Spotlight on African opportunity
EW guest editor Paul Woodward turns our attention to how African markets have been coping and talks to some industry leaders there and hears how they are returning to exhibition business
et ’ s start by agreeing
L that speaking of Africa as a single place is a nonsense . Draw a line from Morocco to Mozambique and you span a continent which can happily absorb the land masses of China , the United States , India and most of Europe with some room to spare .
But , with that ‘ health warning ’ in mind , we ’ ll give it a crack anyway . Africa ’ s almost 1.3 billion people have , of course , been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in many ways like the rest of the world . The fact that the continent ’ s people are remarkably young – 40 % of them are under 15 – has saved them from some of the worst ravages , but vaccination rates remain very low in many countries . So , re-opening has been slow in places .
There ’ s a lot going on in the world of exhibitions across the continent , however , and we spoke to two people who have a better view than most about where and what is happening . Alexander Angus is managing director – Africa for the Montgomery Group , a company whose business roots in the continent go back over 50 years . “ African populations are very resilient ,” he commented after returning to London from a visit to the company ’ s operations in Kenya . Echoing comments that we ’ ve been
Below : Craig Newman Bottom : Cape Town International Convention Centre hearing from around the world , Angus noted that “ most people want to exhibit . There ’ s a real appetite for exhibiting .”
Former UFI president , Craig Newman was appointed Group CEO of GL Events ’ South African business in the middle of 2020 . Although the market there is yet fully to reopen for exhibitions , “ people are feeling more optimistic ”, Newman says . “ The biggest issue , especially for the big shows , is uncertainty ,” he suggests . Although exhibitors are keen to get back to exhibiting , they are nervous about committing to and paying for events until they are really convinced that they are going to take place , Newman worries .
The Kenyan market is about to reopen , with DMG ’ s Big 5 Construct in November the first major international event out of the blocks . This is a market segment where DMG is expanding its footprint around the region . As reported by EW in September , the company has acquired Addisbuild in Ethiopia from its Turkish owners and that show is about to run as we write . Angus agrees that “ Ethiopia is a ►
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