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 “Exciting line-up scheduled for Meetings Africa 2014”

VISITORS, Exhibitors AND BUYERS attending Meetings Africa 2014, can expect a world class show complete with global trade show experts. This is the view of the South African National Convention Bureau Executive Manager, Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo. Africa’s largest business events show is scheduled to take place in just under a month, and plans are being finalised for what will be possibly be the best business events trade show to date.

“Meetings Africa is attended by local and international buyers from South Africa and the rest of the continent. We are all set to deliver what we promise this industry:  a world class business events trade exhibition show and, possibly most important, a show which is truly representative of our theme: Advancing Africa Together,” says Kotze-Nhlapo

Meetings Africa 2014 will kick off with the annual BOND Day (Business Opportunity Networking Day) on Monday, 24 February 2014. BOND Day is designed to provide educational and networking opportunities for the South African business events industry. The day will start with the Event Greening Forum’s 2014 Conference at Meetings Africa. This half-day event will be packed with information on Responsible Tourism, with a specific focus on business events.

Two educational tracks will follow after lunch which is open to all exhibitors (at no cost). Global business events expert, Rob Cameron from the International Association of Convention Centres will be presenting on “Research and the Meetings Industry – Making the Most of a Critical Resource” and Linda Pereira, CEO of L&I Communications Group (Portugal) and Niki Clarke global hosted buyer qualifier (USA), will be presenting topics on how to maximize on business opportunities.

Association Day will take place from 09h00 in the Bill Gallagher room and will be attended by association representatives from across the African continent and member of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Africa Chapter. The objective of the event is to build the national and Pan-African association communities, to promote their engagement with international associations and to create major macro-economic benefits and lead development for the country.

Association day will be followed by the ICCA African Chapter – Client /Supplier workshop where members will have an opportunity to meet and interact with the association representatives. The IMEX-MPI-MCI Future Leaders Forum will be hosted for the second year at Meetings Africa. The top tourism and hospitality students from universities cross South Africa will be competing in the International University Challenge. The winner of this challenge will be representing South Africa at the global challenge at IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany.

BOND Day will conclude with the Meetings Africa gala dinner, a must attend event for the industry. This prestigious event which will be attended by the Minister of Tourism and other public dignitaries and officials, captains of the private sector of the business events industry and representatives of other key economic sectors.

For the first time ever, Meetings Africa and the Unique Speakers Bureau will be staging the biggest single congregation of all the major operations in events facilities and venues, professional speakers and MC’s all under one roof. The event will be attended by over 800 local and regional corporate buyers (ABSA, Liberty Life, Discovery, etc.) and 40 of USB’s top speakers – of which 20 are leading global presenters. All the corporate buyers will be part of the Meetings Africa diary system which will allow exhibitors to schedule one-on-one meetings with the buyers.

The first day of the exhibition (Tuesday, 25 February 2014) will start with a live broadcast of SABC’s Morning Live breakfast show from Meetings Africa 2014. Thereafter the show will be officially opened on by the National Tourism Minister, Mr Marthinus van Schlakwyk at 09h00 at the Sandton Convention Centre.

What is new on this day is the media panel discussion which will be moderated by renowned political commentator, Justice Malala. The panel discussion will bring together leading figures from the continent’s business events industry, to discuss amongst others, the impact of business events on the economy of the continent.

“The media panel discussion is a new addition to Meetings Africa and one which we are really, really excited about. We have extended invitations to some of our country’s leading figures in the business industry as well as experts from Kenya and ICCA. Our motivation for this media discussion is to have a frank discussion about the state of business events in Africa and, the growth of the continent and the growing interest the world has in our continent and what it means. We have secured the services of popular columnist and TV presenter, Justice Malala who we believe, will do a sterling job interviewing the moderators,” she says.

Confirmed panelists include Mati Nyazema, CEO of the Sandton Convention Centre; Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, Executive Manager of the SANCB, Beatrice Makawiti, former Managing Director of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre and Martin Sirk, CEO of ICCA. The other panellists will be confirmed closer to the time.

The Media panel discussion takes place on Tuesday, 25 February and is open to all journalists. Seating is, however, limited so media workers who want to attend this event are advised to apply soon for Meetings Africa 2014 media accreditation.

