Cape Town to host Agritech Africa conference, exhibition in 2020

“Earmarked to become an annual congress for the Western Cape, it is the first time that an agriculture conference and exhibition of this scale will be hosted in the province," commented Tim Harris, Wesgro CEO Tim Harris.

Celebrating 21 years, the conference is expected to boost the Cape ’s economy by R15.3m. In addition to this, several thousand local visitors are predicted to attend, which will further benefit the local Cape economy.

Three key trends event comprises

1. The conference - headed by International and local experts;

2. The exhibition - a platform to showcase the technologies and create partnerships between progressive farmers, industry, research & development centres, NGOs, government organisations and innovators; and

3. Business-to-business meetings.

A key theme to be explored at the event is progressive farming development as well as water conservation, preservation and management in agriculture.

Kenes Exhibitions general manager, Prema Zilberman commented: "We are excited about our new initiative. The event will showcase leading South African agriculture and food processing technologies and host delegations from other parts of Africa. The strengths of South African agriculture and food processing industries will be given primary focus with the objective to attract importers from around Africa, India and the Middle East."

Despite economic and natural challenges, the exhibition industry continues to play a pivotal role in creating academic stimulus, bringing unsurmountable knowledge sharing, job creation and economic benefit to host destinations.

South African Tourism CEO, Sisa Ntshona noted: "The business events and MICE industry forms a vital part of our strategy in attracting visitors to South Africa. In collaborating with the Western Cape Convention Bureau, we are delighted that a conference of this nature will make its way to South Africa as we position ourselves as an excellent destination for business events. It’s also exciting to see South Africa showcase to the world, our capabilities in the agritech environment."

Minister of Economic Opportunities in the Western Cape, Beverly Schäfer concluded: "The conference will provide an economic boost to two of our province's key sectors, agriculture and tourism.

"The Western Cape is embracing the fourth industrial revolution in agriculture and I am especially pleased to see that the role of technology in water savings will be a focus area during this conference. With 800 delegates, this event will play an important knowledge sharing role and will contribute towards business tourism and job creation in the events space in the Western Cape."