Consumer fair grows year-on-year

Botswana consumer fair has maintained a steady growth from 400 exhibitors in 2004 to 580 exhibitors in 2015 representing a 37 .5 percent growth rate.

Briefing the media on Tuesday, Fairgrounds Holdings Managing Director, Michael Montshiwa said this year they have recorded 580 stalls compared to 550 recorded last year. “This high number of stalls recorded falls in line with our target of achieving five percent growth year by year. We have a significant growth this year,” he said.

Among the exhibitors include 26 international exhibitors from 11 foreign countries such as China, Egypt, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia representing five percent of total number of total exhibitors. “This shows that the event remains the flagship event in the calendar of exhibitions not only in Botswana but the region,” said Montshiwa.

This year marks the 10th Anniversary for the consumer fair, which started in 2006. The fair promotes trade between local and foreign exhibitors in an endeavour to diversify the economy. Local companies also have a ready platform for brand activation where consumers can interact with different products and service suppliers. In 2006 the number of visitors was recorded at 400 and this has grown year on year with the highest recorded number of visitors at 62 200 last year.