Morocco: African Digital Summit draws nearly 3,000 participants for marketing

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This Thursday, March 2, 2023, marks the opening of the 5th edition of the African Digital Summit (ADS) in Casablanca. Initiated by the Moroccan Advertisers Association (GAM), the two-day event brings together digital marketing stakeholders from across Africa and beyond, even exceeding the expected number of participants.

Nearly 3,000 participants flocked to Casablanca this Thursday, March 2, to open the 5th African Digital Summit (ADS), which will last two days. In preparation for the event, which marks its grand return after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 health crisis, organizers expected to welcome nearly 2,000 participants. President of the Moroccan Advertisers Association (GAM), initiator of the ADS, Youssef Cheikhi told Yabiladi that "the last week before the opening of the meeting saw a very high number of registrations." "Until the day before the launch, we counted between 2,600 and 2,700 expected participants and the growth continues, to the point where we could reach 3,000 over the two days," he added.

This is a "strategic decision by GAM to open up to all advertisers and the advertising ecosystem, regardless of the sector of activity or even the size of the companies," Youssef Cheikhi told us, thus explaining the growing vietnam mobile database surrounding the African Digital Summit. "This explains the diversity we have today in terms of participants and speakers: we have among us multinationals, large national groups, small and medium-sized businesses, and very small businesses," he emphasized.

An exchange of best practices between entrepreneurs from Africa and the diaspora

This 5th edition also saw significant participation from digital sector professionals, including Moroccans from around the world and the African diaspora. Speaking on the first day, Amine Bentahar is the Director of Digital and Marketing at Advantix Digital, an award-winning digital marketing agency based in Dallas, USA, that focuses on managing digital advertising needs. He shared his experience integrating artificial intelligence into the practices of companies in the sector with the audience.

Drawing on his international experience, Amine Bentahar emphasizes to Yabiladi that the exchange of experiences within the framework of the ADS can be an opportunity for the local business community to open up, particularly to best practices in AI. "It has a great aspect of accessibility, meaning that even very small businesses can integrate this tool into their development, regardless of their sector of activity, with very little budget," he said.

The MRE believes that in Morocco, as in all of Africa, the fabric of SMEs "can benefit greatly from all the changes brought about by the use of artificial intelligence in the planning and implementation of processes." "If there is a positive use of this tool, it will be precisely this one, which allows access to mechanisms similar to those that giants are equipping themselves with in the business world," he added.

A mix of multinationals, SMEs and start-ups for an all-round transmission

Reda Taleb, Managing Director of the Officium consulting firm, is leading this year's Moroccan Digital Awards, as part of the ADS. He believes that this 5th edition has been "a great success, with widespread enthusiasm following the positive impression left by the ADS since its last edition before the health crisis." "This success is due to the quality of the organizers, the GAM, which is leading the project, with a growing ecosystem of partners, which reflects the credibility of the event, which now has a scientific committee," he said.

The manager also notes "the diversity of the audience," including "marketing managers, digital media, advertising agencies, media and digital, multinationals, large national groups, SMEs, start-ups," especially since "digital has the ability to remove barriers, so that cross-fertilization can occur in all directions."

Regarding the Moroccan Digital Awards, Reda Taleb told our editorial team that this year saw "the highest participation rate since the creation of this award." "We received nearly 200 applications, which we filtered to select around 100 eligible ones, from which the lucky winners will be awarded in seven categories," he said. A jury of experts, chaired by Salim Cheikh, CEO of Soread 2M, "is still deliberating during the first day of the ADS," he added.

"The criteria will be innovation, creativity, impact, and results, among others," noted Reda Taleb. This year, the number of categories has increased to seven, instead of the usual five, in order to "integrate new digital realities." Among these additions, a category is dedicated to "committed brands" and the search for impact. The winners will be announced at the close of this fifth edition.