Organisers say that
The organisers, BC Expo South Africa, Messe München and AEM, say they are looking forward to the next edition of the trade fair, which will again take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2021.
A total of 454 exhibitors from 34 countries and 14,167 visitors attended the recent international trade fair from 13-16 March, and 13% of the visitors came from outside the host country.
The top five visitor countries from Africa were Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia, and delegations from Chile, Israel, Kenya and Turkey visited the trade fair.
Their participation underlines the importance of bauma CONEXPO AFRICA as the largest industry event for this sector in the region.
“The trade fair reflected a sense of renewed optimism and highlighted the opportunities in the industry, despite recent economic challenges,” says Stefan Rummel, managing director of Messe München.
Petra Kaiser, senior director of International Exhibitions & Events at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), added: “It is significant to have a consistent and engaged presence in the region in order to take advantage of long-term business potential. bauma CONEXPO AFRICA creates a platform to help facilitate these opportunities.”
Exhibitors experienced increased sales of machinery and equipment over the four days of the trade fair, as reported for example by Rajen Garender, marketing director, Weir Minerals.
“bauma CONEXPO AFRICA is an extremely well-organised and professional trade event. It has been a successful exhibition for Weir Minerals with several promising sales opportunities in the works.”
A highlight of the 2018 edition was said to be the quality of visitors attending.
“bauma CONEXPO AFRICA provided excellent networking opportunities for Shantui, providing us with good quality contacts,” says Naseera Barradeen, marketing manager, Ever Star Industries.
“A well-organised opportunity, however the number of visitors was lower than expected. Due to our success at this edition, Shantui looks forward to exhibiting again in 2021.”
bauma CONEXPO AFRICA featured exhibitors from across various industry segments that were pleased with the trade fair.
“Kaeser is very satisfied with the results of this exhibition,” says Marco Angermüller, manager product support at Kaeser Kompressoren. “The number of visitors was limited, but the quality was great for us. We could sign a lot of orders and found many new customers which will help Kaeser to grow further in Africa, especially in South Africa.”
