NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 14 – Kenyan event managers are in the process of organizing themselves into an association which will be able to bid for international events.
Eventrix Market Co-ordinator Feroza Nawab has described event management in Kenya as stagnant, noting that in the developed world such services attract the top dollar.
"One of the reasons I started Eventrix was to lift the standard of event management in the country. We are the process of registering the association and we have the officials in place," she said.
As part of raising Kenya\’s profile as an investment destination, Eventrix Ltd has organized the Entrepreneur 2010 Expo, a business to business event that opened, Friday 13 through to Sunday 15 at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi.
"When you look at the projects event managers are currently working on it would be a social function like a wedding and the occasional product launch. So when I say stagnant, I mean that event managers in Kenya presently, we\’re not risk takers; we\’re afraid to go out bid for a major event and host them in the country," explains Nawab.
Nawab said the Entrepreneurs 2010 Expo would provide local entrepreneurs with the opportunity to expose their businesses to new un-tapped markets, partners and distribution channels.
She says the idea of organising this expo was built on Kenya\’s economic blueprint, Vision 2030 which seeks to spur growth enabling increased economic activity.
"We have five international companies participating including two teams of the London School of Investment (LSI) one from the United Kingdom and another one from South Africa who are particularly looking to expand into East Africa," says Nawab.
The London School of Investment is a company that offers a one-stop investment system that turns a desktop into a trading station.
Catering for new and existing investors, the "LSI Trader" investment course and software packages provide education to assist investors to make better informed trading decisions.
"This is an exhibition that will give better value for the visiting companies, exhibitors and the general public," said Nawab.
"Many exhibitors sit around wondering how to get people to go to their stands; we\’ve come up with a strategy where we have ushers who will walk the visitors through the exhibition."
"While the ushers are walking the visitors around, they will be filling out a feed back form on be half of the exhibitors which will facilitate follow up," detailed Ms Nawab.
Entrepreneur 2010 Expo has brought together international and local companies looking to expand into the growing East African market, organisations looking to offer business solutions, small-scale businesses, retail companies searching for dealers and distribution agents in East Africa, financial and investment consultants as well as franchisers – all with the common goal of carrying out business transactions and relationship building.
