Returning to the Century City Conference Centre from August 18–20, 2026, the 14th edition of Africa’s premier customer experience summit unites senior leaders to explore how technology can scale engagement without eroding trust.
The 14th edition of CEM Africa is officially underway at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town, running from August 18–20, 2026. As organizations across the continent face mounting pressure to optimize customer outcomes amidst rapid AI adoption, automation, and shifting consumer expectations, this year’s summit centers on a vital question: How can businesses leverage technology to scale customer experience without losing trust, relevance, or the human connection?
Bringing together senior customer experience, marketing, digital transformation, and technology leaders, the three-day event combines strategic conference keynotes, hands-on workshops, technology showcases, and peer-to-peer exchange.
The 2026 speaker faculty spans financial services, retail, telecommunications, insurance, and the public sector, reflecting the increasingly cross-functional mandate of customer experience. Key industry figures participating include:
- Bruce Whitfield, Business Journalist and Best-Selling Author
- Deshnie Govender, Keynote Speaker (“The Culture-Led Customer”)
- Khensani Nobanda, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Nedbank
- Francois Retief, Head of Customer Experience, FNB
- Martin Urrutia, Global Toy Industry Leader (The LEGO Group)
- Marnitz Van Heerden, Head of Customer Experience, Discovery Limited
- Grace Brown, Head of Customer Experience and Client Services, JSE
- Zahirah Variawa, Motivational Keynote Speaker
Artificial intelligence is a defining focal point of the 2026 programme, moving past broad speculation to address operational realities.
- Day One dives into moving AI pilots into production—covering enterprise co-pilots, voice AI, speech analytics, and personalized automation—while confronting governance, privacy (including POPIA), and customer consent. Highlighting the human element, sessions such as “Will AI Make Your Brand More Trustworthy?” and the town hall “Will Humans Still Matter in a World of AI-Driven Customer Experience?” examine the balance between automation and brand loyalty.
- Day Data & Measurement: For leaders pressured to prove commercial impact, workshops tackle first-party data strategies, predictive analytics, Voice of Customer (VoC) programmes, and building an end-to-end CX scorecard connected directly to revenue uplift, churn reduction, and P&L performance.
The agenda addresses the practical complexities of customer engagement across diverse African markets. Discussions explore omnichannel journey design, mobile-first experiences, WhatsApp as a primary service channel, and reducing friction in high-volume touchpoints like onboarding, billing, and claims. Special attention is given to digital literacy, language variance, code-switching, and maintaining consistency across physical, digital, and human-assisted interactions.
Tuesday, August 18: Kicks off with registration, networking activations, tastings, and the CEM Networking Padel Tournament.
Wednesday, August 19 (Day One): Features high-profile keynotes from Deshnie Govender and Bruce Whitfield, parallel panels on AI trust, BPO positioning, employee wellbeing, and closes with the CEM Engage Party.
Thursday, August 20 (Day Two): Explores public sector citizen experiences with Rashid Toefy, retail masterclasses with Martin Urrutia, and the WiN CX Africa networking session celebrating women leaders shaping customer excellence.
