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Nqobile Bhebhe in Victoria Falls

The sixth edition  of the continents prestigious Transform Africa Summit (TAS) kicks off this morning, 26 April, here in Victoria Falls with over 3 000 local and international guests due to attend.

The summit is Africa’s leading annual forum bringing together global and regional leaders as well as digital experts to collaborate on new ways of shaping, accelerating and sustaining Africa’s on-going digital revolution.

Its being held under the theme: “Connect, Innovate and Transform.”

President Mnangagwa is due to host King Mswati III who arrived on  Tuesday evening, Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia and Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe of Togo at the conference.

Serbia deputy Prime Minister Sinisa Mali, 40 ministers, and scores of executives of leading financial institutions in Africa will join over 3 000 delegates from over 100 countries at the TAS.

Soon after their arrival at the Victoria Falls International Airport the head of states are expected to hold a closed door  briefing session at the venue and then embark on a guided tour.

According to  the official  programme, Smart Africa Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Mr Didier Nkurikiyimfura and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Dr Beaullah Chirume will lead the Head of States guided tour.

An official opening ceremony will be held before midday.

After keynote addresses by the heads of states, President Kagame will chair a closed board meeting of the Smart Africa Alliance.

The Board is comprised of Member States Presidents, Heads of ITU and the African Union Commission as well as Smart Africa’s Platinum members.

” It is chaired by H.E Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, its mandate includes Policy and Strategic Leadership, High-level advocacy and promoting the Smart Africa Agenda.

” The Board meets twice a year – on the sidelines of the Africa Union General Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and on the sidelines of the Transform Africa Summit hence this meeting during TAS2023,” organizers said on the TAS official website.

One of the key highlights today is the signing ceremony  of African Continental Free Trade Area  (AfCFTA)  memorandum of understanding.

The summit is expected to underline the commitment of African Governments toward accelerating Africa’s digital agenda.

A host of Fintech companies, ICT Private Sector service providers, women and girls in ICT champions, tech innovators, academia, consultants and leading global digital leaders, private equity fund managers, telecom and utilities regulators are also attending the summit.

The conference rubber-stamps Zimbabwe’s digital economic agenda which also feeds into Vision 2030 implemented through the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).

Zimbabwe is set to fully exploit the high-level summit by showcasing its investment opportunities in order to attract new investments.

Recently, the Cabinet indicated that the country will fully exploit the summit to showcase its investment opportunities, promote its economic potential, attract new investments into the country and push for the removal of sanctions.