The Africa focused trade show, showcasing feed to food innovation for the poultry industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, started in 2017 as a biennial B2B international trade show, and this year’s event, in Kigali, Rwanda, will be the third edition.
The show will be located in the Kigali Convention Centre (KCC), one of the largest venues in the region.
The event is scheduled to run on October 5-6, preceded by a leadership conference on October 4. VNU said visitor registration is open.
Africa’s poultry industry is set for strong growth over the next decade, according to forecasts from Rabobank. It says the industry could grow at a compound annual rate of around 4.7% from a current valuation of US$25bn, with markets such as South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Ethiopia, and Morocco leading the charge.
Exhibitor line-up
Exhibition space booking for the event had already reached 60% capacity in May 2022, said Nienke van Soest, Poultry Africa assistant project manager.
Companies from Europe, North America, Asia and Africa will be present. Some of the exhibitors currently lined up for the event include Agrotech, AgroMex/Champrix, Aviagen, CEVA, Evonik Africa, Hendrix Genetics, Jacobs Global, Marel Poultry, Peruvian Pharmaceutical, Trouw Nutrition Middle East & Africa, and the Vencomatic Group.
The show is expected to welcome more than 2,000 visitors: nutritionists, vets, farmers, and food manufacturers are the main target profiles for the event.
Attendees are expected from Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania and also from South Africa, Sudan, and other African countries, said VNU.
Peter-Bart Lichtenbeld, sales director at Vencomatic, commenting during a press conference last week launching the show, said that first movers in the livestock markets in Sub-Saharan Africa will gain a great advantage over the competition. “The final goal is to bring knowledge and sustainability to the region and grow together with the local farmers.”
The sectors that will be highlighted during the show include breeding and hatching, animal health, feed milling, feed ingredients and additives, farming and animal housing, slaughtering and processing, and egg handling.
Expanded focus
Poultry Africa 2022 will see two new additions to the usual poultry focus of the event: dairy and horticulture.
“By providing high-quality content on these topics via dedicated conferences and seminars, we offer our attendees the tools to address the current challenges and solutions in the dairy farms and horticulture business in Africa,” explained Zhenja Antochin, senior project manager at VNU Europe.
Poultry Africa will also focus on increasing local production and, thereby, decreasing dependency on imports.
Biosecurity, automation, farm management and cold chain solutions are the other reoccurring themes that will be showcased, said the organizers.
The show is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture in Rwanda (MINAGRI), Africa Agribusiness Academy, Dutch Poultry Centre (DPC), Netherlands-Africa Business Council (NABC), Traide, Poultry Association of Rwanda and the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA).