Why Africa Needs Its Own Exhibition Industry Forum and What We Are Building in Nairobi This December
Africa's exhibition industry has a problem that nobody has properly addressed until now. The continent drives billions in trade, hosts hundreds of international events, and is about to welcome COP32 to Addis Ababa, yet it does not have a single exhibition venue larger than 100,000 square metres. On 4 and 5 December 2026, Exhibit Africa and jwc are launching the first Africa Exhibition Forum at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi to change that.
The Exhibition Venue Infrastructure Gap Holding Africa Back
The numbers make the scale of the problem impossible to ignore. According to the latest UFI/jwc World Map of Exhibition Venues, 81 venues worldwide exceed 100,000 square metres of exhibition space. None of them are in Africa. Only five African markets clear the report's 50,000 square metre threshold: South Africa with 126,489 square metres across six venues, Algeria with 76,000 square metres, Morocco with 60,000 square metres, Egypt with 55,480 square metres, and Senegal with 53,000 square metres. Combined, that is 17 venues and 370,969 square metres across the entire continent.
To put that in perspective, Messe Frankfurt alone holds 372,073 square metres. One German venue has more exhibition space than all of Africa combined.
This is not because Africa lacks demand for exhibitions. It is because the infrastructure has not kept pace with the market. Trade shows across the continent regularly sell out available space. International organisers frequently cite venue limitations as the primary barrier to expanding their African portfolios. Events that could attract thousands more exhibitors and visitors are constrained by the physical capacity of the halls they operate in.
How the Exhibition Gap Affects Trade and Investment Across Africa
The infrastructure gap is not an abstract industry problem. It has direct consequences for trade, investment, and economic development across the continent.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in force since May 2019, commits 49 ratified states to liberalise 90% of tariff lines across a market of 1.4 billion people. The World Bank estimates full implementation would raise intra-African exports by 81% by 2035. Intra-African trade reached an estimated $213.8 billion in 2025, roughly 14% of the continent's total merchandise trade, according to the African Trade Report 2026. That 14% figure is far below what comparable regional blocs achieve, and one reason is the lack of physical platforms where African buyers and sellers meet.
Exhibitions are trade infrastructure. They are where manufacturers meet distributors, where exporters find new markets, where governments showcase national industries, and where investment decisions are made through face-to-face engagement. Without adequate venue capacity and a developed exhibition ecosystem, African countries are leaving trade on the table.
What the Africa Exhibition Forum in Nairobi Will Address
The Forum's programme is structured around three themes that reflect the real barriers to exhibition industry growth on the continent.
The first theme is market. How trade moves across Africa, where the demand actually sits, and what global industry data reveals about Africa's position in the international exhibition landscape. Naji El Haddad, Regional Director of UFI, will present data on the economic impact of exhibitions globally and in Africa specifically. UNIDO and jwc will present findings from a new study examining Africa's trade show and venue landscape, providing a comparable overview of relevant exhibitions and venues across key markets for the first time.
The second theme is government. Business events drive economic growth, raise export revenue, attract investment, and develop domestic industries. But that economic contribution is often invisible to the policymakers who control planning permissions, infrastructure budgets, and trade promotion funding. The Forum will make the case for public support based on measurable economic returns, not on the exhibition industry advocating for itself.
The third theme is infrastructure. What does Africa actually need to compete for international exhibitions? What does it take to build world-class venues in markets where the demand already exists? And how can the private sector, development institutions, and governments work together to close the gap faster than current trajectories suggest?
Speakers and Attendees at the Africa Exhibition Forum 2026
The Africa Exhibition Forum is designed as an intimate, high-level gathering rather than a large-scale conference. The attendee profile includes international exhibition organisers who already operate in Africa or are evaluating entry, African venue operators and developers, exhibition service providers across the continent, government stakeholders responsible for trade, investment, and infrastructure, and investors looking at the exhibition and events sector in Africa.
Confirmed speakers include Wolfram Diener, President and CEO of Messe Dusseldorf and UFI President 2026/27. Stefan Kratzsch, Head of the Sustainable Investments and Responsible Business Unit at UNIDO. Carole Kadenge, General Manager of the Sarit Expo Centre. Paul Maerz, Managing Director of Fairtrade. Jamie Hill, CEO of BtoB Events. Further speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The programme also includes a tour of the Sarit Expo Centre and workshops on exhibition business fundamentals and the requirements facing African organisers and venues.
Why Exhibit Africa Is Organising the First Exhibition Industry Forum in Africa
Exhibit Africa has spent years building exhibition stands and country pavilions across East Africa, working with international organisers, governments, and global brands at trade shows from Nairobi to Addis Ababa to Dubai. That work has given us a ground-level view of what the African exhibition industry gets right, where it falls short, and what is needed to close the gap.
The Africa Exhibition Forum is not a side project. It is a direct extension of what Exhibit Africa is already doing across the continent. Beyond stand building and pavilion delivery, we are actively creating new exhibition platforms where they are needed. AGMEX, Ethiopia's first dedicated green mobility and energy exhibition, launches on 25 to 27 February 2027 at the Addis International Convention Centre, bringing together 150 exhibitors and 3,000 visitors across solar, battery storage, electric vehicles, and sustainable infrastructure. It is a practical example of what the Forum is advocating for: new, purpose-built exhibition events developed by people who understand the African market from the inside. International organisers who want to bring events to Africa but cannot find suitable venues. Governments that invest in trade promotion but do not recognise exhibitions as part of the infrastructure that delivers it. Service providers who operate at international standards but work within an ecosystem that has not been developed strategically.
Daniel Mesfin, CEO of Exhibit Africa, has been direct about what the Forum needs to deliver. "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."
How COP32 in Addis Ababa Makes the Africa Exhibition Forum Even More Urgent
The Forum's timing is not accidental. COP32, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, comes to Addis Ababa in November 2027. It will bring approximately 50,000 participants to Ethiopia and require the construction of dozens of country pavilions and corporate exhibition spaces within a city whose exhibition infrastructure was built for a different scale.
COP32 is both an opportunity and a stress test for Africa's exhibition capacity. It will demonstrate what the continent can deliver at the highest level of international events, and it will expose every gap that has not been addressed. Exhibit Africa's own AGMEX exhibition in Addis Ababa in February 2027, nine months before COP32, will be an early proof point for what local organisers and builders can deliver at international standards in the same city. The Africa Exhibition Forum in December 2026, eleven months before COP32, is the right moment to align the industry on what needs to happen and how.
Beyond COP32, the broader trajectory is clear. Africa's population will exceed 2.5 billion by 2050. Urbanisation is accelerating across the continent. The AfCFTA is creating a single market that demands the physical trade platforms to support it. The exhibition industry that serves this continent needs to grow dramatically, and that growth requires coordinated action by the people and organisations who will be in the room in Nairobi this December.
Register for the Africa Exhibition Forum in Nairobi This December
The first Africa Exhibition Forum takes place on 4 and 5 December 2026 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The event is organised by Exhibit Africa and jwc, with the support of UFI and UNIDO, and hosted by the Sarit Expo Centre.
Registration is open at liveet.co/e/B8SR8E.
Whether you are an organiser looking to expand into African markets, a government stakeholder exploring how exhibitions can support trade and investment goals, a venue developer evaluating opportunities on the continent, or an exhibition service provider building capacity in Africa, this is where the conversation starts.
For more information or to discuss partnership and sponsorship opportunities, contact Exhibit Africa.
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