FESPA, in association with its partners Practical Publishing hosted the FESPA Africa Forum in Nigeria and Kenya on the 12 and 14 April 2016 respectively, as part of its Profit for Purpose reinvestment programme and educational commitment to the global print community.
Overall 176 delegates attended the one-day events to hear a range of sessions on the global print industry.
With both Nigeria and Kenya being among the biggest importers of printing products in Sub Saharan Africa according to Whitehouse and Associates, these forums aimed to provide printers and sign-makers in East and West Africa access to a quality educational FESPA event, and the opportunity to connect with peers and experts.
Industry experts Lanre Akintilo, MD of Portion Consult LTD, Biyi Bamgbose, MD of Spec Digital Prints LTD and Afolabi Rasheed, Lecturer, Printing Technology Department at Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) in Lagos and Sachen Gudka, CEO of The Rodwell Press and Twak Karanja from Magnate Ventures from Nairobi shared their wealth of knowledge and experience on Diversification.
The panels discussing Succession Planning included industry experts Elizabeth Diolulu, Manager on Editorial Production at Punch Nigeria LTD, Gbenga Oladokun, Manager at Dominion Press LTD and Afolabi Rasheed from Nigeria. Stephen Githinji, Digital & Screenprinting from Magnate Ventures and Steve Thobela, CEO of Printing SA shared their insights in Kenya.
The two panel discussions on Diversification and Succession Planning were lively interactions between the audience and the panel. Steve Thobela, of Printing SA – FESPA’s South African Association member, gave two presentations; ‘Business Opportunities in Print in Africa’ and a step by step approach on dealing with ‘Supplier Maintenance Contracts’. Neil Felton CEO of FESPA presented the findings and trends highlighted in the FESPA Print Census, a global research project to understand the wide format, screen and digital print community.
Charnia Yapp, Director of FESPA Africa said, ‘We were very happy with the turnout at both events, we were over-subscribed which led us to extending capacity! This is a real indication of the hunger for knowledge and demand for educational events like these across the African continent within the printing and signage community. The level of participation from the audience at both forums enabled us to gain really valuable insights into the challenges that printers and sign makers are facing in these countries and we are certain that the information and knowledge resources that FESPA and Printing SA can continue to offer will be of tremendous use to the print and sign professionals here.’
‘A big thank you to our partners in this project, FESPA, Printing SA, our sponsor Roland and media partners WHERE To Print magazine and Printers Digest,’ concluded Yapp. Continuing FESPA’s profit for purpose philosophy to support global printers, the exhibition FESPA Africa taking place 7-9 September 2016 at Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg will continue to deliver educational content alongside the latest technological offerings from industry manufacturers and distributors enabling printers and sign makers from across Africa to source new equipment and opportunities for their business.
Forthcoming FESPA events include:
- Print Mexico Congress, 19 May 2016, Centro Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico
- FESPA Mexico, 18-20 August 2016, Centro Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico
- FESPA Africa 2016, 7-9 September 2016, Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
- FESPA China 2016, 21-23 November 2016, Guangzhou, China
- FESPA Eurasia 2016, 8-11 December 2016, CNR Expo, Istanbul, Turkey
- FESPA Asia 2017, 15-17 February 2017, BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand
- FESPA 2017, 8-12 May 2017, Hamburg Messe, Hamburg, Germany
For more information visit: www.fespaafrica.com
