The opening session of the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Sandton this week will feature keynote addresses by Mr Muzi Mathema, the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency’s Acting Group Executive: Trade, Investment and Regulatory Enablement, as well as the CEO of the Gauteng Industrial Development Zone, Mrs Seipati Mangadi.  

The opportunities and challenges in the South African property sector, from commercial to residential, will be in focus at the summit that returns to Sandton from Thursday, 11  October. Some 200 property professionals are expected to attend this award-winning real estate event, including Johannesburg’s Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba.

The Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) is the headline sponsor for the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit with the Gauteng Industrial Development Zone (GIDZ), a subsidiary company of the GGDA, also represented and speaking at the event. 

The conference theme is: “Examining the commercial, industrial and residential development landscape in South Africa”, and programme highlights include: 

Day 1 – Thursday, 11 October 2018:
09:00-09:30
Opening Keynote: Investing in South Africa: How African capital cities are leading the way
- Muzi Mathema, Acting Group Executive: Trade, Investment and Regulatory Enablement at Gauteng Growth and Development Agency

At the GGDA, Mr Mathema is successfully leading the division responsible for promoting trade and exports in and out of the Gauteng Province, as well as the facilitation of both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) into the Gauteng Province. The function serves to drive economic growth and job creation, through value added facilitation of targeted investment in strategic sectors and delivering trade linkages globally. Additionally, through engagements with public sector stakeholders, potential investors, entrepreneurs, inward and outward trade missions, he is tasked to strategically position the Gauteng Province as a Globally Competitive City Region (GCR).

09:30-10:00
IDZs: Stimulating Struggling Economies: Expansion and development of the country’s industrial development zones: What are the opportunities?
- Seipati Mangadi, CEO of Gauteng Industrial Development Zone 

“The IDZ initiative will go a long way in attracting investment and contributing to lowering unemployment,” according to Ms Mangadi, “however, it should not be seen in separation to other endeavours to make South Africa an attractive destination in which to invest.” She continues: “success lies in working in close cooperation with all stakeholders tasked with marketing South Africa’s investment opportunities. At any given time, there are delegations visiting the globe in efforts to attract investment. However, there could be more cooperation, comparing notes, sharing ideas and ensuring that there is synergy. South Africa needs to sell itself as one investment destination as opposed to competing provinces and SEZs. The launch of Invest SA as a one stop shop is aimed at addressing the current challenges.” 

Day 2 – Friday, 12 October 2018:
09h30 - 10h00
Keynote: Residential Inner City Rejuvenation: How is the City of Johannesburg looking to stimulate private sector investment to raise its R20bn towards redeveloping into affordable housing?
- Herman Mashaba, Executive Mayor, City of Johannesburg                  

Full interviews with several of the event’s expert speakers and partners can be read here: http://www.african-real-estate-summit.com/interviews

Property Buyer Show
During the same week as the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit, the award-winning Property Buyer Show also returns to Gauteng from 12-14 October at the Sandton International Convention Centre. The Property Buyer Show is a unique, proven format exhibition aimed at first-time residential property buyers or real estate investors and earlier this year won the AAXO ROAR Organiser and Exhibitor Award for the Best Consumer Exhibition 6000 sqm and under. The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit was also voted Africa's best Confex (half conference, half exhibition) at the 2017 AAXO Roar Awards.

The summit and the Property Buyer Show are organised by the multi award-winning Spintelligent, well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, energy, mining and agriculture sectors. Longstanding flagship events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, Future Energy Nigeria (formerly WAPIC), Future Energy East Africa (formerly WAPIC), Agritech Expo Zambia, Kenya Mining Forum, Nigeria Mining Week, DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK.

Dates and location:
African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit: 11-12 October 2018
Property Buyer Show expo: 13-14 October 2018
Location: Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

Websites: http://www.african-real-estate-summit.com/ & http://www.propertybuyershow.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARES_Summit & https://twitter.com/propertyshowsa
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8518271

Media contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser Spintelligent has won four major awards again at the *ROAR Organiser and Exhibitor Awards in Johannesburg which honoured excellence in the exhibition and events industry on the continent during 2017. The awards are organised by the Association of African Exhibition Organisers (AAXO).

