Over 580 exporters, buyers, associations and experts from 17 countries across 4 continents travelled to Cape Town for Engage Trade Africa (ETA) in September 2024. Hosted at Makers Landing in the V&A Waterfront, the four-day event showcased 250 premium African producers and their offerings to buyers and potential partners from across Africa and the world, while offering valuable insights from industry experts through a series of 6 workshops and over 2,500 strategic B2B matchmaking meetings.
The ETA team actively travelled to events around the world throughout 2024 to meet and source the perfect buyers and partners to attend the event. ETA covered the costs to bring 70 buyers, 30 from the U.S.A. and 40 from across Africa, to the event. And once they were here, they went far beyond simply introducing them to the event participants, spending quality time with the buyers, including evenings out entertaining them, taking them to see the special sites around Cape Town and getting to understand their real needs.Not only did this show dedication to future partnerships, but it garnered their trust in the market, and developed long lasting friendships which will stand for years to come, ensuring business continues to grow.
MONDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
Day 1 was a proper welcome to Cape Town, learning more about the Western Cape and what it has to offer at the Wesgro orientation, before being a tourist on the famous open top Red Bus. The goal of the day was to break the ice, and let the attendees connect on a personal level, allowing the business of the days ahead to flow naturally.
Engage Trade Africa officially launched with an orientation morning for Associations, Investors, and South African and International Buyers hosted by Wesgro. The varied speakers each brought their own knowledge and personality to the agenda, the perfect way to kick start this important event.
After a full and interesting morning, those with Full Delegate Passes joined the attendees for an open top bus tour of Cape Town, to the beautiful Groot Constantia. After some delicious eats, drinks, and conversation, the bus continued showcasing the beauty of Cape Town on its way back to the hotel. During the tour, there was a selection of speakers sharing their personal knowledge and experiences on the buses, opening up in depth conversations that continued throughout.
TUESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER
The core of the Engage Trade Africa event is the carefully choreographed B2B matchmaking meetings, ensuring each delegate meets with the perfect person to enhance, grow or expand their business. Meetings were spread out across days 2 and 3 between 9am and 5pm, with breaks for lunch and, where relevant to each attendee, workshops. Meetings happened in 20-minute windows, in “speed-networking” fashion, providing participants time and space to connect while maintaining the energy and feeling of community and engagement.
The meeting hall buzzed with energy with over 80 meeting tables filling the room, each ready for high-impact connections.
There were three Workshops held in the afternoon, which allowed more in depth knowledge to be shared by experts from Imani Development, AfCFTA, WESGRO, and USAID Africa Trade and Investment Activity, on topics including AfCFTA opportunities and developments, growing African exports, and sharing on who and what USAID Africa Trade & Investment Southern Africa Buy-in Activity is.
After a day full of connection and learning, Day 2 of ETA rounded off with a networking wine tasting event, featuring several premium wine brands from around South Africa.
WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER
The B2B matchmaking meetings continued throughout Wednesday, with the tables consistently full and buzzing with the forming of meaningful partnerships. Surrounding the meeting space were 150+ showcases of African products, beautifully displayed on sleek shelving units around the hall’s perimeter. It was a vibrant marketplace of innovation and opportunity, with every inch of the space set up to inspire and impress!
So far there have been in excess of 2,500 meetings held, and the door to further meetings remains firmly open as we continue receiving requests from buyers looking to source more and more African products.
Wednesday’s Workshops were given by Catalyze, Standard Bank and ITRISA, sharing their years of experience on trade program tactics and participation at international events, navigating Africa’s key trade corridors and balancing risk and reward in trade finance, and preparing for growth and exporting.
THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
Thursday’s FMCG Ecosystem Site Tours remained one of the highlights of Engage Trade Africa. A unique way of networking, two groups of key international buyers, delegates, leading African producers, and associations, headed out on site visits to four leading companies, each chosen for their significant contributions to expanding African FMCG products into the global market.
The Food & Beverage tour visited ORYX Desert Salt and PURA Beverages, while the Cosmetics tour visited Pepper Tree Luxury Bath & Body and Feel Good Health. The buses met up at the V&A Waterfront to visit some of the retailers and enjoyed a wonderful meal at South African favourite, Spur Steak Ranches.
ATTENDEE FEEDBACK
“The ETA event was well run, having meetings for 20 minutes is more than enough time to judge if a product would work or not. My group of product suppliers were great, across the board, with good variety.”
Rob Roome, Something South African LLC (Buyer, U.S.A.)
“It was amazing how we could exchange and engage with the buyers in a non formal way, on the bus tour and during wine tasting. The venue at The Cruise Terminal was great. Bravo to the Catalyze team!”
Faniry Michou Andriamalala, Miarakap (Association, Madagascar)
“It was a very well organised event. The buyers were willing to engage and specifically for Rasah Spice, I was surprised by the number of meetings organised and also the additional meetings that were arranged that were not part of the meeting list.”
Ashveer Mahabeer, Rasah Spice
(Exporter, South Africa)
“The Team was always available for us and tried to make as many engagements happen as possible. It was our first time taking part in a B2B event. The meetings with businesses socially allowed a more natural business partnership with African buyers.”
Tania Molteno, Enyi Gold
(Exporter, South Africa)
“Engage Trade Africa was an incredible opportunity for me to meet African manufacturers and makers in multiple categories. I was able to expand my sourcing scope to include certain food, beverage and lifestyle brands that I had not previously encountered. I made deep connections with over 25 potential future suppliers and I look forward to closing some deals with them in the coming months.”
John Paul Makilya, BARIZI
(Buyer, U.S.A.)
“Engage Trade Africa 2024 was an incredible experience! The event provided excellent opportunities to connect with key industry players and explore new business partnerships. The organisation was seamless, and the discussions I had were invaluable for expanding our market reach. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to grow their international business connections!”
Ashley Quezada, 4A Representaciones
(Buyer, U.S.A.)