4 / 44
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
AUGUST 2015
2
T
he success of bauma Africa 2013 was
reflected by the number of exhibitors
that have signed up for the 2015
event. I suppose the change of venue may
also have had a major effect on the support
it has received.
The inaugural bauma Africa international
trade fair took place at the Gallagher Estate
events complex in Johannesburg in Sep-
tember. There, some 754 exhibitors from
38 countries spent four days engaging with
current and potential clients from around the
world on latest developments in the con-
struction machinery, building materials and
mining machine segments. South African
companies were not to be outdone by their
international counterparts and pulled out all
the stops to feature their products.
Last year, I visited the original site of Conex-
po in Las Vegas and was really taken aback
by the magnitude of the event. The bauma
event in Germany in 2013 had an impressive
530 000 visitors from over 200 countries
which converged on the Munich Exhibition
Centre in April. Not only did this exhibition of
bauma break all previous records for exhibi-
tor numbers and exhibition space, it also at-
tracted the greatest numbers of visitors yet.
The local event, in order to foster co-opera-
tion with the international partners has been
changed to Bauma Connexpo Africa, which is
the result of a joint venture entered into after
the event in 2013.
The market for construction and mining
equipment in sub-Sahara Africa holds great
potential, a fact that is reflected in the num-
ber of exhibitors that have signed up for the
event. Several major construction machinery
suppliers are regarding bauma Africa as an
opportunity to unveil new product technolo-
gies and offer solutions to their clients. Also,
many see this as an opportunity to build on
the inaugural show by attracting more indus-
try role players and generating positive spin-
offs-for the region, the industry and their
customers.
The South African construction industry was
particularly hard hit when the infrastructure
development which was high, leading to the
2010 FIFA World Cup which was followed by
a global depression or depressed growth. It
appears that the cycle has bottomed out with
a number of encouraging signs from finan-
cial performance results, order book growth
and public infrastructure commitments of
individual companies. There are, however, a
number of risk factors that could impact on
the industry but we have managed to over-
come many of them in the past. Infrastruc-
ture spending is still on the cards, which is
always a positive sign for future growth.
Bauma Conexpo Africa has definitely not
been mis-timed as it adds a positive tone to
some negative political aspects and will give
a boost to our future development.
Pierre Sanson
Editor
COMMENT
bauma 2015