Africa Symposium
Pax Technologica’s African Tech Leadership Gathering is a high-trust forum for African leaders to strengthen policyforesight, explore the cultural and creative dimensions of innovation, and build long-term relationships.
Across the African continent, governments are navigating a changing multi-polar landscape, with urgent and complex questions —not only around digital governance, AI policy, and the ethical use of emerging technologies, but also around how innovation can serve society more broadly. From the rise of creative economies to the shaping of new human-machine interactions, leaders are seeking spaces to think ahead—beyond protocol, beyond performance, and beyond policy silos.
To support this need, we are convening a 3-day leadership gathering at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. The event is designed to offer a curated space for reflection, peer learning, and forward planning for ministers, envoys, senior officials, creative economy leaders, and trusted advisors engaged in shaping Africa’s digital, cultural, and innovation futures.
Africa is not simply adapting to global technologies—it is actively shaping new models of innovation, governance, and creativity. Yet the opportunity to step outside of day-to-day pressures and engage in long-term, cross-sector thinking remains rare. This gathering is designed to enable exactly that.
As exponential technologies accelerate, new economic and cultural forms emerge, and geopolitical forces shift, the demand for coherent, strategic leadership grows. Leaders need space to think through questions of sovereignty, culture, ethics, and public trust. The Oxford gathering offers that space—with no media, no stagecraft, and no agenda other than the collective preparation for what comes next.
Oxford offers a reflective and independent setting for high-level dialogue—historic, intellectually rigorous, and removed from immediate political pressures. It allows African leaders to meet outside national or multilateral frameworks, free from hosting obligations and protocol-driven dynamics. Here, participants can speak candidly, reflect deeply, and think strategically. The environment is designed to foster collaboration and mutual support, both among the leaders and with Pax Technologica.
The Blavatnik School of Government, one of the world’s leading institutions for public leadership, is designed to foster long-view thinking and trusted dialogue. We have secured access to private, purpose-built rooms that support candid, leader-level exchange. The tone is not one of spectacle, but of strategy.
We are inviting a select number of delegations from across Africa. Each delegation may consist of 1 to 5 individuals, including:
The ideal composition brings together decision-makers and implementers—those shaping policy and those delivering impact.
Day One will focus on thought leadership, field intelligence, and strategic dialogue, bringing together approximately fifty invited participants from Africa, Europe, and beyond.
Day Two will move into a more focused closed-door roundtable with a smaller group of investors, builders, policymakers, family offices, foundations, and strategic allies to explore actionable next steps, partnerships, and long-term collaboration opportunities.
