Messe Frankfurt buys two South African trade shows
After establishing a first African presence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Messe Frankfurt is now heading for South Africa. The German trade show organiser has in fact bought two Cape Town-based textile and apparel industry events, Source Africa and ATF (Apparel, Textile and Footwear).
To begin with, the two trade shows will maintain their current identity, and will hold their first edition under new ownership in May 2018. Before then, ATF will be holding a session on 21st-23rd November, showcasing 150 exhibitors from 10 countries.
It is the second foray into Africa by Messe Frankfurt in the last 12 months. In October 2016, the German trade show organiser announced the deployment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of its Texworld, Apparel Sourcing and Texprocess events as part of the Africa Sourcing & Fashion Week.
"We don't have a clear strategy concerning Africa, but it is our business as show organiser to monitor all the events being created and developed worldwide. And [Africa] is clearly a highly interesting region," said Olaf Schmidt, in charge of textile trade shows at Messe Frankfurt, to FashionNetwork.
The decision to acquire the two Cape Town events springs partly from the fact that they feature a large number of Chinese textile and apparel manufacturers, and Messe Frankfurt already collaborates with many of them for the Apparel Sourcing show, through its partnership with CCPIT-Tex, the Chinese Textiles Chamber of Commerce.
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