Agenda Capacity Africa Meet the African wholesale telecoms market

8:00am
REGISTRATION AND WELCOME BREAKFAST

WELCOME TO UGANDA – THE PEARL OF AFRICA

09:30am
OFFICIAL OPENING OF CAPACITY AFRICA

Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, Minister, MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

09:50am
KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Godfrey Mutabazi, Executive Director, UGANDA COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

10:10am
PANEL DISCUSSION
CROWDED AND LANDLOCKED – HOW UGANDA’S TELCOS PLAN TO CONTINUE THRIVING

Uganda’s competitive local telecoms landscape is currently operated by more than 20 service providers, serving a population of over 37.5 million. It is a crowded, yet flourishing market. In terms of welcoming Capacity Africa to Uganda, this panel will analyse the current state of the market as well as debate what will need to happen in the near future to ensure the growth of a telecoms market, which to this day has had to struggle with the constraints of a geographically landlocked position.

• Is the current state of the market sustainable in the long term, or is it inevitably facing increased M&A activity in the near future? How would this impact the overall situation?
• How have current initiatives like Google’s Project Link and NITA affected the market?
• With most traffic still running on the route to Nairobi, what are the predictions for the potential of the new cables being built into Tanzania and Rwanda? Is there a future for the South Sudan connection?
• How far advanced are attempts of infrastructure sharing on long-haul routes? Can this be encouraged further?
• What other options are there of reducing capacity prices to ensure affordability for the end-user?

Suzan Kitariko, Country Manager, GOOGLE UGANDA
Nic Rudnick, CEO, LIQUID TELECOM
James Saaka, Executive Director, NATIONAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AUTHORITY – UGANDA
Roger Sekaziga, CEO, ROKE TELKOM
Mark Shoebridge, Managing Director, UGANDA TELECOM

11:10am
COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK

NEW SERVICES AND REVENUE STREAMS

11:40am
PANEL DISCUSSION
THE EVOLUTION OF THE AFRICAN WHOLESALE MARKET – HOW TO KEEP FIT FOR SURVIVAL

Africa, if one can be forgiven the generalisation, is seen as an emerging market. With still over half of the continent’s population unconnected, voice and data traffic is set to increase drastically over the coming decades. Yet, improved international submarine connectivity is causing significant price drops and profit margins in the wholesale sector are shrinking rapidly. Some experts believe, the time to react may be now.

• How much longer can traditional wholesale survive in Africa? Is it already approaching the end or is the panic much ado about nothing?
• Is entering the enterprise sector the way forward, or is it in only going to spoil prices in another area?
• Can wholesale learn anything from retail? Which strategies could be adopted?
•Are termination and managed services the future? Which promise success and how should carriers approach them?
•How can local carriers compete with the big international wholesale players?
•Does development need to happen on a technical level?

Silvio do Carmo, SADC & East Africa Managing Director, PCCW GLOBAL
Steven van der Linde, CSO, SEACOM
Vishal Dhume, AVP – Africa, TATA COMMUNICATIONS
Leonardo Cerciello, Head of Sales Asia, Africa & Middle East, Telecom Italia Sparkle
Chris Wood, CEO, WIOCC

12:25pm
LUNCH AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY

2:00pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
MORE THAN MONEY TRANSFERS – THE ADVANCE OF MOBILE MONEY AND ITS OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE AND OPERATORS

The days when mobile money meant simply transferring credit from one mobile account to another under the same operator are long over and the ecosystem has grown vastly. Credit is now not only transferred across borders, but utilities and other bills are being paid directly from mobile accounts, which is causing money to increasingly stay within the system rather than being converted into cash. Find out how mobile money will continue to develop in its attempt to bring financial inclusion to all.

• Where will mobile money go next? How will the dynamic between operators and financial institutions change?
• Can mobile loan services become mainstream?
• How will the relationship between e-commerce and mobile payments develop in the future?
• Where are the investment opportunities for mobile operators in the m-money revolution?
• How much collaboration is there currently between operators? Should and can this be encourage further?
• Are customers’ data and money sufficiently safeguarded against attacks and fraud?

