*Masvingo Hosts AI Tech Forum Summit 2026 To Map Zimbabwe’s Digital Economy Stack*

*By Ross Moyo*

Masvingo becomes Zimbabwe’s AI capital next week as the AI Tech Forum Summit 2026 runs 16-17 June 2026 at Urban Lifestyle Centre. Government, regulators, and private sector leaders will converge to set the roadmap for artificial intelligence adoption across finance, public service and industry.

The 2-day summit positions AI as infrastructure, not just software. With Zimbabwe pushing digital transformation, the forum will tackle data governance, local compute capacity, and AI policy alignment — the 3 pillars needed to scale models beyond pilot stage.

Hon. T. A. Mavetera, Minister of ICT, Postal & Courier Services, joins as Guest of Honour. Her presence signals government’s intent to anchor AI strategy inside national ICT policy, cloud regulation, and digital ID frameworks already underway.

Keynotes come from Hon. J. Muswere, Minister of Skills Audit & Development, and Dr B. Chirume, Secretary for ICT Postal & Courier Services. Expect focus on upskilling pipelines and spectrum/broadband policy that determine if AI runs on local or foreign servers.

Dr Dennis Magaya, Chairman of AI Institute Africa, chairs the summit. Aiia is driving the technical agenda: open datasets, model training for African languages, and ethical AI guardrails. The institute’s role is to keep Zimbabwe from being just a consumer of imported models.

Industry depth is heavy. Shami Moyo, IT Director ZIMRA, will speak on AI in revenue collection and fraud detection. Freddy Ndhlovu, ICT Director PRAZ and President CSZ, brings procurement + standards perspective. Ms Perpetua Chimeura, NSSA ICT Executive, adds social protection data angle.

The private sector stack includes M Kgengwenyane, Co-Founder & Chief AI Officer of OrionX Botswana, and Saud Ally, CEO eBits UAE. Their input on cross-border AI services and cloud optimization gives Zimbabwe access to regional best practices without reinventing compute.

Registration is tiered: $765 for Summit + Hotel + Dinner + Transport within Masvingo, $720 for Summit + Hotel + Dinner, and $570 for Summit + Dinner. The pricing bundles logistics because access is the biggest barrier outside Harare.

Summit Chairman Dr Magaya said the goal is actionable outcomes, not talk. With speakers from ZIMRA, PRAZ, NSSA, RBZ fintech, and Dubai-based eBits, the forum is designed to turn policy into APIs, datasets, and deployment plans.

For Zimbabwe’s tech ecosystem, Masvingo 2026 is a test of decentralization. If AI infrastructure, skills, and capital can root outside Harare, the country gains resilience. Urban Lifestyle Centre will be the node where code meets policy for 48 hours.