Namibia is using ANGOTIC 2026 to strengthen digital cooperation with Angola while exploring new opportunities to expand connectivity, innovation and digital transformation.

The annual technology forum, taking place in Luanda, has brought together policymakers, industry leaders and entrepreneurs from across Africa to discuss the future of the continent's digital economy.

Namibia's Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Emma Theofelus, is leading a delegation of government institutions, public enterprises and private sector players to ANGOTIC 2026.

Theofelus says the forum provides an opportunity for Namibia and Angola to strengthen cooperation and advance their digital transformation agendas.

"We want to leverage each other's strengths between the two countries. Angola has a bigger population than Namibia. Both of us have landed undersea cables that we can leverage to ensure we have redundancy and multiple routes through which the internet can go between our two countries. So there's so much we can do together."

Regional connectivity is also high on the agenda, with telecommunications operators exploring new partnerships to improve digital access and infrastructure.

Telecom Namibia's Chief Executive Officer Dr. Stanley Shanapinda, says discussions held at last year's forum are now yielding tangible results.

"2025 was good in the sense that it planted the seeds for what we're going to witness today. That was when we had the discussions around how the two countries and the telecom operators within the two countries can operate. And this time we're actually witnessing that those have come to fruition."

Among the planned initiatives are agreements on undersea cable infrastructure and satellite connectivity, aimed at improving internet services across the region.

"Sometimes you have damage to the undersea cables. I think last year we had quite a bit of disruption across the globe where undersea cables were damaged along the east of Africa and also in the West African cable system. And you could feel people's frustrations because the internet connectivity was very slow. And that's exactly what it means for the customer. It's fast internet connectivity."

The forum continues over the next two days with panel discussions, technology exhibitions and strategic agreements expected to further strengthen digital cooperation across Southern Africa.