The 7th Edition of the Connected Africa Summit 2026 took place on 15 October 2026 at the NH Johannesburg Sandton. It brought together regulators, telecom operators, infrastructure providers and technology innovators under the theme "Driving Africa's Telecom Shift to Digital Platforms and Next-Gen Infrastructure." Telecom operators across the continent are moving from network provision to platform-based digital services. This shift is driven by the rapid expansion of 5G, fibre backbones, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital identity and fintech-telco convergence. The summit explored the partnerships and execution models needed to accelerate that modernisation. The 2026 programme featured speakers from telecom, government, cloud, cybersecurity and fintech, including: Katharina Pillay, CEO, South African Telecommunications Forum Joseph Ndaba, Commissioner 4IR, Republic of South Africa Dr Siyabonga Mahlangu, Advocate of the High Court of South Africa, Member of Johannesburg Society of Advocates Matt Crow, Head of Regional Expansion, Tether Vikash Barath, Group Head: Video and TV, MTN Martins Ogbolu, Group Executive, International Risk and Compliance, Vodacom Ekta Singh, Executive Head: Telco IT, Vodacom Thembisile Mazibuko-Kahimbaara, Group Strategy and Business Management Officer, Seacom Nndondeni Mudau, Senior Specialist: RAN, MTN South Africa Jowi Nkwe, Senior Manager: WAN (SAPS), State Information Technology Agency (SITA) Koketso Rihlampfu, CISO Senior Manager: Lead Information Security Officer, MTN Eric Lundberg, Cybersecurity Consultant and Co-Founder, blueflare Consulting Tether joined the summit as Gold Sponsor. Tether is the company behind USDT, the world's most widely used stablecoin. In May 2026 it announced a broader strategic expansion beyond stablecoin issuance, into gold-backed assets, artificial intelligence, compliance and payment infrastructure. Africa has become a key focus for the company. Tether has invested in the cross-border payments firm MANSA, which serves clients based in Africa, and in Shiga Digital, and it has run a Bitcoin mining programme with African links. It has also invested in LemFi to expand USDT remittances across Africa and Asia. In Zanzibar, Tether is advancing blockchain education and has expressed interest in integrating USDT and XAUT into the local payments system, ZanMalipo. Other recent work includes a collaboration with HoneyCoin to expand stablecoin access across Africa, and a joint initiative with the United Nations to safeguard Africa's digital economy. The demand behind this is growing. USDT usage in African markets grew 18.6% year on year in 2025, according to coverage of the Accra Stablecoin Conference 2026, where Tether was also a lead sponsor. Tether's sponsorship reflected the growing convergence of telecom, digital payments and financial inclusion across the continent, a theme central to this year's summit. Matt Crow, Tether's Head of Regional Expansion, delivered the keynote “Beyond Correspondent Banking: The History and Future of Stablecoins” and joined the executive panel “Building Inclusive Digital Ecosystems Across Africa.” Past editions of Connected Africa have drawn: The 2026 edition again offered main-stage keynotes, executive panels and a fireside chat, with networking throughout the day in The Connected Lounge. Event: 7th Edition Connected Africa Summit 2026 Venue: NH Johannesburg Sandton, South Africa Future editions, sponsorship and speaker enquiries: https://connected-africa.com/summit/ Connected Africa is a leading telecom and digital infrastructure summit series that convenes the continent's telco, government, banking, cloud and technology ecosystems to drive Africa's digital transformation.