IFAT Africa 2021 cancelled

IFAT Africa, the continent’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, refuse and recycling, has been cancelled.

Suzette Scheepers, CEO of event organisers Messe Muenchen South Africa, says the event, which had been scheduled to take place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg from November 2 – 4 this year, will not go ahead this year due to uncertainty in the market and ongoing international travel restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Further supporting the decision to cancel the event is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent announcement of the strengthening of restrictions as the country moves into its 3rd wave of Covid-19 infections. Under these restrictions, all gatherings are limited to 100 people indoors, and 250 people outdoors.

“As a key pan-African industry event, IFAT Africa was scheduled to be co-located with food & drink technology Africa and analytica Lab Africa; a combined and broad-reaching event that traditionally brings together thousands of pan-African and international stakeholders for knowledge sharing and product discovery. However, due to the current circumstances, we concluded that we could not assure our valued sponsors, exhibitors and visitors of the usual levels of international engagement, she says.

Scheepers says the difficult decision was made after consultations with partners and industry stakeholders. “We thank our partners, exhibitors and the IFAT Africa community for their ongoing understanding and support during the challenges of the past year,” she says.