President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda will headline the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Kigali 2025, the continent’s most influential digital economy gathering, which opens on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, with a bold focus on Africa’s connected and inclusive digital future.
Organised by the GSMA, MWC Kigali 2025 will unite global and African technology leaders, policymakers, and investors to explore how digital connectivity, mobile innovation, and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming the continent’s economies and societies.
Organisers announced that President Kagame, who will speak at the Opening Ceremony alongside Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation, and Vivek Badrinath, Director General of GSMA, is expected to reaffirm Rwanda’s commitment to harnessing technology as a cornerstone of inclusive national and regional development.
MWC Kigali 2025 underscores Africa’s growing role as the next frontier for digital innovation and investment. With mobile connections projected to exceed 700 million unique subscribers by 2030, the conference aims to position the continent as a driver of global technological transformation.
MWC Kigali 2025 Keynote: Africa’s Future First
The event opens with the Keynote 1 session themed “Africa’s Future First – Determining the Path to a Digital Future”, featuring an influential lineup of industry leaders including:
- Vivek Badrinath, Director General, GSMA
- Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
- Ralph Mupita, Group President and CEO, MTN
- Sunil Taldar, Group CEO and MD, Airtel Africa PLC
- Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO, Ethio Telecom
- Yasser Shaker, CEO, Orange Middle East and Africa
- Hassan Jaber, CEO, AXIAN Telecom
This high-level keynote will explore how AI, fintech, 5G, and green technologies are shaping Africa’s digital evolution, with calls for enhanced infrastructure, regulatory agility, and public-private collaboration.
MWC Kigali 2025: Exploring Africa’s Connected Future
Across the three-day event, MWC Kigali 2025 will host over 50 sessions covering connectivity, financial inclusion, AI, and sustainability — spotlighting Africa’s digital transformation trajectory.
Highlights from Day One (October 21) include:
- “The Connected Continent: Bridging Businesses, People, and Borders” by Termii, showcasing how unified communications are reducing costs and powering digital engagement across Africa.
- Security Summit: Security Awareness for Your Organisation, featuring executives from Mauritius Telecom, Tunisie Telecom, and MTN, addressing cybersecurity threats and workforce awareness.
- SOTIR 2025: Insights Beyond the Numbers, a GSMA-led analysis of mobile money’s impact on GDP and financial inclusion across Sub-Saharan Africa.
- “Transforming the Telco: 5G & Beyond – The Next Phase of Inclusive, Sustainable Connectivity”, exploring how next-generation networks can unlock $11 billion in new economic value for the continent by 2030.
- Ministerial Programme: Shaping Africa’s Future Through Digital and AI, headlined by Hon. Paula Ingabire and GSMA executives, focusing on policy frameworks for digital growth.
- Security Summit: The Fraud Threat Landscape, delving into fraud prevention in mobile and telecom ecosystems.
- Partner Session by Seamfix, themed “Closing the Trust Gap in Telco and Mobile Money Ecosystems,” led by Chimezie Emewulu, Group CEO of Seamfix Limited.
Day One will close with two signature events — the Networking Reception hosted by ZTE and a Cultural Dinner hosted by Rwanda’s Ministry of ICT and Innovation, celebrating Africa’s digital culture and collaboration.
Fintech, AI, and the Next Frontier
Day Two (October 22) will open with Keynote 3: “Africa’s Fintech Outlook – Visionary Strategies Shaping the Fintech Landscape”, where Kemi Okusanya, CEO of Hydrogen Payment Services Company Limited, will join other global leaders to examine scalable strategies for the continent’s $150 billion fintech market.
AI also takes centre stage with sessions like “From Smart, to AI Smart: Africa’s Business Transformation Driven by AI,” featuring Chika Ekeji, Group Chief Strategy Officer, MTN Group, and Mercy Ndegwa of Meta, exploring how machine learning and IoT are transforming African industries.
The 5G Summit, led by GSMA Intelligence, will bring together policymakers, operators, and investors to discuss spectrum policies, partnerships, and deployment models to accelerate Africa’s 5G adoption.
Driving Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
The final day (October 23) will focus on the nexus between digital infrastructure, energy, and sustainability with the Ministerial Session on “Synergising Energy and Digital Infrastructure Investment.”
Speakers including Patrick Tonui of GOGLA, Deepak Mohapatra of the Alliance for Rural Electrification, and Lande Abudu of the GSMA will explore how blended financing, renewable energy, and policy reforms can lower costs and expand rural connectivity.
Another highlight, “Future-Ready Regulation: Building Pro-Innovation Frameworks,” will feature Engr. Abraham Oshadami, Executive Commissioner, Technical Services at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), among other African regulators, discussing the balance between innovation and consumer protection in a fast-evolving digital economy.
Africa’s Digital Moment
MWC Kigali 2025 underscores Africa’s growing role as the next frontier for digital innovation and investment. With mobile connections projected to exceed 700 million unique subscribers by 2030, the conference aims to position the continent as a driver of global technological transformation.
By convening decision-makers from across telecoms, fintech, AI, and energy sectors, the Kigali gathering will chart pathways to bridge the digital divide and power inclusive, sustainable progress across Africa’s fast-evolving digital landscape, according to GSMA.
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