 “Our team is working round the clock to ensure that everyone participating and visiting at Meetings Africa leave fulfilled, energized and excited about business events on the continent.  We want this year’s show to trump the previous others and cement it as one of excellence, marked by quality exhibitors and buyers, a good number of visitors and information and meetings that are relevant and informative,” says Kotze-Nhlapo.

Meetings Africa 2014 takes place in the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg from February 24 to 26. Do not miss it.

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THE SOUTH AFRICAN Tourism Minister Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, accompanied by Nigeria’s Tourism, Culture and National Orientation Minister, Chief Edem Duke, today officially opened the very first South African Tourism marketing office on the African continent in Lagos, Nigeria.

Addressing the West African travel trade and guests in attendance, Minister Van Schalkwyk said that South African Tourism’s new home in Lagos serves to confirm South Africa’s support for increased economic cooperation between the southern African and western African regions.

“As a nation, we see the special and longstanding relationship between Nigeria and South Africa as pivotal towards maintaining an Africa that is economically vibrant and resilient and an Africa that grows through partnerships between nations,” said Minister van Schalkwyk. 

“Key to creating economic vibrancy and resilience is working together to develop industries that have the potential to contribute meaningfully to our GDPs and to job creation on the continent. Tourism is certainly one such industry. Investing in our tourism network on the continent is not only indicative of our commitment to African co-operation, but it also makes good business sense,”Minister van Schalkwyk continued. 

“We’ve experienced positive growth figures out of West Africa; a total of 73,282 Nigerian tourists visited South Africa last year marking a 13.8% increase from 2011. At the end of June 2013, Nigerian tourist arrivals had continued to grow on a strong trajectory with 15.9% during the first six months of this year.

“Likewise, tourist arrivals from Ghana to South Africa grew by 23.8% in 2012, when South Africa welcomed 22,953 Ghanaian tourists. Up to end June 2013, arrivals from Ghana were growing at 27.3%, to 13, 663 tourist arrivals for the six-month period. The steady growth in both markets makes this region very valuable to us,” Minister van Schalkwyk said.  

The Nigeria office opening comes on the heels of South African Tourism having officially extended an invitation to the rest of Africa to showcase the continent by exhibiting  at the annual Tourism INDABA held in Durban in May every year. South African Tourism has also invited more than 500 hosted buyers to INDABA 2014; offering exhibitors the opportunity to promote their destination at the heart of Africa’s biggest, most established and best-attended travel trade exhibition.

In addition, an announcement at the end of last year, of collaboration between INDABA and the bespoke We Are Africa tradeshow (that takes place days before INDABA) exponentially increases the exposure to top-quality buyers for exhibitors at both travel trade shows.

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South African Tourism is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Lehlohonolo Pitso as Regional Manager: West Africa.

As Regional Manager: West Africa, he will implement a marketing strategy for all West African markets and work to develop and grow trade, media and other stakeholder relationships to ensure continued robust tourist arrival growth from West to South Africa.

Hloni (as he is known) has a 17-year track record of distinction in the travel and tourism industry.  He started his career whilst still a student at Boston City Campus when he was chosen to join the HRG Rennies Travel Learnership Programme which was swiftly followed, upon graduation, by his appointment as a travel consultant to Rennies.

He has also worked at Air Botswana and as a sales executive at Protea Hotels where, after eight months, he was promoted to Sales Manager: Africa.

Hloni joined the Africa team at South African Tourism five years ago as the Trade Relations Manager: East Africa. He takes up the Regional Manager: West Africa position after having served as the Regional Trade Relations Manager: East and West Africa. As part of his appointment, he will relocate to Lagos, Nigeria, to work out of South African Tourism’s first regional marketing office on the continent.

“We are delighted that we have, in Hloni, a professional of his caliber to manage our new office in Lagos and our incredibly important marketing work, trade relationships and consumer engagement across the entire West African region,” says chief executive officer, Mr Thulani Nzima.

