By the end of the first day at the Africa Health Tech Summit 2026 in Kigali, I had started to think of the summit venue as a village.
There were delegates everywhere, moving in and out of rooms as they followed the sessions that interested them. With several sessions taking place at the same time, it was impossible to attend everything. On Day One alone, there were about 20 sessions and mini-events.
But the summit was about more than what happened inside the rooms. There were sideline meetings, spontaneous conversations, laughter, photo shoots, networking, and people catching up between sessions.
For me, much of the first day was spent exploring the exhibition hall. I moved from one stand to another, asking questions and finding out what different exhibitors had brought to Kigali. At lunchtime, I shared a table with four people from four different countries. We had an interesting conversation, another reminder that some of the best moments at a gathering like this happen outside the official program.
Then came the Cultural Soiree.
After a day filled with conversations about health technology and innovation, the atmosphere shifted. African attire, music, color, and plenty of energy took over. It was a chance for delegates to experience another side of Africa.
I showed up wearing a Made-in-Rwanda shirt featuring Imigongo patterns. It quickly became a conversation starter. Some foreign delegates were curious about the patterns, giving me an opportunity to explain Imigongo art and share a little piece of Rwanda with them.
That was one of my favorite moments of the day.
As a travel writer, I am always interested in those little encounters. You can attend a summit for the big conversations, but sometimes it is a shirt, a meal, a conversation, or a cultural experience that stays with you.
AHTS 2026 may have been a health technology summit, but by the end of Day One, it had already become much more than that. It had become a meeting place for ideas, cultures, stories, and people from different parts of the world.