theplanner.guru unpacks the African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report’s MICE Industry Maturity Index to understand where the top five MICE markets are on the continent.
EGYPT
Based on the World Economic Forum’s 2019 stats, tourism contributed 6.2% of Egypt’s total GDP, generating 1.15 million jobs. The Egypt Tourism Reform Programme (ETRP) notes that its overarching objective is to have at least one individual from each household employed in the tourism industry.
In this regard, key reforms include the strengthening of international relationships, incentive programmes, and price competitiveness aimed at generating inbound tourism together with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
“To achieve these objectives, marketing and promotion are being used to showcase Egypt’s modern, digital and competitive approach to diversify revenue streams. This also aims to create a more resilient tourism sector by tapping into new source markets. Egypt is one of the only North African countries to explicitly mention refining its presence at international travel exhibitions to fully exhaust its promotional potential,” notes the African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report 2021.
The body responsible for coordinating MICE activity within the country is the Egypt Expo & Convention Authority (EECA), overseen by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Small Industries. While the reported trade fair data records 87 trade fairs between 2012 and 2015, recent data is unclear and this places the country in a ‘defined’ category according to the report.
“Egypt certainly has a formalised tourism sector and the presence of a MICEdedicated body moves it into a defined category, but a lacking clear strategy means it cannot move into a managed category,” says the report’s MICE Industry Maturity Index.
RWANDA
World Bank data shows that even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Rwanda was among Africa’s fastest-growing economies, with 9.4% growth in 2019. While experiencing a massive dip in 2020 where growth shrank to -3.4%, the economy rallied to 11.1% in the first nine months of 2021.
Rwanda’s top economic hotspots include energy, agriculture, tourism, hospitality, construction and financial services. Although the East African nation’s economy is largely a rural one, the government has its sights set on the country becoming a regional trade hub.
In addition, the Rwandan government views the MICE industry as an important economic driver. To this end, a World Bank Group advisory project assisted Rwanda in establishing its national convention bureau in 2014 to grow its opportunities within the industry.
Rwanda is also one of the fastest-growing travel and tourism countries. The nation’s tourism sector is a valuable economic contributor, adding 10.9% to its GDP, with the MICE industry generating a quarter of total visitor numbers in 2019. Figures from the Rwanda Development Board show growth in MICE revenues of 47.3% over the last decade.
“The Rwanda Development Board actively positions the region as a leisure tourism destination and an attractive hub for regional and international meetings and events,” says the African Perspectives report. In addition, the country has an established and active convention bureau, placing the country in the ‘managed’ category.
ETHIOPIA
A World Bank study, Ethiopia’s Tourism Sector: Strategic Paths to Competitiveness and Job Creation (2012), highlights the need for investment within Ethiopia’s tourism sector, which it notes is underperforming compared to other African nations. Although leisure tourism currently plays a role in Ethiopia, the MICE sector is a clear priority, having accounted for 20% of arrivals. As part of its economic strategy, Ethiopia hopes to reach lower-middle-income status by 2025 and attract a million tourists within this timeframe.
Ethiopia has a well-developed regional air transport hub, and its airline networks are an important economic opportunity. It is also a centre for the African continent’s regional development and diplomatic institutions such as the AU and UN Economic Commission for Africa, generating a notable amount of MICE-related travel to the country.
MICE nodes are evident within Ethiopia, with the Addis Ababa City Administration establishing a city convention bureau in 2019 to bring structure to the MICE sector and attract conferences. Further to this, the inauguration of the Ethiopia Convention Bureau, under the auspices of Tourism Ethiopia, demonstrates the country’s commitment to driving regional meetings. Tourism Ethiopia also has an agreement in place with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to provide support in improving economic performance within the tourism sector, which includes a focus on MICE.
Owing to its convention bureau being so newly established, the African Perspectives report’s MICE Industry Maturity Index places Ethiopia in a ‘defined’ category.
KENYA
Kenya’s economy has seen sustained strong and stable growth, driven largely by positive investor confidence and an exceptionally resilient s ervices sector – with agriculture, manufacturing and real estate also b eing key economic contributors.
Similarly to many African countries, Kenya’s growth declined as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, from 5.4% in 2019 to around 0.1% in 2020, wi th its services sectors negatively impacted by global travel restrictions.
Kenya’s tourism industry is expected to contribute 8.7% to employment by 2027. The country’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife is responsible for rolling out Kenya’s Tourism Agenda 2018-2022, which forms the basis for the Kenya National Tourism Blueprint 2030. This incorporates several areas of development in Kenya, with its national convention bureau pivotal in 32 landmark projects.
Additional key developments include the available stock of international convention centres, with the existing Kenyatta International Convention Centre undergoing an expansion and the new Mombasa International Convention Centre expected to have an eventual capacity of 15 000 delegates. Meanwhile, the Nairobi International Convention and Exhibition Centre will reportedly be remodelled into a state-of-the-art facility.
Although it is a clear priority for Kenya’s government, and there is a clear formalisation of the country’s MICE industry, its strategy is yet to be fully rolled out, which places the country in a ‘defi ned’ category based on the African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report’s MICE Industry Maturity Index.
SOUTH AFRICA
Stats from the African Development Bank show that prior to the pandemic, South African real GDP growth has been stagnant with just 0.2% growth in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic adversely impacted the economy, and the country’s real GDP contracted by 7.0% in 2020 but rebounded to 3.0% in 2021. GDP growth is expected to pick up to 1.6% in 2022.
The Tourism 2020 report released by Stats SA shows a drop of 71% in foreign travel with under five million arrivals in 2020. This does, however, reveal that the majority of African visitors are from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique and Eswatini.
The South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) was launched in 2012 with a mandate to market South Africa as a business events and tourism destination. The SANCB works in tandem with other regional convention bureaus and its strategy is aligned with the country’s National Development Plan. This means that bidding support and funding is awarded to conferences that support the country’s key economic sectors.
The African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report shows that South Africa’s MICE sector is in a ‘managed’ category and that it is highly formalised, with associations established in each of the subsectors of business events.
“The business events sector is recognised as an important subsector in the national tourism strategy, with budget allocations to the SANCB,” says the report.
MICE Industry Maturity Index definitions
NASCENT
• No formalised industry
• Scattered MICE activity
• Limited government priority on tourism/MICE industry
DEFINED
• Formalised industry suppliers and client activity
• Government priority on MICE sector and communicated MICE strategy
MANAGED
• Formalised industry
• Government-prioritised MICE sector
• Active convention bureau with strategy for >5 years
• Existing African strategy
OPTIMISING
• Formalised industry
• Government prioritised MICE sector
• Active convention bureau and strategy spanning >5 years
• Hosts regularly rotated African conferences
This article originally ran in Meetings March/April 2022 issue, which you can access here. For more information on the African Perspectives on the MICE Industry Report 2021, contact sales@nichepartners.org
