Messe Frankfurt acquires Source Africa and ATF

Source Africa and ATF Apparel, Textile & Footwear Trade Exhibition Capetown, two of Africa’s largest textile, clothing and footwear shows, have been acquired by Messe Frankfurt SA, a subsidiary of Messe Frankfurt. Source Africa and ATF were founded and are currently organized by trade show organizer LTE.

“We believe that Messe Frankfurt South Africa possesses the resources, skills and experience, globally and with the help of our Texpertise Network, to grow these events further,” commented Konstantin von Vieregge, CEO of Messe Frankfurt SA. “We are honoured that LTE has selected us as preferred partners, and look forward to working with them to ensure we take both events to a new level. Messe Frankfurt South Africa is committed to ensuring the growth of these industries in SA, and wants to expose South Africa’s potential to the rest of the world.”

Source Africa was launched in 2013 to create a fair for African-based manufacturers exclusively, to stimulate business between African companies and countries, to introduce participating exhibitors to South African retail chains and to export African products to the US. Since then, Source Africa has grown constantly and has become the most important annual pan-African textile, clothing and footwear trade event on the international calendar. 2018 will mark the 6th edition of the event.

“The primary reason for Source Africa and ATF is to promote African-made apparel, textiles and footwear and to encourage interaction between international and regional buyers, manufacturers and suppliers. The event also aims to boost investment into the region and ensure sustainable job creation within the sector,” explained LTE member William Scalco.

According to McKinsey & Co.'s report “Africa is on the Move!”, the following African countries are key destinations for apparel, textiles and footwear: South Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Egypt. Moreover, the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) until 2025 gives another boost to the economy of African countries as it significantly enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

Messe Frankfurt is one of the world´s leading trade show organizers with operations in more than 50 countries and over 134 trade fairs worldwide. With this acquisition, Messe Frankfurt supplements its current portfolio of textile-related trade shows under the umbrella of ‘Texpertise Network’ and strengthens its textile activities in Africa. In October 2017, Messe Frankfurt will be partnering for the first time with Africa Fashion and Sourcing Week in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. As part of the partnership, the three new trade fair brands Texworld Addis Abeba, Apparel Sourcing Addis Abeba and Texprocess Addis Abeba will be launched within the Africa Sourcing & Fashion Week.

The 2017 ATF trade show will take place from 21st to 23rd November 2017 at the CTICC in Cape Town. The next Source Africa trade show will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 20th to 21st June 2018.

Image: Source Africa website