As the official representative for Messe Duesseldorf in East Africa, africon supported the organisation of an East African delegation to K trade fair.
K, the world’s no. 1 trade fair for plastics and rubber, is a trade fair by Messe Düsseldorf, which took place from 19-26 October 2022. The main themes at the K trade fair were Circular Economy, Digitalization and Climate Protection. At K, companies from all over the globe presented their latest products in categories such as raw materials, auxiliaries, machinery and equipment, plastics, products and processing, services, research and science.
The delegation posed a vital opportunity for East African companies to network with sector experts, inform themselves about the latest global technologies and source machinery from Germany. The participants were representatives of 13 companies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, and most of them were women-led. The focus topics for the delegation were recycling management, efficient processing, waste avoidance, and environmental pollution prevention.
The delegation started with a warm welcome from Messe Düsseldorf, and was followed by presentations from the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs, Circular Valley, VDMA, PreVent Waste Initiative and the East African Business Council. The program included guided tours to different exhibitors. At the Covestro booth, the focus was on the many possible uses of polymers with special references to the area of application in East Africa. At Krones, participants were given an overview of the entire plastic bottle cycle (‘from bottle to bottle’). At the Kautex booth, intelligent production solutions in the field of extrusion blow moulding technology were presented. Examples of other companies that the delegates visited were EREMA, Vecoplan and Arburg.
africon organised some meetings and accompanied the delegation to all the appointments and company visits. Participating companies had a good overview of the K trade fair, and in the following days, they visited other booths and events independently. The delegation was successful as the East African companies learned about circular economy solutions and innovation in sustainable plastic processing and material usage. They also networked with other global companies.
About the delegation
The East African delegation to the K trade fair happened from 19th to 26th October 2022, in Messe Düsseldorf and was organized by the Business Scouts for Development program on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The Business Scouts are development experts, located in Germany and more than 30 other countries around the world. In cooperation with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and local partners the program aims to strengthen industries in East Africa and create sustainable perspectives and partnerships. The cooperation partners for this delegation were Messe Düsseldorf and africon.
