Agrofood tradeshow holds in Lagos

Over 100 world class exhibitors from 17 countries are expected to grace this  year’s edition of the Agrofood, Plastprintpack Nigeria, tradeshow. The tradeshow and conference, which is the 9th of its kind, is scheduled to hold from March 26 – 28, 2024 at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos State. The Senior Project Manager, Fairtrade Messe, Freyja Detjen, while addressing newsmen in Lagos, said that exhibitors are expected from Austria, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tunisia, Türkiye, and Ukraine.

She said that the exhibitors would showcase tailored products and solutions for the Nigerian market and that there would be  active participation of key ministers from the new government, both at the Federal and Lagos State levels and official national pavilions from China, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands. Detjen also stated that Fairtrade and the Organisation for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa, (OTACCWA), would co-organise the 6th West African Cold Chain Summit and Exhibition (WACCSE), alongside Agrofood and Plastprintpack Nigeria, 2024 in a bid to deepen their cooperation in the cold chain industry.

According to her, the German organiser of the trade show event, Fairtrade had decided to choose and come to Nigeria for their exhibitions because the country had been a hub for investments in food and packaging technology on the continent. She also revealed that the conference would be a unique one, as they would be expanding into three halls for the very first time, solidifying its position as the largest gathering yet. The President of OTACCWA, Alexander Isong, while speaking, alleged that the only place the Federal Government makes foreign exchange earnings for now is through crude oil and fossil fuels, and that Nigeria could make more money from foreign flow through agriculture, saying this can only be obtainable when farms and the process of taking the food from the farms up to the port for export gets certified.

Isong explained that the companies that are coming for exhibitions are the ones that are manufacturing equipment for food produce like farm produce, which would be an added value to our local companies. Speaking further, he said the event had grown to an extent that three halls would be used this year and that the Nigerian government would be part of it. “We will use three halls now because the event has grown to an extent that we need more space to expand and the Nigerian government will be part of it, they have keyed into it; their participation will be broader and larger because in Nigeria, this is the biggest show of its kind”, he added.