*ROAR = Respect, Opportunities, Achievement, Recognition

African Utility Week, Spintelligent’s flagship energy event for the last 18 years, won two awards: as the Best Trade Exhibition in the 12000+ sqm category, as well as the Best Overall Exhibition for 2017. Agritech Expo Zambia was named the Best African Bound Trade & Consumer Exhibition in the 12000+ sqm category while the Property Buyer Show Gauteng won the award for the Best Consumer Exhibition 6000 sqm and under.

“It is humbling to receive such recognition from our peers in the industry” says an elated Spintelligent MD David Ashdown. “We are proud of these projects that make a real difference for our stakeholders in the energy, agriculture and property sectors. It is also a great boost for the whole Spintelligent team.“ He adds: “just like last year, the AAXO ROAR Awards honoured both long-standing events such as African Utility Week and Agritech Expo Zambia, along with a launch show, namely Property Buyer Show Gauteng, which is part of our expanding property portfolio. It shows that we work hard to keep up the standards that our competitive industry requires from us, while also receiving the nod of approval for our newer initiatives.”

ROAR Awards

Best Trade Exhibition 12000+ sqm category: African Utility Week
Best Overall Exhibition: African Utility Week

The 18th edition of African Utility Week, the leading pan-African power and water platform, will take place again in Cape Town from 15-17 May and over 7500 decision makers from more than 90 countries to discuss the challenges, solutions and successes in the power, energy and water sectors on the continent. Along with multiple side events and numerous networking functions the event also boasts a seven track conference with over 300 expert speakers.

Says Chanelle Hingston, Power & Energy Portfolio director at Spintelligent: “It is now more apparent than ever that South Africa and indeed the entire continent’s economic future depends on the strength and sustainability of its energy and water sector. African Utility Week is proud to have been part of creating a relevant and ground-breaking industry platform for the last 18 years, creating a forum for the industry, by the industry.” 

Best Africa Bound Trade & Consumer Exhibition 12000+ sqm: Agritech Expo Zambia

“It is a great honour to have received this AAXO ROAR award for the second consecutive year” says Yolanda dos Santos, event director. “The success of Agritech Expo Zambia would not have been possible without its passionate team and committed partners that come together to deliver a platform that not only drives agribusiness but helps the progress to ensure food security whilst serving as an educational tool for sustainable development for Zambia and the SADC region.“

In 2017, the event featured a record number of 18000+ visitors, seven international pavilions and a VIP attendance that included five cabinet ministers and the Zambian President Edgar Lungu who visited the event for the third year in a row.

Best Consumer Exhibition 6000 sqm and under: Property Buyer Show Gauteng

The Property Buyer Show, this year taking place in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, is a first of its kind exhibition aimed at residential property buyers who either want to buy their first home or build wealth through their own property investment portfolio. The innovative exhibition layout is designed to walk buyers through the property buying process – and includes the finance zone, property zone, a first-time buyer seminar theatre and a property investor theatre.

“Winning an AAXO Award in Property Buyer Show’s launch year is a nice reward for the team who have worked so hard to put it together”, says Richard Stubbs, Real Estate Portfolio director, “but successful exhibitions rely on the participation and support of sponsors and exhibitors. In particular, thanks needs to be passed onto FNB, Standard Bank, ABSA, Pam Golding Properties and Private Property, without whose efforts we wouldn’t have happy visitors and a shiny award sitting on my desk.”

Spintelligent is well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, real estate, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit, Farm-Tech Expo Kenya, Kenya Mining Forum, Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Nigeria, Nigeria Mining Forum, DRC Mining Week and EduWeek. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group.

Website: http://www.spintelligent.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/spintelligent & https://twitter.com/AAXO_SA

Media contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3500
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Africa’s cities are facing an urban ‘polycrisis’

The award-winning African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit comes to Gauteng in October to gather leading built environment and property professionals, architects, project developers, investors, town planners, and city and municipal managers from all over the continent to focus on “Developing Future African Cities”.

