Pan Afrikan Design Week will make its Cape Town debut from 21 to 24 October 2026, bringing together designers, educators, entrepreneurs, students, cultural practitioners and community builders from across Africa and beyond for four days of dialogue, collaboration and innovation.
Hosted at the V&A Waterfront, the landmark event will centre on the theme, “How do we design to thrive?”, challenging delegates to rethink the role of design in addressing social, economic and environmental challenges facing the continent.
The annual gathering is led by the Pan Afrikan Design Institute (PADI), which launched the inaugural Pan Afrikan Design Week in Johannesburg in 2020. Since then, the conference has travelled to Botswana, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana, establishing itself as a leading platform for African design thinking. Acclaimed TED speaker Saki Mafundikwa is among the confirmed speakers for this year’s programme.
“We are extremely proud to bring Pan Afrikan Design Week to the Mother City,” said Suné Stassen, CEO of Open Design Afrika and Programme Director of the event.
“This gathering honours the resilience, ingenuity and creative intelligence of Afrika at a moment when the world faces unprecedented challenges, and when the continent has so much to offer in answering them.”
The three-day conference, running from 21 to 23 October at Workshop17 in the V&A Waterfront’s Watershed precinct, will feature keynote presentations, panel discussions, interactive workshop labs and networking opportunities.
The programme concludes with a networking event on 23 October, followed by a community-based learning tour hosted by Uthando South Africa on 24 October, giving delegates an opportunity to engage directly with Cape Town’s social-impact initiatives.
Focus areas
Each conference day has a distinct focus. The opening day explores Africa’s place within the global landscape, while the second examines how design and creative collaboration can generate positive change across industries and communities. The final day looks at the future of education and how it can equip the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers.
“A central idea behind the event is that humanity is the chief designer of the human-made world,” Stassen said.
“If today’s realities have been shaped over generations by human choices, systems and institutions, then logically they can be redesigned through better choices, deeper collaboration and more responsible action.”
Need to know details
Around 200 delegates are expected to attend in person each day, with selected sessions also available via livestream to registered online participants. Through PADI’s extensive network of members across more than 21 African countries and 57 tertiary art and design institutions, organisers hope the conversations will continue long after the conference concludes.
Early-bird tickets are available through the end of July at R3,400, with standard three-day conference tickets increasing to R3,800 from August. Student tickets, single-day passes, workshop passes and networking event tickets are also available.
For more information and ticket bookings, visit Quicket.
