GSMA ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS FOR MOBILE 60- AFRICA

Jumpstart Participants Announced; Connected Women Summit in Africa for a Second Year

21 September 2015, London: The GSMA today announced additional speakers for the 2015 Mobile 360 - Africa conference, including executives from organisations such as China Mobile, Huawei, the Internet Society, MasterCard, MTN, Orange and UNICEF. The event will take place 7-9 October at the African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel and Spa in Cape Town and MTN will again be the Platinum Sponsor. In addition to the main conference, which includes keynote addresses, fireside chats, pitch sessions and panel discussions, Mobile 360 - Africa will incorporate additional programmes that highlight the initiatives and activities undertaken by the GSMA Mobile for Development programme.

Mobile connectivity is playing a key role in enabling the inclusion of the underserved in the social and economic development of many African countries, said Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. Sub-Saharan Africa is an exciting and fast-growing mobile market and at the Mobile 360 - Africa, we will focus on the critical issues facing Africa in areas such as connectivity, mobile money and digital identity, among others. The event will provide an invaluable opportunity for attendees to share their experiences and expand the positive impact of mobile throughout this vibrant region.

At Mobile 360 - Africa, CEOs and senior executives from leading mobile companies and players throughout the digital ecosystem will address the most pressing trends and issues in mobile. Keynote speakers confirmed to present include:

Eric Chinje, CEO, African Media Initiative

Erik Hersman, CEO, BRCK, Founder, iHub Nairobi and Co-Founder, Ushahidi

Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Chairman, GSMA

Alex Sinclair, Acting Director General, GSMA

Marek Zmys owski, Managing Director, Jovago.com

Candice Goodman, CEO, Mobitainment and Chair Emeritus, MMA

Sifiso Dabengwa, Executive Director, Group President and CEO, MTN Group

Sanjana Bhardwaj, Chief Of Health and Nutrition, UNICEF South Africa

With the overall event theme of Accelerating Social and Economic Empowerment , each session will tackle a different aspect of the empowerment story. Keynotes and sessions will delve into subjects such as The Power to Connect: Providing Access for All , The Power to Discover: Local Content and Digital Literacy , The Power to Borrow, Save and Spend: Building the Mobile Financial Ecosystem , The Power to Innovate: Growing Start-Up Ecosystems and Cultivating Entrepreneurship and many others. The full conference agenda and list of speakers is available at www.mobile360series.com/africa/#agenda.

Jumpstart Pitch Platform Participants Selected

Jumpstart is new to Mobile 360 - Africa and will link the mobile industry together with entrepreneurs and start-ups from across Sub-Saharan Africa. The event will combine a keynote session and an energetic pitch stage, with an informal networking reception. The Start-Up Pitch Platform will showcase companies including African Renewable Energy Distributor, Be-Bound , GiftedMom, Oolu Solar and The Haller Farmer's App, who will each give a brief five-minute pitch to a panel of operators and to the audience. The Pitch Platform offers a unique opportunity for start-ups to pitch for potential business and possible partnerships with mobile operators.

Connected Women Summit

Co-located with Mobile 360 - Africa, the Connected Women Summit will explore how the mobile industry can realise the socio-economic benefits of greater inclusion of women. The Connected Women conference programme, featuring an opening keynote by Dr Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Ooredoo, will examine a range of crucial issues, including how to increase women's access to mobile phones, enabling women's financial inclusion, enhancing digital literacy for women, addressing the global digital skills gap and how to attract more girls to the tech industry.

O'Hara added, Increasing women's access to and use of mobile can deliver significant socio-economic benefits. The GSMA estimates that bridging the gender gap in mobile phone ownership and usage in low- and middle-income countries could unlock an estimated $170 billion market opportunity for the mobile industry by 2020. Mobile phones also help women feel safer and more connected, save time and money and access life-enhancing services such as mobile money.

Get Involved at Mobile 360 - Africa

The 2015 GSMA Mobile 360 - Africa conference is the second in a series of five regional industry-focused events held in major cities across the world. For information on Mobile 360 - Africa, including sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.mobile360series.com/africa. Follow developments and updates on Mobile 360 - Africa (#m360Africa) on Twitter @GSMA and on Facebook www.facebook.com/Mobile360Series.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai and the Mobile 360 Series conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

Media Contacts:

Charlie Meredith-Hardy

+44 7917 298428

CMeredith-Hardy@webershandwick.com

David Ntwampe Maila

+ 27 72 015 4702

dmaila@webershandwick.com

GSMA Press Office

pressoffice@gsma.com

LINK:	http://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/gsma-announces-additional-s...
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