Developments in the African
meeting industry
Dirk Elzinga
Convention Industry Consultants, Cape Town
Outline
• Socio Economic facts and forecasts
• Reasons for Afro-optimism?
• Tourism - and the Meeting Industry
• Demand developments
• Global (association) meetings
• Local and regional associations
• Corporates and incentives
• Exhibitions and trade fairs
• Infrastructure and services
• Conclusions
Outline
• Socio Economic facts and forecasts
• Reasons for Afro-optimism?
• Tourism - and the meeting industry
• Demand developments
• Global (association) meetings
• Local and regional associations
• Corporates and incentives
• Exhibitions and trade fairs
• Infrastructure and services
• Conclusions
Africa: facts and forecasts (UN and IMF)
 54 Recognized sovereign states and
countries
 1.11 Billion inhabitants (2013, doubled
since 1980)
 52 1,000,000+ cities
 Second-largest and second most
populous continent on earth
 Expected population in 2050: 1.9 Billion
(25% of the world!)
 Nigeria will reach 1 Billion inhabitants
by 2100
Africa: facts and forecasts (UN and IMF)
 By 2020 there will be 128 Million households with
discretionary income
 By 2025 47% of all Africans will live in a city
 by 2030 the African middle class will count 300
Million
 by 2035, the number of Africans joining the working
age population (ages 15–64) will exceed that from
the rest of the world combined
Now and in 2050:
Most Populous Countries in Africa
GDP
Gross domestic product 2014
Ranking
1
2
3
22
33
39
49
57
60
74
79
83
85
90
91
94
96
98
Economy
(millions of
US dollars)
United States
China
Japan
17 419 000
10 354 832
4 601 461
Nigeria
South Africa
Egypt, Arab Rep.
Algeria
Angola
Morocco
Kenya
Ethiopia
Tunisia
Tanzania
Libya
Ghana
Côte d'Ivoire
Congo, Dem. Rep.
Cameroon
568 508
350 085
286 538
213 518
138 357
110 009
60 937
55 612
48 613
48 057
41 143
38 617
34 254
33 121
32 051
World Bank 29-12-2015
Economies
•
•
In the past 10 years, six of the ten worlds fastest
growing economies were Sub Sahara African
(The Economist): Angola (11.1%), Nigeria (8.9%)
Ethiopia (8.4%), Chad (7.9%), Mozambique
(7.9%) and Rwanda (7.6%)
(IMF, April 2015): Eight African oil exporting
countries have been hit hard - the story of two
Africa’s. For much of the rest of the region, the
impact of the commodity price decline is small.
Average real GDP growth in 2015-16 will remain
strong, reaching 4¾ percent, and about 6-6½
percent when South Africa is excluded
IMF, Davos, January 2016
GDP growth expectations
GDP Growth Expectations
2016
2017
Global
Advanced Economies
Emerging Markets
3.4%
2.1%
4.3%
3.6%
2.1%
4.7%
South Africa
0.9%
2.4%
IMF, January 2016
Ernst & Young 2014: ‘Africa, executing growth’
Sectors with the highest growth potential
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Mining and metals (26.3%)
Agriculture (25.6%)
Infrastructure (17.7%)
Oil and Gas (17.1%)
Financial Services (15.2%)
Information/Telecommunications (14.8%)
Consumer products (13.5%)
Hotels and Tourism (12.0%)
Renewable energy (11.1%)
Real estate/Construction (9.8%)
Outline
• Socio Economic facts and forecasts
• Reasons for Afro-optimism?
• Tourism – and the Meeting Industry
• Demand developments
• Global (association) meetings
• Local and regional associations
• Corporates and incentives
• Exhibitions and trade fairs
• Infrastructure and services
• Conclusions
Tourism and the meeting industry
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•
•
•
•
For many African countries Tourism is (was/will
be) a crucially important sector (South Africa,
Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya,
Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana,
Senegal, Gambia, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco)
Holiday arrivals in Africa 2014: 55 Million (only
5% of global tourist arrivals)
International conferences as destination
marketing tool: 25-30% of international
delegates returns as holiday guest
Holiday participation in Africa still very low
Pre- and post congress tours replace holidays
The meeting industry in Africa
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Stability of most African countries increasing
Growing number of NGO’s
775 African Associations identified in (HQ magazine and
SANCB)
400 International headquarters in African cities
Growing African membership of international Associations
Improving Congress Infrastructure
New national and regional CVB’s
In last 3 years 130 additional daily flights to African
destinations
Visa regulations make (business) travel still
complicated; improvements noticeable
Outline
• Socio Economic facts and forecasts
• Reasons for Afro-optimism?
• Tourism - and the Meeting Industry
• Demand developments
• Global (association) meetings
• Local and regional associations
• Corporates and incentives
• Exhibitions and trade fairs
• Infrastructure and services
• Conclusions
Developing demand
Association meetings
 Gary Grimmer, Gaining Edge, Melbourne:
‘The world's attention is shifting to Africa. There is
no question that the meeting and convention
business will be growing exponentially there and
South Africa represents the most experienced,
sophisticated and convenient staging place’.
• Professional organisations have the desire to
provide meaningful services to their membership.
(New) members in Africa could well benefit from
what these associations have to offer.
