WiT Africa Panel Backs Leapfrog Moment for Online Travel as Trust and AI Take Centre Stage
A panel at WiT Africa's Innovation City Cape Town event on 10 April 2026 forecast that Africa's online travel share could reach between 50 and 90 per cent by 2045, depending on market maturity - with panellists Mike McGearty, CEO of Meili, Tania Platt, global head of B2B travel at Visa, and Adebayo Adedeji, group CEO of WakaNow, drawing parallels with the continent's earlier leapfrog from cash to mobile payments. McGearty predicted online penetration above 80 per cent, citing AI as the primary catalyst, while Adedeji differentiated between sophisticated markets such as South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Morocco - where he sees penetration reaching 80 to 90 per cent - and the broader continent, where 50 to 60 per cent was more realistic. All three agreed that Africa's path to digital travel adoption would look different from the rest of the world, with conversational commerce via messaging platforms and AI agents - rather than traditional browser-based booking flows - identified as the likely default interface for African consumers.
On the question of who wins in an AI-driven travel landscape, the panel and audience backed the aggregator model, with Adedeji arguing that customers want simple solutions in simple places. However, the discussion consistently returned to trust as the foundational currency of African travel. Smaller players were advised to own the customer relationship layer, build capabilities that global platforms cannot easily replicate, and invest in local knowledge and domain expertise - areas the panellists argued no algorithm can substitute. McGearty noted that while more than 90 per cent of Meili's code is now AI-generated, experienced human oversight remains critical, adding that domain expertise will be the key differentiator between winners and losers in the years ahead.
Source: Web In Travel
