The first conference was held in October 1990 in Geneva, Switzerland. It was predominantly meant for the Southern Africa region but grew over the years and is now spread across the continent. In June 1994, the first meeting for the Southern Africa region was held in Cape Town. It included President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
In May 1993, the first meeting was held in Africa. It was hosted in Cape Town, South Africa. It is held annually in different countries.
The 26th summit being held in Rwanda is the second one to be hosted in Eastern Africa. The first one was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in from May 5th to May 7th 2010.
This year’s edition attracted more than 1,500 delegates from ten African countries and across the world. The first edition in East Africa had 13 sitting heads of state and over 1,000 participants from 85 countries.
This year’s theme was ‘Connecting Africa’s Resources through digital Transformation’. The host country, Rwanda is a leading nation on the continent in digital technology. The nation will be the world’s first ‘drone-port, where drones and drone routes will be used to deliver urgent supplies in remote areas. The drone technology will then be expanded to other countries.
Rwanda has been described as the continent’s Switzerland. It has provided a rich environment for economic growth by provision of tax incentives and improved governance, just like Switzerland has in Europe. It was ranked by World Bank as the easiest country to do business in Africa. It is a great destination for foreign investors. It has an economic growth rate of about 7.6 percent.
The three-day summit was held in Camp Kigali, a former military facility in the mountainous East African nation. Organizers prepared tents to host the attendants. They got a taste of the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) Site in Switzerland, which hosts the event annually. Davos WEF site has tented camps connected by walkways.