Ameer Kamal Arif, CCO, UGANDA TELECOM
Plus more speakers to be announced soon!

2:45pm
COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK

3:15pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
THE RISE OF CARRIER-NEUTRAL DATA CENTRES ACROSS THE CONTINENT – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Content providers are multiplying in Africa and an increased consciousness about data footprints has led to loud demands for the localisation of data hosting. Even though carrier-neutral data centres are a recent development in Africa, these trends have caused an impressive acceleration in the deployment pace. Yet, while striving to provide data centres of excellence on an international level, African projects are still faced with very basic problems such as the lack of constant power supplies. This session will look at the early stages of what promises to be a success story of carrier-neutral data centres across the African continent.

• How do deployment strategies differ by regions?
• What are the greatest challenges around offering world class services?
• Where are the current business opportunities in the data centre market?
• How are data centres affecting data traffic patterns across the continent?
• What are the effects of more carrier-neutral data centres on the wholesale sector?
• Is Africa ready for the Cloud? Is there a demand?

Moderator: Dobek Pater, Director and Telecoms Analyst, AFRICA ANALYSIS
Dan Kwach, General Manager, EAST AFRICA DATA CENTRE
Ranjith Cherickel, CEO, ICOLO.IO
Richard Bell, CEO, KOOBA AFRICA
Eckart Zollner, Head of Business Development, NEW TELCO SA
Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, RACK CENTRE

4:00pm
PRESENTATION
THE STATE OF IXPS IN AFRICA

Internet exchange points are considered critical national and regional internet infrastructure. They are the subject of increasing focus by national governments, regional bodies, and international organizations because of their central role within the ecosystem. This presentation will look at the current state of IXPs in Africa, recent developments and growth, as well as future progression.

Kyle Spencer, Director, UGANDA INTERNET EXCHANGE POINT

5:00pm
EVENING DRINKS RECEPTION

8:00pm
10^th ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Celebrating 10 successful years of both ROKE TELEKOM and CAPACITY AFRICA, this promises to be an exhilarating night of dinner, entertainment and dancing.

08:45am
NETWORKING BREAKFAST

REGIONAL INVESTMENT

09:50am
PRESENTATION
AFRICA’S MARKETS TO WATCH – AN ANALYT’S VIEW

With the promises of growth for telecoms across the continent, Africa is an El Dorado for investors. This analyst session will bring you insider information on the countries showing signs of growing into hot markets over the next five years. Discover where ROI is almost guaranteed and where to find the playground of the brave. Ensure that you do not miss out on the sectors of the telecoms ecosystem that are pulling ahead of the crowd.

Dobek Pater, Director and Telecoms Analyst, AFRICA ANALYSIS

11:00am
COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK

11:30am
THINK TANK
WEST AFRICA – READY TO LEAPFROG OR SHOULD IT BE BACK TO BASICS?

International interest in West Africa is high. Encompassing some of Africa’s fastest moving markets, the west seems on the verge of readiness to leapfrog into the future. LTE deployment is pushing ahead and with increased investment in FTTH, fixed line connectivity also appears to be improving. But with even the leading market of Nigeria currently only managing 40% of electricity uptime, recurring vandalism and unsolved land access issues across the region, should telcos bring their focus back to basics?

• Are attempts to roll out networks and new technologies as quickly as possible compromising the quality of service?
• What is being done to address the basic challenges of telcos?
• How does cooperation with governments and state governors vary between countries and should more cross-border initiatives be adopted?
• How close is the region leapfrogging and which technologies need to be pushed further to reach the goal?

Robert Aouad, CEO, ISOCEL

12:30pm
LUNCH AND NETWORKING BREAK

2:30pm
CLOSE OF CAPACITY AFRICA 2016