New Nairobi Forum Puts Africa’s Exhibition Markets and Governments at Centre Stage

Nairobi, Kenya

The inaugural Africa Exhibition Forum will bring together organisers, venues, service providers, governments and investors in Nairobi on 4–5 December to examine what is needed to unlock the continent’s exhibition potential.

Africa’s exhibition industry is set to gain a new platform for strategic discussion this December, when the inaugural Africa Exhibition Forum (AEF) takes place at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

Organised by Exhibit Africa and jwc, with the support of UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and UNIDO, the United Nations specialised agency for industrial development, the two-day forum will bring together local and international organisers, venue operators, exhibition service providers, government stakeholders and investors.

The premise behind the event is straightforward: Africa represents a substantial opportunity for exhibitions and business events, yet its markets remain fragmented and the continent continues to face significant gaps in exhibition infrastructure.

The latest UFI/jwc World Map of Exhibition Venues provides a stark illustration of the challenge. Of the 81 venues worldwide with more than 100,000 sqm of exhibition space listed in the report, none is located in Africa. Only five African markets exceed the report’s 50,000 sqm reporting threshold: South Africa, with 126,489 sqm across six venues; Algeria, with 76,000 sqm; Morocco, with 60,000 sqm; Egypt, with 55,480 sqm; and Senegal, with 53,000 sqm.

Together, those five markets account for 17 venues and 370,969 sqm of exhibition space. For comparison, Messe Frankfurt alone has 372,073 sqm.

For Jochen Witt, Chairman of jwc, understanding the nature of Africa’s individual markets is essential to understanding where the industry’s opportunities lie.

“Africa holds significant potential for the exhibition and business events industry, though it functions as a collection of distinct markets rather than a single, unified landscape. Many of these markets are shaped by deeply rooted ethnic, linguistic, and cultural trading networks, which often drive substantial informal trade outside standard customs channels. Mapping and understanding these authentic trade flows is essential to building a successful exhibition business. At the same time, governments represent a critical stakeholder group. Each of the continent’s 54 nations pursues its own economic agenda, with varying levels of emphasis on how exhibitions and business events contribute to national growth. To bridge this gap, the ‘Africa Exhibition Forum’ (AEF) works to inform governments on the vital role exhibition and business events play in accelerating overall economic development.”

The forum arrives against a wider backdrop of efforts to strengthen intra-African trade. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), signed in Kigali in March 2018 and entering into force in May 2019, commits the 49 states that have ratified it to liberalise 90% of tariff lines across a market of 1.4 billion people.

The World Bank estimates that full implementation could increase intra-African exports by 81% by 2035. Intra-African trade was estimated at $213.8 billion in 2025, equivalent to around 14% of the continent’s total merchandise trade, which stood at approximately $1.5 trillion according to the African Trade Report 2026.

Against this backdrop, the exhibition industry has a potentially important role to play in connecting markets, industries and buyers. Yet the physical infrastructure required to facilitate those connections remains unevenly distributed.
 

Sarit Expo Centre, Westlands, Nairobi

Three questions for Africa’s exhibition industry

The AEF programme is structured around three themes: market, government and infrastructure. The first will examine how trade moves across the continent, where demand is concentrated and what international industry data reveals about Africa’s position in the global exhibition landscape.

Naji El Haddad, Regional Director of UFI, will present data on the economic impact of exhibitions, while UNIDO and jwc will share findings from a new study examining Africa’s trade show and venue landscape. The study is intended to provide a comparable overview of exhibitions and venues across key African markets.

The second theme addresses the relationship between the industry and governments. The organisers argue that exhibitions should be considered not simply as an industry seeking public support, but as economic infrastructure capable of contributing to export revenues, investment attraction, domestic industry development and wider economic growth.

The third focuses on infrastructure: an issue that can determine whether an international organiser considers a destination at all. International events operate according to specific requirements around space, accessibility, logistics and services. Where those requirements cannot be met, a destination can effectively be excluded before commercial discussions begin.

The programme will also include a tour of the Sarit Expo Centre, alongside workshops examining the fundamentals of the exhibition business and the practical requirements facing African organisers and venues.

Among the confirmed speakers are Wolfram Diener, President and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf and UFI President 2026/27; Stefan Kratzsch, PhD, Head of the Sustainable Investments and Responsible Business Unit at UNIDO; Carole Kadenge, GM of Sarit Expo Centre; Paul Maerz, Managing Director of Fairtrade; and Jamie Hill, CEO of BtoB Events. Further speakers are expected to be announced.

For Daniel Mesfin, CEO of Exhibit Africa, the forum is intended to produce practical outcomes as well as a broader statement about the continent’s position in the global exhibition market. “We want three things to come out of Nairobi: Quick fixes for the gaps that cost this continent international events today. Agreement on what the industry needs, so that high-quality venues get built faster than they are being built now. And a clear message to the rest of the world that Africa is a growth market to buy into now, not in ten years.”

Nairobi as a gateway

The choice of Nairobi reflects the city’s established role as a commercial and regional hub in East Africa, while the Sarit Expo Centre provides the setting for a discussion focused on the practical realities of exhibition delivery.

Carole Kadenge, GM of Sarit Expo Centre, says the venue’s location is intended to reinforce Nairobi’s role as a gateway for international business connections.

“We are delighted to host this inaugural event at Sarit Expo Centre and welcome delegates from across the world to Nairobi, a city with enormous potential to serve as a gateway to Africa’s growing exhibitions and business events industry. Our strategic location within Sarit Mall gives delegates access to essential services including banks, forex bureaus, restaurants, a supermarket and other amenities, while our connectivity via the Nairobi Expressway places us approximately 18 km from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and 9 km from Wilson Airport. With leading five-star hotels nearby, Sarit Expo Centre offers an ideal environment for global business connections as Africa emerges as a key destination for exhibitions, investment and trade.”

The Sarit Expo Centre has 4,510 sqm of column-free exhibition space alongside meeting rooms and has hosted events and organisations from Africa, Europe and Asia. The venue is a member of UFI, the Association of Kenya Business Events (AKBE) and the Africa Business Development Events Council (ABDEC). It also founded and organises Africa MICE Expo, alongside eight flagship events supporting the development of Kenya’s exhibitions and business events sector.

For the organisers of AEF, however, the Nairobi gathering is intended to look beyond Kenya. Its broader objective is to place the development of exhibition markets within the continent’s economic agenda — and to bring governments, investors and industry stakeholders into the same conversation.

With trade integration gathering momentum, the forum will examine whether exhibitions can become part of the infrastructure through which that integration is realised, and what needs to change for African destinations to compete more effectively for international events.

The Africa Exhibition Forum takes place on 4 and 5 December 2026 at Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi.
 

Registration is open for the inaugural forum
 

Published by Meeting Media Company, the publisher of Headquarters Magazine (HQ) – a leading international publication based in Brussels, serving the global MICE industry and association community.