Also confirmed by the organising team at VIV worldwide is that this business-oriented biennial event is returning to Kigali in Rwanda, as a direct result of the highly positive feedback received from exhibitors and visitors at the 2017 edition.

Once again, a vital element in the schedule will be the Leadership Conference, bringing world-class speakers to share their expertise on global and regional topics. But the 2019 scheduling of this Leadership Conference represents a change from two years ago. Instead of coinciding with the days of the expo, the Leadership Conference this time has its own separate time-slot on 1st October.

Bigger expo

Poultry Africa is a boutique-style concept from the organisers of the renowned VIV feed-to-food shows around the world. Its core objective is to present high-quality networking and trade opportunities, hassle-free, at minimum costs for suppliers and buyers.

According to Poultry Africa manager Diána Tóth, the version lined up for October 2019 looks likely to be bigger than before. It is on course to achieve a 30 percent growth in exhibitor numbers compared with 2017.

A preliminary list of exhibitors prepared at the start of the year reads like a directory of major international suppliers of products and services for poultry enterprises. They include companies from Africa as well as from Asia, Europe and North America.

“I am delighted to report that we are continuing to add African exhibitors to that early list,” Diána comments. “One of the most recent additions is a supplier from Mauritius.

“However, I think one of the main points about the expo at Poultry Africa 2019 is that it will contain not only new exhibitors, but also a wider variety of products and services. As two examples of this, the stands this time will include more manufacturers and distributors of systems for slaughtering and processing poultry and more companies offering animal health products.”

Ideal location

As before, the event - comprising both the expo and the Leadership Conference - takes place in the modern and professional facilities of the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda’s capital city.
“Our first edition demonstrated beyond any doubt that Rwanda was the right choice for location,” says Diána. “It is politically stable and a safe, neutral place to visit, as well as being at the geographic centre of our primary focus countries in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa and having direct flights from and to all parts of the region.”

The relatively small size of the poultry business in Rwanda itself is therefore outweighed by the country’s position in a part of the world that has enormous potential for further increasing its production of chicken and eggs. On latest estimates, the countries of West and East Africa together produce almost 2 million metric tonnes of poultry meat and 27 billion eggs per year, with some forecasters expecting up to a 10 percent increase in output by 2025.

Distinct conference

One of the successes of Poultry Africa 2017 was its inclusion of a Leadership Conference --- in effect, a regional summit that looked specifically at important issues affecting the poultry markets of sub-Saharan Africa with a panel of speakers drawn from within the region and global authorities.

So a second Leadership Conference along similar lines is most definitely a core part of programming for Poultry Africa 2019, with the important change this time that it is being held on the day before the expo opens. The 2017 schedule had the conference coinciding with the trade show, Diána Tóth notes. Staging the conference before the show in 2019 means that visitors can make the most of the knowledge sessions on offer while also having the maximum opportunity to network with the exhibitors during the expo.

Details of the 2019 Leadership Conference will appear soon on the event’s website, www.poultryafrica2019.com.

To attend the Leadership Conference on 1st October there will be a fee of 99 US dollars per pre-registered or onsite-registered delegate. This fee includes all sessions, lunch and coffee breaks and a networking reception. All parts of Poultry Africa 2019 taking place on 2nd-3rd October, meaning the trade show and also technical seminars presented by various exhibitors, are free of charge.

Growing attendance

Online pre-registration for everyone intending to visit Poultry Africa 2019 will open on its own website and on www.viv.net, three months before the event. The show is preparing to welcome high-level delegations from focus countries in its target region amid expectations of a much larger total attendance than at the 2017 edition.

“The arguments in favour of coming to the event are clear,” Diána comments. “Let us say you are involved in the management or technical operation of a poultry business in one of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Here you have an event which is exclusively about your business interests, at a convenient and comfortable location and with the hallmark of professional organisation that is such a feature of all VIV shows around the world.

“We look forward to welcoming you to Kigali with a compact package, offering a great opportunity to network with other poultry leaders from Africa and with distinguished international suppliers. This concept is a very cost-effective investment in meeting sub-Saharan Africa’s top poultry professionals.”