“Over the next 20 years, growth in Africa’s urban population will increase the demand for more infrastructure, including transport, housing, hospitals, schools, retail, industrial and fundamental facilities,” says Benjamin Jones, Event Manager of African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit. He adds: “to meet this ongoing demand, public and private sector stakeholders will need to adapt their strategies to develop and fund projects that will need to meet the specific demands and challenges of African cities.” The summit will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre from 25-26 October.

JLL, the global financial and professional services firm specialising in commercial real estate services and investment management, is the official content sponsor for the event. Simon Ardonceau (MRICS), JLL’s Head of Strategic Consulting, Sub-Saharan Africa and speaker at the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit, says: “driven by strong fundamentals such as sustained economic growth, favourable demographics, emergence of a middle class and rapid urbanisation, the real estate sector is bound to grow.”

Visionary city planning
In November last year, the inaugural African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town provided an innovative space for more than 300 sector experts gathered for interactive sessions that focused on key case studies of visionary city planning, investment opportunities in the commercial and residential real estate sectors across the continent as well as the challenges of urbanisation. A key finding of the conference was that Africa’s cities are facing an urban ‘polycrisis’ and that there is a need for a new urban agenda and an opportunity for innovative solutions to address urbanisation challenges.

The summit was voted Africa's best Confex (half conference, half exhibition) earlier this year by the AAXO ROAR event industry awards.

More key findings that emerged during the first African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit included:
-  African countries need to adopt new development models designed to take advantage of urbanisation by facilitating structural transformation, creating jobs and addressing social inequality and poverty, while creating sustainable human settlements with equal opportunity for all.

-  The future of Africa is at stake and the future of Africa will be more and more linked to how cities are managed and the way they choose to contribute to African unity. Careful, complex, thorough administrative management and pro-poor urban development will turn African cities into world-class cities, not design plans based on fantasy Dubai-esque city makeovers.

- The City of Cape Town has invested over R22 billion in infrastructure over the last five years and needs to provide an additional 650 000 housing opportunities over the next 20 years.

-  Merely pursuing low-density low-cost housing on the outskirts of the cities is not an option. Innovative thinking must be part of the solutions for urbanisation challenges and partnerships between the public and private sectors play an important role.

Leading African cities that have been invited to showcase their major infrastructure and building projects and opportunities in October at African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit include: Abuja, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; Lagos, Nigeria; Luanda, Angola; Lusaka, Zambia; Maputo, Mozambique; Nairobi, Kenya; Harare, Zimbabwe and Kinshasa, DRC.

Property Buyer Show
During the same week as African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit, the Property Buyer Show also comes to Gauteng from 27-29 October at the Sandton Convention Centre. The Property Buyer Show, which took place for the first time in Cape Town in April this year, is a unique exhibition aimed at first-time residential property buyers or real estate investors. The innovative exhibition layout is designed to walk buyers through the property buying process and meet with developers, agents and financial service providers.

The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit and the Property Buyer Show are organised by the Cape Town-based, multi award-winning Spintelligent, well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors. Longstanding flagship events by Spintelligent include African Utility Week, Future Energy Nigeria (formerly WAPIC), Future Energy East Africa (formerly EAPIC), Agritech Expo Zambia, DRC Mining Week and EduWeek. Spintelligent is part of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK.

Dates and location:
African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit: 25-26 October 2017
Property Buyer Show conference: 27 October 2017
Property Buyer Show expo: 28-29 October 2017
Location: Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

Websites: http://www.african-real-estate-summit.com/ & http://www.propertybuyershow.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARES_Summit & https://twitter.com/propertyshowsa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8518271

Media contact
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

“The results to date speak for themselves”

Spintelligent, the multi-AAXO-award-winning Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, had a strong first half of 2017 with all of four of its flagship events: African Utility Week, Agritech Expo Zambia, DRC Mining Week and Eduweek, pulling off record results and an exciting new Property Buyer Show drawing large crowds.

Spintelligent MD David Ashdown says "Exhibition and conference revenues are up year-on-year and attendee numbers are growing exponentially. The demand for face-to-face events as a platform to share knowledge and facilitate trade is increasing and proven to provide African buyers and sellers an improved ROI over traditional marketing medium."

