According to the Meetings Africa 2012 Trends Report, positive economic growth indicators, growing foreign direct investment and the rising African middle class are promising factors for the development of Africa’s meetings and events sector. Trade flows between Africa and China, for example, are likely to be matched by growth in the volume of business meetings of representatives of both countries. At present, Africa’s population is growing at a faster rate than that of any other world region and it is the middle class that is expanding most rapidly. The African Development Bank, maintains that by 2030, Africa’s new middle class will comprise over 300 million people, who will spend between them around US$ 2.2 trillion a year. Professional associations are often attracted by the idea of holding their conferences in destinations that offer them the opportunity of gaining new members, and African countries increasingly fit the profile of places whose populations offer fertile recruiting grounds for associations. In the light of these socio-political changes, Africa faces an unprecedented opportunity of winning international association conferences – particularly if some of the obstacles to progress (such as political instability, the weak rule of law, corruption, infrastructure bottlenecks and the slow pace of liberalization of Africa’s airlines) can be overcome.


Reed Exhibitions | EIBTM Trends Watch Report 2012 19


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