It should , however , not be assumed that all African countries would rip the benefits of such advancements in this filled as has already been confirmed / suggested by varying trends in Wi-Fi access at Convention Centers and Africa airports in Ethiopia , Kenya , Rwanda , Tanzania , South Africa and Nigeria as notable examples for 2017 .
Africa : MICE Infrastructure
The last couple of years has seen heavy investment in some leading ( and aspiring ) MICE destinations in Africa . It goes without saying that with most of these MICE infrastructure nearly completed , 2017 will witness an increased capacity for a number of destinations . This is definitely going to change the dynamics of bidding for certain higher conferences as more countries would be having state of the art centers to challenge traditional ‘ big boys ’.
In addition to inter-country competition , these developments will also see intense intra-country competition especially in cases where some countries like Ethiopia , Nigeria and South Africa are now having more than one destination to choose from for say a 2,000 pax conference .
Related to the foregoing is the development in such support infrastructures like hotels , airports and mass transportation for delegates . To this end , most countries are expected to complete a number of these infrastructure in 2017 resulting in improved rating on say capacity of a country to efficiently transport delegates to and from the airport on arrival for a major conference . Trends in funding the infrastructures seems to be PPP , FDI , etc . but again a substantial proportion is being carried out by Chinese related companies .
‘‘ The last couple of years has seen heavy investment in some leading ( and aspiring ) MICE destinations in Africa . It goes without saying that with most of these MICE infrastructure nearly completed , 2017 will witness an increased capacity for a number of destinations . This is definitely going to change the dynamics of bidding for certain higher conferences as more countries would be having state of the art centers to challenge traditional ‘ big boys ’.’’
Africa : Economic Growth
The disparity in economic growth for African countries will continue to register at diverse rates as the countries themselves . Whereas some have projected double economic growth , a number of African countries will record single digit economic growth .
From the perspective of MICE activities , Countries meet in good times and in bad times too – remember Greece case ? To this end , economic development related meetings will continue to dot the landscape of the continent in 2017 . Strategically placed convention centers will definitely benefit a great deal by hosting high profile inter-governmental conferences in these subject areas .
Professional Association Development
The key ingredient for hosting international conferences is the existence of a developed association base in a number of conference subject areas like medical , ICT and Governance . Leading MICE destinations like Vienna have expended effort to develop their associations to the point that they are strong enough to partner with convention centres to bid and win conferences .
Africa has registered unprecedented strides in this front with Nigeria , South Africa , Tanzania , Kenya and Rwanda leading the pack in association development .
Since 2016 , International Congress and Conference Association , ICCA , Africa Chapter has also been working with South Africa Tourism and the newly launched AfSAE ( Association of African Associations ) to help Africa destinations identify and develop a strong foundation for professional associations . It is expected that this will enable more destinations reap considerable benefits associated with a stronger professional associations in some of these countries .
Ben Asoro is an international Mice Expert recently elected as the Chairman of ICCA in Africa and working as Director - Marketing & Sales at Calabar International Convention Centre in Nigeria . You can engage him on this or related issues via mail at : Bernard537 @ gmail . com , or Ben @ conventioncentrecalabar . com .