International attendees from over 70 countries are expected at Africa Rail as global events company Terrapinn gets set to host the 22nd annual Africa Rail exhibition and conference that is aimed at to contributing towards the development of the rail sector across Africa.
The event which will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Gauteng, on June 19 and 20 according to sources from Terrapinn is expecting 7,500 attendees from more than 70 international countries, 850 VIP buyers and 250 exhibitors.
Giving more insight into the forthcoming conference, Athena Maharaj of Terrapinn, said that, that there will be a big focus on “looking ahead” this year to the role of railways in the next 20 years and how to prepare Africa for a new era of mobility. The event aims to contribute to development of African rail.
“Africa is looking to integrate into a global economy; it is simple as Africa’s roads are overused. “With the massive flow of goods out of African countries including Nigeria and the flow of people throughout Africa, there is a concerted push towards railway development’’. Athena Maharaj said.
Meanwhile, Africa Intermodal is a partner event to Africa Rail this year and will be co-located and running on the same dates as Africa Rail. Maharaj notes that there will be exponential growth in intermodal transport, and improved connectivity across the transport sector is expected to change the dynamics of trade in the region.
Some of the topics that will be discussed include infrastructure development, operations and maintenance, innovation, digitalisation, intermodal transport and updates on African projects.
New to this year’s event is Women on Track, a platform that drives and influences the growth and development of women in the rail sector. Further, Maharaj notes that Terrapinn is proud to announce the Africa Rail Internship, whereby the company will host an engineering student for a week to join the team and learn key corporate skills.
The engineering unit of State-owned logistics group Transnet, Transnet Engineering and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, are the associate sponsors.
Transnet will be supported by local steel and iron products manufacturer and supplier Naledi Inhlanganiso, wireless communications solutions provider Teltronic and railway supplier IRZ Lokomotiv as gold sponsors.
Global electronics and electrical engineering products, systems and solutions provider Siemens will serve as bronze sponsor, while more than 100 speakers will attend the conference.
MIKE OCHONMA