“Winning four major AAXO event industry awards at the beginning of 2017 was immensely rewarding but it has also inspired us to work even harder and not rest on our laurels and the results to date speak for themselves,” says Spintelligent MD David Ashdown. He adds: “I am very proud of my team for their effort and commitment and am confident that the rest of the year will be as fulfilling and successful.”

• Education
  Most recently, the 11th edition of Eduweek took place at the Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg from 12-13 July and gathered 3,738 attendees over two days, 90 expert speakers and 161 exhibitors.
  
  
• Mining
  DRC Mining Week in Lubumbashi, DRC in June showed an astounding 67% growth with 2,691 attendees from 32 countries over three days with 131 exhibitors.
  
  
• Power & Energy
  In May, Cape Town’s CTICC once again hosted African Utility Week and this year also did not disappoint. The 17th edition of the event welcomed 7,477 attendees from 91 countries who attended the three-day event – this was up from 6,445 attendees last year. The expo featured more than 300 exhibitors from 11 different countries and 284 expert speakers and 66 utilities from 20 African countries were represented.
  
  
• Agriculture
  Agritech Expo Zambia in Chisamba in April featured a record number of more than 18,000 visitors, seven international pavilions and a VIP attendance that included five cabinet ministers and the Zambian President Edgar Lungu who visited the event for the third year in a row.
  
  
• Real Estate
  Spintelligent also launched its first Property Buyer Show in Cape Town in April, a unique exhibition aimed at first-time residential buyers or property investors, which drew some 3,100 visitors. Spintelligent’s Publishing division has also been very busy so far this year.

Says David Ashdown: “besides never missing a day to deliver daily headline news, we have published 14 editions of our long-running, leading trade publications ESI-Africa, Mining Review Africa, Metering & Smart Energy International and look forward to another 12 content-rich editions until the New Year.”

He continues: “our prestige publications are boasting a new layout, the African Power Elites 2018 has achieved new heights by doubling incoming nominations in comparison to 2017, whilst for the first time, our African Mining Elites 2018 opens the door to new and exciting awards, highlighting excellence in the mining industry. Our Global Smart Energy Elites 2018, featuring the latest insights into the global leaders of the international smart energy network, is due to be released in October.”

Africa, a continental approach
“Spintelligent has a busy five months ahead,” says MD David Ashdown, “particularly rolling out our new Future Energy franchise of energy conferences and exhibitions across Africa” and in the process renaming some of Africa’s most iconic regional power events in East, West and Central Africa, including EAPIC and WAPIC, reflecting the optimism and potential of the energy and power sectors on the continent.”

He adds: “Africa continues to show economic development and growth, and we look forward to continuing to realise our potential and, while growing our key sector portfolios organically, our strategic path also includes being open to partnership and acquisition opportunities.”

ROAR Awards 2017

Earlier this year Spintelligent won four major awards at AAXO’s ROAR Organiser and Exhibitor Awards in Johannesburg:

• Best Trade Exhibition 6001-12000 sqm category: African Utility Week, joint winner with World Travel Market
• Best Trade & Consumer Exhibition +12000 sqm Award: Agritech Expo Zambia
• Distinction in Social Responsibility Award: Agritech Expo Zambia
• Best Confex Award: African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit
• Social Responsibility Award (finalist): DRC Mining Week

Upcoming Spintelligent events in 2017

• 13-14 September:  Future Energy Uganda, Kampala
• 2-3 October: Future Energy Central Africa, Yaoundé
• 4-5 October: Eduweek Western Cape, Cape Town
• 16-19 October: Nigeria Mining Week, Abuja
• 25-29 October: African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit and Property Buyer Show, Johannesburg
• 7-8 November: Future Energy Nigeria, Lagos
• 13-14 November: Kenya Mining Forum, Nairobi
• 29-30 November: Future Energy East Africa, Nairobi
• 29-30 November: AgriBusiness Congress East Africa, Kampala

Spintelligent is well known for organising exhibitions and conferences across the continent in the infrastructure, real estate, energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors.  Its publishing division reaches the key sectoral decision makers for metering, power and mining. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group.

Website: http://www.spintelligent.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/spintelligent

Media contact
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3500
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.