By the end of June, 2013, Nigerian tourist arrivals to South Africa were up 15.9 percent. This was exceptional growth on the back of phenomenal increase in arrivals of 13.8 percent in 2012 when Nigerian tourists contributed an estimated R720 million to the South African economy. Moreover, Ghanaian arrivals were growing at 27.3 percent by end June 2013.

“West Africa is an incredibly important and valuable market region for our destination,” Mr Nzima says. “The entire African continent, in fact, is of significant strategic importance to our destination. South African consistently records excellent tourist arrival growth from all key African markets. South African Tourism made the decision in 2011 to invest R218 million in the African markets. The opening of the regional West African office, and Hloni’s appointment, is part of that growth investment.

“Hloni’s intimate knowledge of the South African brand; his profound understanding of the West African consumer and trade environments; and his unbridled passion for his country and his work makes him the very best person for this job. We know West Africa is in excellent hands.”

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Rift Valley Railway has received two high capacity railway track maintenance machines that will automate and significantly speed up the process of track maintenance.  

The Ballast Tamper and Ballast Profiler machines which cost about UGX 3 billion, arrived in Mombasa last weekend; and can restore a kilometre of track per hour to the technically correct design, compared to only 40 metres per hour using manual maintenance crews. This will result in enhanced track stability and lifting of speed restrictions on the 500kms of curves along the track that will receive priority attention.

The high end equipment is manufactured by Austrian firm Plasser & Theurer, the pioneer and global leader in mechanized railway track maintenance technology.

Speaking about the arrival of the equipment the RVR’s General Manager Western Mark Rumanyika said “this is the latest Capital investment the company is making aimed at improving the quality of the line, last year we reopened Uganda’s Northern line after extensive rehabilitation and replaced 70km of worn out rail between Mombasa & Nairobi” cutting journey times between the two cities by over six hours”.

The two machines will work in tandem: the Ballast Profiler ensuring even distribution of ballast along the line and its shoulders; and the Ballast Tamper securing the precise alignment of the rail tracks.

The equipment will be commissioned next month following training of RVR engineers by the manufacturers.

Maintaining optimum track alignment and uniform spreading of ballast on railway tracks is important due to the unsettling that occurs from the movement of heavy trains. 

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The versatile Golfer Frank Ngabo has emerged the overall winner in the MTN sponsored January 2014 MTN Monthly Golf Challenge with a clear 70 gross closely followed by Gerald Kabuye who garnered 73 gross.

Playing in the Ladies Group, Dr. Kate Kabenge took the Group prize as the Lady Captain, Agie Konde, followed in second place. In Men’s Group A, Bashiri Asasira took the cup as Patrick Hunt emerged the runner-up.

In Men’s Group B, Justin Mwanguhya emerged winner followed by Sam Okello Ocero while in Men’s Group C, Dr. Sam Zaramba playing of a six handicap took the lead with 68 Net, followed in second place by Anthony Okullo.

This was the first edition of the year for the MTN Monthly Golf Challenge at Kampala Golf Club and was very successful. The MTN Monthly Golf Challenge attracts many corporates who regularly plays in the Club competition.

Speaking in an exclusive interview before the tee off, Ernst Fonternel, MTN’s Chief Marketing officer, noted that the MTN Monthly Golf Challenge is an excellent platform for MTN to interact with the golfing community and golf enthusiasts outside the formal office environment. He added that support for sports, and in particular golf, continues to be a focus area for MTN Uganda.

“For the last 5 years MTN Uganda has continued to commit significant resources to the MTN Monthly Golf Challenge at Kampala Golf Club which runs throughout the annual golf calendar. We look forward to another exciting golfing season in 2014.” concluded Fonternel.

About MTN Uganda

Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services and Internet Service Provisioning. As of 30 September 2013, MTN Uganda recorded 8.4 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug and for our football fans www.mtnfootball.com. Customers can also follow us on www.youtube.com/mtnug and www.twitter.com/mtnugandacare for assistance.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 30 September 2013, MTN recorded 203.8 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. More info on www.mtn.com

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As 2014 kicked off, MTN Uganda recorded high activity from its customer base seen through the increase in voice calls, SMS activity as well as Data and Mobile Money transaction volumes as compared to the same period last year.

