that initiatives such as GTA provided opportunities to extend support to businesses and the technology ecosystem.
“At MTN we are connecting intelligence. We are catalyzing innovation. We are commercializing solutions through various platforms, through our various distribution channels,” she said.
She added that MTN was also supporting capacity building and skills development through its foundation.
According to her, the company launched its cloud accelerator programme the previous year, supporting more than 20 businesses with grants, mentorship and other resources required to grow their businesses.
Chikwendu said MTN would continue to support initiatives aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s technology and startup ecosystem.
“We are really happy to be here today and we look forward to joining the organizers to drive this growth across Nigeria and across Africa,” she said.
The organisers said the Kano conference would provide a platform for business-to-business engagement, investor-founder connections, government-investor dialogue, industrial partnerships and regional trade discussions.
They said the central focus would be on moving conversations around African technology beyond digital innovation to its practical application in production, business expansion, job creation, trade and economic development.