AMC Conference: Exploring the influence of AI and AfCFTA on African marketing

The upcoming African Marketing Confederation Conference will explore how marketing leadership, brand power and value creation can drive growth across the continent. Pictured: Matongo Matamwandi, AMC president and chairman of the Minerals Regulation Commission of Zambia (Image supplied)

These reshape how African businesses build brands and compete.

The upcoming 2026 African Marketing Confederation (AMC) Conference will explore how marketing leadership, brand power and value creation can drive growth across the continent, under the theme Africa Rising Through Marketing Leadership, Brand Power and Value Creation.

The conference takes place at the Avani Victoria Falls Resort in Livingstone, Zambia, from 23 to 25 September 2026 and will bring together more than 400 marketing leaders, enterprise clients, and professionals.

Hosted in partnership with the Zambia Institute of Marketing, the conference marks a premier assembly for a confederation that now spans 25 member body countries across the continent.

Key themes

There will be seven headline speakers across plenary sessions, alongside industry specialists leading groundbreaking breakaway sessions.

This year’s speakers will be addressing key themes including Brand Africa, Marketing Leadership in the AI and Digital Economy, and Sustainability, Trust and Purpose, with particular attention given to opportunities emerging through the AfCFT and digital trade access.

Matongo Matamwandi, AMC president and chairman of the Minerals Regulation Commission of Zambia, says the 2026 AMC Conference features a dynamic programme structured to drive strategic outputs.

“Through peer-to-peer Executive Roundtable Sessions and solution-focused Executive Strategy Labs, delegates will explore how to prove marketing's economic impact, govern data and trust, and build Africa's creative and digital exports into a global value chain,” he says.

Speakers

In addition to Matamwandi, some of the confirmed speakers for the assembly include:

• Misikir Mulugeta Bekele, director of outreach and fundraising for the Ethiopian Marketing Professionals Association (EMPA) and a commercial transformation executive with over 17 years of multinational leadership experience.
  
• Nuno Soares, vice-president of the Mozambican Association of Communication and Marketing.
  
• Odilon Gbaguidi, founder and CEO of Francophone Africa's leading marketing ecosystem, Avis+. Gbaguidi will deliver the closing plenary titled: Africa Rising at the Global Marketing Table: Leadership Commitments for an AI-Enabled, Digitally Competitive Future.

Additional headline speakers and industry panellists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Registrtion

Registrations are now open.

Delegates can register for the conference through the African Commerce Convergence Summit (ACCS) platform at AMC, where conference registrations, payments, and accommodation at the AMC venue, Avani Victoria Falls Resort, are available.