CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — 17 August 2026 — The South African AI Association (SAAIA) has launched Activate SA to champion Responsible AI in South Africa, government and society as part of the new Western Cape AI Cluster (WCAIC).
Activate SA aims to support and grow the Artificial Intelligence (AI) opportunity in the province while engaging relevant stakeholders on key themes including AI Policy, AI Governance, AI Infrastructure investment, AI Factories and Sovereign AI.
The first edition of the Activate SA AI Summit opens on 25 August at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town. The summit forms part of the flagship ecosystem support programme implemented by the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT).
Activate SA seeks to strengthen the province’s AI ecosystem and play a role in advancing the AI technology sector to create an impactful and sustainable AI ecosystem.
Dr Nick Bradshaw, Chairman of the SA AI Association, stated:
“The Activate SA AI Summit will be the annual gathering of the newly created WCAIC with the ambition to strengthen AI innovation and unlock investment opportunities across the rapidly growing global Artificial Intelligence tech segment. We see USA, China, Europe and Middle East already spending heavily on AI as they gear up business, citizens and society to embrace the AI opportunity. Activate SA is a brand new AI Summit being held in Cape Town that will explore this massive opportunity, showcase the best of regional AI innovation and help attract investment.
Activate SA and the WCAIC project is a multi-stakeholder vehicle geared to identify and achieve common objectives in a collaborative manner and help position the Western Cape as a globally significant AI Tech Hub while serving as the nation’s first government & societal AI forum dedicated to Responsible AI.”
Bradshaw concluded:
“Sovereign AI is a big theme the WCAIC will engage on. It is a globally significant challenge for nations, provinces, cities & municipalities to develop, deploy and govern AI systems independently. Our aim is to also showcase new AI entrepreneurs, new AI infrastructure innovations and models that will benefit everyone, not just a few. Citizen AI is a new and evolving component where everyday problems faced by society are being solved by people using AI to develop the solution themselves. We want to find the brightest minds solving the hardest problems and match them to early-stage support, capital and AI compute services. Ultimately we want to develop a provincial “success blueprint” other provinces can utilise across South Africa and look forward to welcoming delegates to the Activate SA.”
About the SA AI Association
The South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA) is an industry body focused on promoting the advancement of responsible AI in South Africa by uniting practitioners across Commercial, Government, Academic, Startup and NGO sectors.
SAAIA seeks to encourage stakeholders in the adoption of responsible AI for the commercial and societal benefit of the citizens of South Africa with a primary focus on economic growth, trade, investment, equality and inclusivity.
SAAIA runs Africa’s largest Enterprise & Startup AI community and trade event, AI Expo Africa, and offers insights and advisory on the growing AI opportunity in Africa.
Learn more: www.saaiassociation.co.za
About Activate SA
Activate SA 2026 is the nation’s first AI Summit dedicated to Responsible AI in Government and Society.
This landmark AI event will explore how South Africa as a nation can harness AI to improve service delivery, education, and the everyday lives of its citizens, while establishing the policies, infrastructure, investments and frameworks needed for ethical AI adoption and economic growth.
Convened by the SA AI Association from 25–27 August at CTICC Cape Town, Activate SA 2026 focuses on 10 core topics addressing the challenges and opportunities required to make Responsible AI accessible to all and includes a hands-on CPD workshop covering AI Readiness, AI Policy, AI Factory and AI Centre of Excellence.
Learn more: www.activatesa.ai
