LEAP 2026: Why Africa should be looking to Riyadh

There are technology conferences that showcase innovation, and there are conferences designed to move capital. LEAP increasingly belongs to the second category. When the event was conceived in 2020 and held for the first time in Riyadh in 2022, Saudi Arabia was still establishing its credentials as a global technology destination. Five editions later, that argument is becoming considerably easier to make. LEAP 2026, held from 31 August to 3 September under the theme 'Into New Worlds', brought together more than 1,800 technology companies, over 600 startups, around 1,000 speakers and more than 1,900 investors and venture capital representatives. Attendance has risen from more than 100,000 visitors at the inaugural edition in 2022 to 172,000 in 2023 and 215,000 in 2024, while the 2025 edition attracted a record number of senior visitors. Scale, however, is only part of the story. By the end of LEAP 2026, Saudi authorities reported close to $15bn in investments, agreements and commitments spanning artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, data centres, technology manufacturing and venture capital. The figure says much about what Saudi Arabia wants LEAP to become. Riyadh is not simply seeking to build the Middle East's answer to the world's major technology exhibitions. It is attempting to create a marketplace where technology, government policy and capital converge. From oil capital to technology capital LEAP makes more sense when viewed within the wider transformation taking place across Saudi Arabia. Under Vision 2030, the Kingdom has been deploying its financial resources to accelerate diversification away from hydrocarbons. Technology sits at the centre of that effort, not merely as another industry to develop but as a critical part of the infrastructure of the future Saudi economy. The numbers are increasingly significant. Saudi Arabia's digital economy now contributes around 15.8 per cent of GDP, according to the Vision 2030 annual report, while the ICT market has reached approximately $53bn. More than 1,050 technology startups were established over four years, with venture capital-backed companies raising $2.4bn over the same period. The venture capital market has moved even faster. Saudi startups raised a record $1.66bn across 254 deals in 2025, compared with just $60m in 2018. Saudi Arabia consequently retained its position as the MENA region's largest venture capital market for the third consecutive year. Perhaps more revealing is the expansion of the investor base. Saudi Venture Capital reports that the number of venture capital investors active in the Kingdom has risen from just 34 to 200 in seven years. SVC itself has committed approximately $1.2bn since its establishment, backing 65 funds and helping to mobilise $5.9bn in commitments from its partners. This is what increasingly separates LEAP from the familiar model of a government-sponsored technology conference. The conference is now the visible part of a much larger piece of economic infrastructure. LEAP as an investment platform Walking through LEAP also reveals the type of technology economy Saudi Arabia is seeking to build. Artificial intelligence may attract the headlines, but beneath it lies a much broader investment thesis encompassing cloud infrastructure, semiconductors, data centres, fintech, cybersecurity, gaming, health tech, smart cities and digital services. At LEAP 2026, Al Moammar Information Systems announced a $1.2bn investment to expand Saudi data centre capacity. NHC Innovation announced an investment of roughly $800m in the Khuzam Digital Valley, while AWS is preparing to launch its first Saudi cloud infrastructure base in December as part of a planned investment exceeding $5.3bn. Venture capital was also prominent among the announcements. On the third day alone, close to $293m of VC investment was announced across 11 transactions, including startup funding rounds and new investment funds. Among them was a $100m vehicle from Ula Capital and South Korea's Future Play, designed to connect Saudi Arabia with deep-tech opportunities. The message is difficult to miss. Saudi Arabia wants companies not only to sell technology into the Kingdom, but increasingly to build, finance and scale from it. And that creates an interesting question for Africa. Africa should look east Africa's technology ecosystem has traditionally looked in a handful of directions for capital and partnerships. Silicon Valley has provided venture funding and entrepreneurial models. Europe has supplied development finance, institutional partnerships and market connections. China has become a major infrastructure and technology partner. The Gulf, and Saudi Arabia in particular, deserves to become another pillar of that map. The geographical logic is compelling. Riyadh is only a few hours from Cairo, Nairobi, Addis Ababa or Tunis. Saudi Arabia has longstanding commercial and diplomatic relationships across the continent, while African markets offer many of the sectors in which Gulf investors are increasingly interested, including fintech, logistics, food security, healthcare, renewable energy, digital infrastructure and consumer technology. Institutional relationships are already developing. In 2025, the African Development Bank and Saudi institutions agreed to deepen cooperation around investment in renewable energy, trade infrastructure and social development projects across Africa. Yet technology and venture capital remain relatively underdeveloped dimensions of the relationship. That should change. African participation at LEAP is already becoming more visible. Tunisia, for example, established its first national pavilion at LEAP in 2026, bringing together public institutions, startups and innovative SMEs with the explicit objective of connecting the Tunisian ecosystem with Saudi and international investors. Such initiatives are useful, but African countries should think beyond national stands. A pavilion creates visibility. It does not automatically create investment. From African delegations to an Africa-Saudi investment corridor What is missing is a more structured bridge between African deal flows and Saudi capital. Future participation at LEAP could therefore be organised around an Africa Investment and Technology Platform rather than a collection of disconnected national delegations. African venture funds could meet Saudi limited partners. Saudi corporations looking for innovation could be introduced to African startups. Development finance institutions could provide risk-sharing mechanisms alongside Gulf investors. African governments and investment promotion agencies could present investable technology pipelines rather than generic country presentations. Most importantly, relationships need to continue after everyone leaves Riyadh. Venture capital rarely results from a single meeting at a conference. It depends on repeated interaction, trust and local understanding. Africa therefore needs permanent relationships with Saudi institutions, family offices, corporate venture arms and fund managers, rather than simply annual visits to LEAP. That is why another Riyadh event deserves African attention. On 25 and 26 January 2027, the city will host SuperReturn Saudi Arabia, organised in strategic partnership with Jada Fund of Funds. The previous edition attracted more than 1,000 senior private capital professionals, including over 300 limited partners and 600 general partners. Participants included PIF, Mubadala, Jada, IFC, Hassana, major Saudi financial institutions and international managers such as Apollo, Brookfield, CVC, Investcorp and Warburg Pincus. For African fund managers seeking Saudi LP capital, that gathering may be just as important as LEAP itself. The opportunity is to connect the two. SuperReturn in January can be where capital relationships are initiated. LEAP can become where those relationships develop into technology partnerships, investment opportunities and transactions. Riyadh is building an ecosystem, not an event Perhaps the most interesting lesson from LEAP is not the number of visitors or even the billions of dollars announced. It is the consistency of the Saudi approach. Capital, regulation, infrastructure, international companies, venture funds, startups, talent programmes and global events are being assembled around the same economic objective. LEAP is one part of that machinery. For Africa, there is an important lesson here, but also a significant opportunity. The continent does not lack entrepreneurs. Nor does it lack technology companies capable of solving difficult problems. What remains scarce is patient growth capital, particularly for businesses seeking to move beyond their domestic markets. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is building an increasingly sophisticated private capital industry and looking outward for technology, partnerships and investment opportunities. The interests are not identical, but they are complementary. The task now is to turn proximity into connectivity. That requires African governments, sovereign investors, development finance institutions, venture funds and entrepreneurs to stop treating Riyadh merely as another destination on the conference calendar. They should approach Saudi Arabia as a long-term capital partner and arrive with investable propositions rather than brochures. LEAP has taken only five editions to become one of the world's largest technology gatherings. For Africa, the more consequential question is what relationships can be built around it over the next five.

LEAP 2026: Why Africa should be looking to Riyadh

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