Figures were compared for the festive period (2012 & 2013) December 24^th to 1^st January. SMS traffic person to person increased by 1 million transactions Year on Year from 14 million to 15 million. This shows that Ugandans continue to embrace SMS as an alternative way to stay in touch.

Social Media continues to be a key focus area for MTN Uganda as we deliver a bold, new Digital World to our customers. Using social media for business today is as important as learning how to use email for business 15 years ago. MTN Uganda’s Facebook and Twitter pages have set a national record becoming the fastest growing and most popular social media pages in Uganda having the largest number of fans. By the end of 2013, the number of Facebook followers on the MTN Uganda page exceeded 210,000 maintaining the position of number one Corporate Brand with the largest following in Uganda. MTN has also used Twitter as an effective channel to communicate with its customers and respond to their queries in Uganda. It has also recorded a growing number of views on its YouTube site. To attest this success, in November, MTN Uganda won the prize for best Corporate in the first Social Media awards held in Uganda.

MTN customers are also talking more. MTN recorded a 10% rise in voice calls during the festive season. MTN Uganda’s successful promotion ‘Goood Mooorning Uganda’ has given its customers an opportunity to receive one free minute, every day, from 6am to 9am to call their friends on the MTN network. The success of this promotion shows that MTN customers welcome this opportunity to get in touch with their loved ones. “An early call can start it all, and that’s just what Ugandans have learnt to appreciate this festive season,” said Ernst Fonternel, Chief Marketing Officer at MTN Uganda.

“These figures show that our customers were able to communicate with their loved ones during the festive season as well as ably carry out their financial transactions on the MTN network at this important time of year. We are glad to be a reliable partner for this activity,” said Fonternel.

MTN Mobile Money remains the fastest growing product in Uganda with more than five million registered users each transacting on average six times a month. The popularity and growth of MTN Mobile Money has created more than 100,000 jobs for Ugandans and increased financial inclusion of the unbanked. MTN customers have continued using the Bill payment channels to pay their Electricity and Water bills through MTN Mobile Money. Overall figures indicate that more than 85% of the mobile bill payment collections in Uganda are made through the MTN Mobile Money platform.

In terms of its Data portfolio, MTN Uganda recorded a significant increase in terms of volumes during the festive period. MTN’s customers consumed more than 112 Terabytes worth of internet downloads and uploads during December 2013 alone which increased by 133% compared to December 2012. This growth was brought about by the value that MTN offers to their customers, increased speeds and improved 3G coverage with more than 400 Sites delivering up to 42Mbps speed as well as a comprehensive suite of Data devices, packages and bundles.

“In 2013, MTN Uganda was the first in the market to introduce WiFi Hotspots, 42Mbps and 4G LTE. We also provide our customers with 15MB worth of Free Internet every month and we are constantly reaching out to our customers through various activations and great device deals,” Fonternel said.

Fonternel added that following these trends, 2014 should be another largely successful year evidenced by the increase in activity on voice, SMS and data transactions on the MTN Network during the festive season and into the New Year.  

In terms of Network Infrastructure, MTN continues to lead the way in terms of investment and its commitment to development of the ICT sector. During 2014, MTN has secured USD 60 million as additional investment to expand its Infrastructure and Services and this will be added to the USD 150 million invested during the last 2 years.

MTN’s vision is to lead the delivery of a bold, new Digital World to our customers. As we continue to fulfill this promise we remain committed to continue to improve the lives of Ugandans by consistently fulfilling our promise to provide consistent service and the best customer experience.

“Our focus as a business is to provide superior customer experience and relevant products and services that suit the needs of our customers. Going forward we will ensure that we continue to remain relevant to our growing customer base through innovation and dedicated customer service. MTN will work extensively with all existing and new licensed operating telecom providers to develop the ICT agenda of Uganda,” Fonternel concluded.

About MTN Uganda

Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services and Internet Service Provisioning. As of 30 September 2013, MTN Uganda recorded 8.4 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug and for our football fans www.mtnfootball.com. Customers can also follow us on www.youtube.com/mtnug and www.twitter.com/mtnugandacare for assistance.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 30 September 2013, MTN recorded 203.8 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. Visit us at www.mtn.com.