WTM AFRICA MEETS – AND EXCEEDS – 2019 NUMBERS
WTM Africa 2022 kickstarts the recovery of the travel and tourism industry in Africa
WTM Africa 2022, held from April 11 to 13 in Cape Town, South Africa, was a huge success with preliminary numbers indicating that pre-scheduled appointments for 2022 exceeded the number of appointments booked at the show in 2019.
WTM Africa 2022 facilitated over seven thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments (both online and in person), which saw an increase of more than 7% compared to 2019, while the number of visitors remained on par with 2019 figures, with more than six thousand visitors in 2022 according to the unaudited numbers – hugely positive for the WTM’s first in-person event post pandemic and a fitting reflection of an industry that wants to get back to work.
“The 2022 edition of WTM Africa and Africa Travel Week was the first inbound and outbound travel trade show of this magnitude held on the African continent since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2022. The undeniable success of the show, as reflected in the preliminary numbers, is a clear indication that the industry was in desperate need of a face-to-face platform to reconnect, conclude deals and kickstart the recovery of the industry,” says Megan Oberholzer, Portfolio Director: Travel, Tourism, and Creative Industries, RX Africa.
WTM Africa featured 187 speakers in over 63 content sessions which highlighted important topics such as inclusivity, diversity, travel technology and investment. Exhibitors, speakers and buyers from both the inbound and outbound tourism and travel industry were invited to enable a platform of growth to and from the African continent. Twelve international countries were represented, 20 African countries and seven out of the nine South African provinces were present.
The vast majority (87%) of buyers were new buyers who had never been to Africa Travel Week before with buyers from established source markets as well as new source markets like Thailand, Malaysia and Japan. WTM Africa 2022 saw a great number of new exhibitors, including amongst others the National Tourism Board of Sierra Leone and the Korea Tourism Organisation, who all saw great value in the show and have expressed their interest to return to WTM Africa in 2023.
WTM Africa 2023 will take place between April 3 and 5, so mark your calendars.
Ghosted Meta Abo employees rob factory
An unknown number of Meta Abo employees were arrested this week for allegedly stealing different equipment from the beer factory which is now acquired by BGI Ethiopia, according to sources.
BGI Ethiopia fully acquired Meta Abo two weeks ago after the approval of the Ethiopian Trade Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (ETCCPA).
The acquisition process had been ongoing for a year with the two companies negotiating, however, during the process, the management teams of Meta from Diageo left the factory before the acquisition was approved. This drove employees of the company to have a cloud of uncertainty hovering around their heads which was further fueled when the company remained silent about the transition and new administration.
As sources indicate, following BGI’s takeover of the company, several equipment from the factory was noted to be missing. According to source, suspected employees have been arrested starting early this week.
Meta Abo brewery which is based out of Sebeta, Oromia region had accrued about 3.7 billion birr in government tax debt starting from 2017.
The 500-employee-sized factory was sold to Castel with negotiations considering the effect of the seizure of the factory by the government.
Meta Abo was then sold to Diageo in 2012 after privatization at a price tag of 225 million dollars. After acquiring the factory in 2012, Diageo made 119 million dollars in investment for the expansion of the factory and has since pumped a total of 344 million dollars in investment throughout the years for its expansion with the aim of transforming the brewing industry in Ethiopia.
Initially, the production capacity of the brewery was 50,000hl per annum, however, Diageo’s investment, which was detailed back in 2015 saw the company re-launching the Meta brand at higher capacities.
On a downward spiral of events, Meta was acquired by BGI at a 60 birr per share value, which according to documents is a fizzled-out price point from the prior valuation of 1000 birr per-share value. This comes at a time when the factory was at the tip of crisis which is indicative of the nose dive devaluation of the company that has shrunk by 94 percent.
Documents indicated the factory has about 11 billion birr in registered capital. BGI Ethiopia, part of the Castel Group and four other persons, namely, Feven Mulat, Laurent Lescuyer, Julien Flecheux and Amdémichael Getahun who are employees of the Castel Group have now fully taken over from Guinness Overseas Holdings Limited (which is a company of Diageo group) in addition to other four natural persons, with a total stake of 100 percent.
