DISTREE Africa 2016 will take place on the 6-8th June in Nairobi, Kenya. The three-day channel event provides a powerful business development opportunity for vendors, brand owners and international distributors looking to manage, build or launch routes-to-market in some of Africa’s fastest growing technology markets.
Farouk Hemraj, CEO & Co-Founder at DISTREE Events, said: “DISTREE Africa is one of our most exciting events, opening up a wealth of business opportunities for exhibitors. We’re expanding the remit of DISTREE Africa to cover both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) channels in 2016, giving a wider selection of brands compelling reasons to participate at the event.”
All exhibitors at DISTREE Africa 2016 have the opportunity to review the profiles of attending retailers, e-tailers, resellers and local distributors prior to the event, and pre-schedule one-on-one meetings with the channel partners that best suit their business requirements.
“The African market represents a huge opportunity for technology brands – both business-focused and consumer-focused,” added Hemraj. “Identifying the right partners, meeting them face-to-face and building healthy and sustainable channels is critical to a brand’s success, and that’s why DISTREE Africa continues to grow year-on-year.”
DISTREE Africa 2016 will include channel delegates from 12 African countries, gathering together the region’s most influential retailers, resellers and in-country distributors in one place at one time. Having operated in the region for three years, DISTREE Events has developed a comprehensive channel database and has earned the trust of senior buyers and channel executives who attend the event each year to meet both existing and potential new suppliers.
“This year’s DISTREE Africa will include channel representatives from key markets in East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa,” said Hemraj. “Our mission is to help technology brands accelerate their business development and improve their channel strategies across Africa. Our proven event format allows them to do this quickly and efficiently, while giving them deeper knowledge of African markets and the ability to make new business contacts.”
DISTREE Africa 2016 will invite channel partners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in East Africa; Angola; Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon in Central Africa, plus Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe in Southern Africa.
“We’re seeing an increased number of technology brands realise that they need a deeper understanding of African channels to achieve business success in the region,” continued Hemraj. “DISTREE Africa is laser-focused on providing a platform for channel business development. Exhibitors at our recent events have entered new countries, signed new distribution and retail agreements, and rapidly increased their sales as a result of meetings held at DISTREE Africa,” commented Hemraj.
The B2B channel audience at DISTREE Africa will include a wide range of value-added resellers (VARs) ranging from product dealers through to cloud service providers, managed service and IT providers like Bennet Office Technologies, corporate resellers and systems integrators, providing viable routes-to-market to all customer groups from SMBs through to large enterprises. The B2C channel audience comprises delegates from multiple retail channels including hypermarkets, mobile stores, consumer technology specialist stores, Apple Premium Resellers (APRs), duty free stores and e-tailers.
“This year we want to help even more brands achieve business success in Africa. From consumer technology products all the way through to cloud solutions and B2B technologies, this year’s event will bring exhibitors face-to-face with the partners they need to work with. There is incredible energy in the African market at present and we can’t wait to welcome channel partners from across Africa and technology brands from around the world to DISTREE Africa 2016,” Hemraj concluded.
DISTREE Africa 2016 will also feature an extensive conference programme and awards sessions, giving delegates access to the latest market intelligence in the region. Event Partner GfK will deliver a keynote speech at this year’s event and also host a series of workshop sessions for delegates. The DISTREE Diamond Awards series will also form part of the programme, giving delegates the chance to recognise the brands that have impressed them most in specific product categories.
As a highly-focused event, DISTREE Africa is an ‘invitation only’ event for the channel audience that attend. This ensures that all one-on-one meetings that take place at the event are relevant and productive for exhibitors. Far removed from a traditional trade show, DISTREE Africa offers a highly compelling proposition for exhibitors looking to achieve a strong return on investment (ROI) from their event participation.
For more information on DISTREE Africa 2016, visit www.distree-africa.com. Follow @DISTREE_Africa for event updates on Twitter.
