The Africa Print Expo held last week at Gallagher Convention Centre was a major success, with 5839 unique visitors from South Africa and international countries, exceeding the 5592 unique attendees from the 2016 event. The expo was co-located with FESPA Africa, Sign Africa and Africa LED.
Visitors from 20 African countries attended the event. The top 10 countries with visitors from outside of South Africa included: Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Nigeria, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Swaziland, Ghana and Tanzania.
Visitors could take part in a range of educational features, including Technical Screen Print and Textile Talks, T-shirt and bag printing workshops, Corel Workshops, the Speed Wrap Challenge and business opportunities in print, signage and LED lighting, which were held on various exhibitors' stands.
Exhibitors were positive about the amount and quality of visitors:
Sean Greer, Midcomp: 'This was an awesome show – the general interest in our products and services shows a definite upturn in the market compared to last year. We interacted with visitors from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria and a few others. Our lead capture doubled this year and we did a fair amount of business both on the booth and during the days following the show. Buyers were very optimistic. Many of our deals were on the back of big contracts, which makes the purchase of a machine a no-brainer. Customers are starting to think outside the box and about where they can add value for their clients.'
Matthew Glanvill, Maritime Marketing: 'The show was amazing! It was our first time exhibiting and we were surprised at how busy it was. We had a great experience and we'll definitely be back next year.'
Ruan Geustyn, Modico: 'It was an excellent show – we sold over 10 models at the event.'
Dirk Vogt, Colorscreen: 'The show was very good. We sold equipment off the stand and have a lot of leads from Africa as well.'
Dov Meyers, Chemosol: 'We had a good response to our offerings, which included our transfer presses, sublimation solutions and new fibre laser. There was a good customer turnout, indicating an upturn in the industry.'
Gavin Petersen, Clear Solutions: 'The quality of visitors was good, with more people looking to buy than browse and a higher turnout than last year. We made a number of sales and had interest from visitors from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.'
Vanessa Ngwana, Falcon: 'Our award-winning stand was extremely busy the entire expo and our expectations for the event were exceeded. We've had visitors from Africa who are interested in partnering with us.'
Kevin Engelbrecht, Inkjet Media Supplies: 'This was the best show we've ever had.'
Judges visited each stand at the expo and judged the stands according to criteria based on design, staff friendliness and professionalism. The stand winners and runners up include:
Africa Print
Small Shell Scheme:
First place: Hi-Tech Business Systems.
Runner-up: Printing & Technical.
Small Floor Space:
First place: Optimus.
Runner-up: HiTech Graphics.
Medium Floor Space:
First place: Riso Africa.
Runner-up: Graphix Supply World.
Large Floor Space:
First Tie: Konica Minolta SA and Graphix Supply World.
Runner-up: Printing SA.
FESPA Africa and Sign Africa:
Small Shell Scheme:
First place: KIS Photo Me.
Runner-up: LBY Africa.
Small Floor Space:
First Tie: 3DpXL! and Optima Ink.
Runner-up: AM.CO.ZA.
Medium Shell Scheme:
First place: Dacen.
Runner-up: Abelanani.
Medium Floor Space:
First place: Printacom/OKI.
Runner-up: AWT swissQprint.
Large Floor Space:
First place: Falcon.
Runner-up: Mimaki.
Mega Floor Space:
Mega 100
First Tie: Maizey Plastics and Speed Wrap stand.
Runner-up: Sheetco.
Mega 200:
First place: Roland.
Runner-up: Midcomp.
Africa LED
Small Shell Scheme:
First Tie: Jiangmen Baijun Trade Co.,Ltd and Lence Technologie GmbH.
Runner-up: Berdis Lighting Co.,Ltd.
Small Floor Space:
First place: BD Lighting.
Runner-up: Opple.
Large Floor Space:
First place: Philips Lighting South Africa.
