The CEM Africa story is one of passion to transform Africa’s CX landscape
CEM Africa Summit is the premier event driving transformation in customer experience across the continent. We bring together industry leaders, innovators, and disruptors to tackle the region's most pressing CX challenges and shape the future of customer engagement.
From hands-on workshops to high-level panel discussions, CEM Africa offers unparalleled opportunities for networking, learning, and collaboration. Whether you're a seasoned CX professional or a forward-thinking solution provider, CEM Africa is where cutting-edge ideas meet actionable solutions.
Join us to connect with the brightest minds in customer experience, gain insights into emerging trends, and discover practical tools to elevate your business's customer-first strategy. Let’s redefine what exceptional CX looks like in Africa, together.
CEM Africa 2026 brought Africa’s CX community together for three days of insight, connection and momentum — achieving an outstanding NPS of 71.
From packed sessions and practical workshops to conversations that continued across the exhibition floor and nextworking events, the energy was electric.
CX leaders, innovators, practitioners and solution providers explored what is working, challenged established thinking and built meaningful connections with industry peers.
Across the programme, the community explored the issues defining the next phase of customer experience - from AI, automation and human-centred service to customer insight, employee experience, trust and proving measurable CX impact.
CEM Africa 2026 demonstrated the value of bringing the industry together. The quality of the conversations, openness to collaboration and connections made across the three days reflected a CX community ready to turn ideas into action.
Thank you to every delegate, speaker, sponsor, exhibitor and partner who contributed to the energy and success of CEM Africa 2026.
POST-EVENT REPORT COMING SOON
The CEM Africa 2026 Post-Event Report will bring together key event insights, highlights and outcomes from Cape Town.
Debi Potgieter (CCXP)
Executive: Client Measure & Management
Nedbank Ltd
Customer experience in Africa is rapidly evolving, with businesses recognising its pivotal role in driving success. Recent statistics highlight a growing demand for personalised interactions. Consumers expect companies to understand their needs and preferences, and are more likely to engage with brands delivering exceptional experiences.
The Rise of Customer Experience: For the third consecutive year, customer experience has emerged as the top priority for businesses, surpassing product and pricing considerations. The Temkin Group reveals that companies investing in CX can expect to earn an additional $700 million within three years, with SaaS companies potentially doubling their revenue by investing in CX initiatives.
Customers Pay More for Great Experiences: A staggering 86% of buyers are willing to pay a premium for a great customer experience. PWC research indicates that this price premium can reach up to 13% (and even as high as 18%) for luxury and indulgence services, solely based on the delivery of exceptional CX.
CX as a Competitive Differentiator: An impressive 81% of organisations already consider CX as a crucial factor for standing out from the competition. By prioritizing CX, you position your brand as a leader in the industry, attracting and retaining loyal customers.
Omnichannel Experience Takes Center Stage: Customers today interact with companies through multiple channels, both online and offline. As a result, 80% of companies are investing in omnichannel experiences to ensure consistent communication across platforms. By attending CEM Africa CX, you'll gain insights from industry experts on how to effectively implement omnichannel strategies that drive growth and customer satisfaction.
Mobile Experience Matters: With 59% of internet traffic worldwide coming from mobile devices, providing a positive mobile experience is critical. Failure to do so can lead to 50% of customers ceasing visits to poorly designed mobile websites. Discover cutting-edge mobile optimisation techniques and tools at CEM Africa CX to ensure your brand thrives in the mobile-driven landscape.
Proactive Customer Support: Being proactive in addressing customer needs is a differentiating factor. Surveys indicate that over 85% of customers desire proactive communication from businesses. By leveraging predictive analytics and technology, you can identify and resolve issues before they even arise, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Immediate Response Times Drive Satisfaction: Fast response times remain a key attribute in customer experience. Unfortunately, the average response time for customer service emails stands at a staggering 12 hours. By prioritising prompt and efficient customer support, you can foster stronger relationships with your customers and exceed their expectations.
Predicting the future of customer experience (CX) can be challenging, as it is influenced by various factors and trends. However, based on current trajectories and emerging technologies, here are some potential directions CX may take.
Personalisation and Hyper-Individualisation: CX will become increasingly personalised, with businesses leveraging advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence to deliver tailored experiences for individual customers. The use of predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms will enable companies to anticipate customer needs, preferences, and behaviors, leading to highly customised interactions and offerings.
Seamless Omnichannel Experiences: The boundaries between physical and digital channels will continue to blur. Customers will expect seamless interactions across multiple touchpoints, such as websites, mobile apps, social media, chatbots, voice assistants, and physical stores. Integration and consistency across these channels will be paramount for delivering exceptional CX.
Augmented and Virtual Reality: Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies will play a significant role in enhancing CX. Customers will be able to visualise products in their own environment, virtually try on clothes, or experience immersive virtual showrooms. These technologies will provide unique and interactive experiences, enabling customers to make more informed decisions.
Voice and Natural Language Processing: Voice-based interactions will continue to grow in importance. Virtual assistants and voice-activated devices will become even more sophisticated, providing customers with seamless and natural language interfaces. Natural language processing and sentiment analysis will enable businesses to understand customer emotions and intents, allowing for more personalised and empathetic interactions.
Automation and AI-powered CX: Automation will streamline routine and repetitive tasks, allowing human agents to focus on complex customer inquiries. Chatbots, intelligent self-service systems, and AI-powered recommendation engines will become more prevalent, providing immediate and accurate assistance to customers. However, it will be crucial to strike the right balance between automation and human touch, ensuring that customers can access human support when needed.
Ethical and Trustworthy CX: As data privacy concerns continue to rise, customers will demand transparency and ethical practices from businesses. Building trust and maintaining strong data security measures will be critical. Companies that prioritise ethical CX and demonstrate responsible data handling will have a competitive edge.
Emotional Engagement: CX will increasingly focus on emotional engagement and building authentic connections with customers. Companies will invest in emotional intelligence training for their employees to deliver empathetic and meaningful experiences. Emotional analytics will help businesses understand and respond to customer emotions, enabling them to foster long-term loyalty and advocacy.
We explore the pivotal themes that drive current and future trends in customer experience (CX). Our aim is to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the forces shaping CX practices today and offer valuable insights into emerging trends that will shape the industry tomorrow. Engaging discussions and expert perspectives await, as we delve into the strategies, tools, and best practices that propel CX forward.
CEM Africa's program is carefully crafted in collaboration with The Advisory Board, a prestigious assembly of CX leaders, experts, and consultants deeply immersed in the most crucial aspects of customer experience transformation.
Comprising representatives from diverse industries, including retail, finance, technology, and more, this group of of CX leaders, experts, and consultants actively contributes their insights and real-world experiences to the lively discussions during our event. Together, we shape the future of customer experience, exploring innovative strategies and driving impactful change in the CX landscape.
Terry Southam
Director: Retail Portfolio
Terry is the visionary behind our retail events, bringing extensive industry experience and strategic leadership to the table. With a deep understanding of the retail sector, Terry has successfully established and shaped our retail-focused events, fostering valuable connections among industry leaders and addressing key challenges. His expertise and entrepreneurial spirit make our events a must-attend.
Britney Price
Event Project Manager
Britney is a highly skilled and organised event manager with a passion for delivering exceptional experiences. With her meticulous attention to detail and strong project management skills, she oversees the planning and execution of CEM Africa, ensuring that every aspect of the event runs smoothly and seamlessly. Britney's ability to juggle multiple tasks, coordinate with various stakeholders, and keep everything on track enables the team to deliver a successful and memorable event.
Ursula Cloete
Conference Production & Delegate Sales Specialist
Ursula brings an extensive 20 years of experience in event sales and management, with a passion for creating impactful and meaningful connections. With a history of success in prominent events such as eCommerce and CEM, Ursula joined our team ready to make a difference. Drawing from a deeply personal journey of resilience and a commitment to service, she also leads a support group for young girls, fostering their growth and confidence. Through both her professional and personal endeavors, Ursula embodies the values of dedication, empathy, and empowerment.
Steven Dennett
Marketing Manager
As the Marketing Manager, Steven is responsible for overseeing the overall marketing strategy of CEM Africa. With a wealth of experience in the industry, Steven brings a fresh perspective and innovative ideas to the table. He leads the marketing team, driving brand awareness and engagement through strategic campaigns and targeted messaging. Steven's expertise and leadership play a pivotal role in shaping the success of our marketing efforts.
Peter Chinanzvavana
Sponsorship and Delegate Sales
Peter is a skilled sales professional specialising in delegate and sponsorship sales. With his customer-centric approach, he connects potential delegates with enriching experiences and secures valuable sponsorship opportunities for maximum exposure. Peter's industry knowledge and interpersonal skills drive attendance and forge valuable partnerships at our events.
Roderick Benjamin
Delegate Sales
Roderick is a skilled delegate sales professional at CEM Africa, dedicated to delivering exceptional attendee experiences. With effective communication and relationship-building, he engages potential delegates, ensuring their satisfaction and seamless registration.
Warda Jakoet
Customer Experience
A passionate leader with a determined focus to ensure that the touchpoints across the client’s journey are engaging, efficient and effective. Attention to customer experience has led to Enlit Africa consistently scoring a high NPS score from attendees. Her role in the business has allowed her to travel extensively, connecting with our clients whilst displaying a positive customer centric attitude.
Rue Limekhaya
Registration
With over 20 yrs experience in organsing African projects across the continent, her focus and attention is to ensure a smooth, enjoyable visitor and delegate experience both online and from the moment the entry badge is collected at the venue. Understanding that we have only one chance to make a good impression she is dedicated in her belief that the customer always comes first.
Chanelle Benjamin
Head Of Operations
Having delivered a full scope of African projects over 13 years demonstrating an ability to manage all aspects of event planning; from conception to execution, while ensuring that events are aligned with our brand. Managing contractors across cultures, to special stand projects for customers, the Operations team deliver against customer objectives to effectively realise customer objectives.
Fill in the form below and our team will help you with information about the event, and answer any questions you have.
CEM Africa connects CX industry professionals and organisations to information and each other in a carefully curated live and online environment. It's purpose, to help shape the future of CX in Africa.
Exhibit or Sponsor CEM Africa
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For other enquiries contact:
T: +27 21 700 3500
+27 21 700 3512
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