• International Associations like to leave a legacy
after their conferences. Africa offers many
opportunities
Developing demand
Association meetings
 Maturing societies in Africa are a solid basis for
many new African professional organisations,
potentially leading to a strong growth of regional
conferences
 Africans are increasingly present as (board-)
members of international organisations. They
successfully bid for international meetings
 After several attempts the African Society of
Association Executives (AfSAE) was successfully
founded in 2015
Developing demand
Corporate and incentive meetings
 With a rapidly growing middle class in Africa and its
staggering population numbers, global producers of
consumer goods can no longer exclude the
continent from product presentations, shareholders
meetings etc.
 The international importance of African industries is
growing: >20 African companies with revenues of
at least US$3bn
 With the global economic crisis of 2008 being
something of the past, also incentives – in
amended form – find their way back to Africa as a
real award for participants
Developing demand
Exhibitions and Trade Fairs
 ‘Governments in Africa have no clue about how
important this industry is’; ‘Africa is now at the level
we experienced in 1970 in Johannesburg’
(Expo summit 2013, Sandy Angus, Montgomery)
 Africa: the next global emerging market’;
‘Opportunities, opportunities, opportunities’

(UFI congress 2015, Jochen Witt, JW Consultants)
Developing demand
Exhibitions and Trade Fairs
 Large international exhibition organizers focusing on
emerging economies (and USA) for growth
 UBM, Reed, Informa, Tarsus are all listed
companies; Shareholders have high expectations
 Growth generated by fast growing economies:
China, followed by other Asian countries (Vietnam,
Malaysia, Thailand…). New: focus on Indonesia and
Turkey
 Until recently the expectation of Business
Development Directors was that for next (5-10)
years growth would come from India, Russia, Brazil
 Followed (10-20 years) by Africa
Developing demand
Exhibitions and Trade Fairs
 UBM: ‘UBM’s geographic mix of events will continue
to shift towards the emerging markets’ (David Levin,
UBM, Exhibition World)
 Tarsus: ‘Tarsus has grown from a revenue of £4m in
1998 to £75m and from a handful of events to more
than 80 in 19 countries; it has done so with a focus
on the high growth emerging markets and the US’
(Doug Emslie, Tarsus, Exhibition World)
 In 2014 Reed confirmed re-entering the African
market: ‘We are delighted to have forged the
partnership with Thebe and look forward to working
with the team’ (Andrew Fowles, Reed)
Africa – ICCA Statistics
ICCA Statistics
2000
2005
2010
2014
International Meetings
5186
8121
9120
11505
International meetings
in Africa
120
204
283
308
2.31%
2.51%
3.10%
2.68%
% of global number
ICCA Statistics, Am sterdam
Outline
• Socio Economic facts and forecasts
• Reasons for Afro-optimism?
• Tourism - and the Meeting Industry
• Demand developments
• Global (association) meetings
• Local and regional associations
• Corporates and incentives
• Exhibitions and trade fairs
• Infrastructure and services
• Conclusions
Infrastructure and services
 Excellent congress infrastructure
and wide range of industry service
suppliers in South Africa
 Reasonably new, dedicated
convention centres in Durban,
Sandton (Johannesburg) and Cape
Town; smaller centres in other cities
 Aging congress centres in Nairobi,
Arusha, Harare, Cairo, Accra,
Lusaka
Infrastructure and services - new
 2016 - Four new large, dedicated International
Convention Centres
 African Union Conference Centre AUC Addis
Ababa (2012) open for third parties
 Several smaller regional centres in South Africa
 New meeting centres and new meeting hotels
in Seychelles, Mauritius, Angola, Malawi
 But … only very limited congress services
2016 – Four new Convention Centres!
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Calabar, Nigeria
Algiers, Algeria
Cape Town, South Africa
Kigali, Rwanda
Calabar
Calabar International Convention Centre
Thank you !
Algiers
Centre International de Conférence Algiers
Cape Town
Century City Convention Centre
Kigali
Kigali International Convention Centre
Thank you !
Cape Town
Cape Town International Convention Centre
More centres to follow in years to come
• Addis Ababa
• Bulawayo
• Windhoek
• Mombasa
• Nairobi
• Tshwane
Outline
• Socio Economic facts and forecasts
• Reasons for Afro-optimism?
• Tourism - and the Meeting Industry
• Demand developments
• Global (association) meetings
• Local and regional associations
• Corporates and incentives
• Exhibitions and trade fairs
• Infrastructure and services
• Conclusions
Conclusions (1)
 Economic situation in Africa: a temporary dip
 Africa, the only ‘growing continent’
 Fastest growing economies
 Rapidly growing population
 Continuing urbanisation
 Substantial improvement of life expectancy
 Serious increase disposable income per capita
 Growth potential for international associations
 Exhibitions: ‘The next global emerging market’
 The new place for product introductions
Conclusions (2)
 After 15 years first serious expansion of meeting
space: North, Central, West and Southern Africa
 Soon first dedicated exhibition centres outside
South Africa
 Explosion of number of African trade-, industry and
scientific professional organisations
 PCO phenomenon and other services virtually
unknown
 Opportunities for IAPCO members!
THANK YOU !
Thank you !
Popular international growth models
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Partnership with
Partnership with
Partnership with
association
Partnership with
organizer
local African organizer
local/regional congress centre
local/regional trade or professional
an international (repeat) congress
How to proceed
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Consider expanding service delivery in Africa
Invest in (Africa!) data base management
Develop your own new events; create partnerships
Extend into the virtual space
Make sure that quality level of service product
meets (exceeds) international expectations
f. Establish long term (preferential) relationships with
existing organisers with international ambitions,
with venues and with your sub contractors
g. Be visible on the international stage