“The majority of the international exhibitions in Nigeria are organized by our colleagues from Germany, the UK, South Africa, China, Turkey, etc. It is time for us to be able to organize exhibitions and still maintain that top-notch international standard that can be obtained anywhere around the world”.

How do you see the trade fair industry in Nigeria compared to China Canton Fairs, and Messe Dusseldorf in Germany?

The trade fair industry in Nigeria is a developing one, looking at it from a from a structural perspective and comparing it to Canton and Messe Dusseldorf.  However, it is gaining momentum and with time we will have that kind of structure that we aim for.  There are lots of opportunities in Nigeria’s exhibition sphere that many investors, both in Africa and Europe, are aware of. One of the core areas of Zenith Exhibitions is to expose to opportunities to foreign investors, and draw their attention to key growth indices. One of the ways we do this is information shared to our clients via emails, and social media posts. Our website is also embedded with a blog for industry-related information.

A lot of trade fair exhibition facilities that were built by the government are rotted, what would you tell the government to do and bring them to global standards?

My advice to the government would be to go into partnerships with professionals to manage these facilities or privatize them, and woo more investors into the space and take the provision of infrastructure seriously.

Regarding the upcoming Equipment and Manufacturing West Africa (EMWA)/ Connecting Trade Worldwide (CTW) Nigeria 2021 Expo, what gap did you see in the industry, leading to the organization of the expo?

There is a huge gap in organization of exhibition by Indigenous companies and this huge gap affects trade and business in the country.

The majority of the international exhibitions in Nigeria are organized by our colleagues from Germany, the UK, South Africa, China, Turkey, etc. It is time for us to be able to organize exhibitions and still maintain that top-notch international standard that can be obtained anywhere around the world. Most foreign organizations are looking for conduits to do business, and local distributors as well, also are in need of reliable companies to work with, EMWA/CTW creates that for both the company and the distributor to meet and eventually sign deals. At the end of the day, a win-win situation arises. One of our major objectives is to connect businesses and distributors—bring them in one place for deals to take place. This is one of the gaps we’re helping to close in the industry.

Trade expo takes a lot of time for planning and marketing, could you give us insights into the level of response so far from targeted exhibitors at home and abroad.

2020 was a difficult year for everyone and our industry seems to be the most affected. However, we as organizers are in the business of helping companies meet their sales target and other objectives through our exhibitions.  Internationals are willing to travel and do business but the travel restrictions and compulsory quarantine still remains a challenge. We have a system in place that will accommodate companies that are willing to participate. I would say the response has been glazed with some reluctance, but business owners who know the value of exhibitions especially in a post-pandemic world are keen on participating, and we have a commendable number of such interested participants.

On January 1, the one single market for Africa, took off. What is the hybrid expo for equipment manufacturers in Africa, especially Nigeria’s FIIRO, Project Development Agency (PRODA) and NASENI?

The one single market for the African continent was long overdue, and as the Country we must utilize this to dominate the markets across Africa with our products innovations and knowledge and FIIRO, PRODA, NASENI should lead from the front. The hybrid expo, simply means that EMWA will be co-located alongside CTW. The significance of the events lies in threshold that they hope to bring value into the Nigeria space and to showcase trade in all aspects.

After this maiden event, how would you sustain the organization of EMWA for the next five years?

We have a 5-year plan to make EMWA a national show that will take place in regions in Nigeria and through partnerships with local, international organization, govt and relevant industry bodies, we project to be the number one specialized exhibition management company in West Africa.

At Zenith Exhibitions, our business philosophy is centred on delivering business contacts and solutions that create added value for our clients, with the ultimate desire to see these businesses upscale their operations to attract high turnover rates.

Our main objective is to provide an excellent service to organizations and execute international trade exhibitions with an unparalleled level of professionalism and work towards environmental and economic developments in a dynamic market.

How would you manage the visitors and exhibitors, bearing in mind, the recent COVID-19 law by the government?

We know what the world is becoming regarding events in a pandemic. We are well aware of our laws, and as a responsible and law-abiding entity, we have developed a strategy that covers the safety of everyone who intends to attend the physical event.

Our attention to safety at this pushed us to produce SAFE FOR BUSINESS guideline that specifically outlined 10 safety rules everyone must follow in other to attend the event.

The aim is to prevent further spread of the virus on our soil. Also, since the events will be running online simultaneously with the physical, anyone feeling sick would be strongly advised to use our virtual platform for the three-days event. You can find the SAFE FOR BUSINESS document here https://emwestafrica.com/covid-19-measures/