Company Announcement - Infrastructure development and expansion in Africa’s fastest growing economies lags far behind the growth rate of populations in those countries, particularly the middle class, which is expected to grow to more than half a billion people in 2030.  Water supply is probably the most important – and the most difficult – infrastructure component to manage. Watertec Africa will again be soaking up a flood of international water industry visitors eager to find new products, technologies, suppliers and customers, in the rush to upgrade infrastructure in Africa’s rapidly expanding urban areas. Watertec Africa takes place from 20-22 May 2015 at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand.

Watertec is Africa’s leading industrial trade exhibition of equipment and services across the entire water industry spectrum. It’s a hugely popular component of The SA Industry & Technology Fair, a composite of 12 industrial shows targeting the manufacturing, engineering, water, petrochemical, plastics, energy efficiency, waste and recycling sectors.

Investing in Future Water
“According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, investment in water and sanitation across sub-Saharan Africa will increase from $3.3 billion in 2012 to about $10 billion by 2025,” explains John Thomson of Exhibition Management Services, organisers of Watertec. “This is already creating business opportunities for suppliers as utilities providers and associations from all over Africa search for new technology.” Two of these – the African Water Association based in Ivory Coast, and the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company – are some of the associations on board at Watertec Africa this year, showcasing their services and also on the lookout for new technologies. AfWA has over 200 members from countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania.

AfWA: Searching for Advanced Water Technology
AfWA is endorsing Watertec Africa for the fourth time, and has the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company for company on its stand for the first time. “It is important for us as a unique water and sanitation association in Africa to attend and be a part of exhibitions such as Watertec Africa,” says AfWA Marketing Manager Digbeu Aime Kaloua. “At previous shows, we met many manufacturers of advanced water equipment and put them in touch with our utilities in Africa – we are taking advantage of this valuable opportunity again in 2015.” AfWA will be handing out magazines and brochures promoting the association as well as publicity information for its 18th AfWA Congress, which takes place in Nairobi from 22-26 February 2016. “We are also working on a campaign to encourage companies to become members of AfWA.”

City Water and Sewerage Company
The Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company’s main focus is to provide quality, environmentally friendly water and sewerage services to the residents of Nairobi. The city currently has a population of 3.8-million people and the number is expected to rise to 4.5-million in 2019. Only 50% of Nairobi’s residents have direct access to piped water. The rest have to obtain water from vendors, kiosks or illegal connections. 40% of the existing customers receive water daily. The company decided to join in this year’s Watertec Africa in its search of new and innovative water technologies to upgrade the city’s infrastructure.