The Meetings Africa’s Bon Day has seen a reflection of 20 years of showcasing Africa’s strengths, unlocking opportunities and advancing the continent ‘s visibility on the global stage.

The 2026 edition has been described as a landmark edition under the theme “20 years of connecting Africa to the world.”

The Business Opportunity Networks Day set a strategic tone for the main trade show with dialogues centred around strengthening a collective positioning in face of geopolitical shifts.

The Business Opportunities Network Bon Day lays a foundation for the Meetings Africa trade show anchored around sustainability, legacy and global market insights.

The day saw conversations on opening the global lens, where Africa fits and talks of sustainable growth that SA Tourism’s Corne Koch believes should move beyond 20 years of connecting Africa to the world.

“Bond Day makes and gives us an opportunity to meet each other, set new seats, look at new economic opportunities, so that when we go into the exhibition space, we know what it is that we’re looking for. We want to be able to connect with the continent, our fellow country members. We’ve got about 20 African countries that will be exhibiting at Meetings Africa, and that’s a great legacy that this event has been giving us, you know, for the last 20 years. So, it just has grown, and we’re looking forward to how it’s going to grow even further.”

The Meetings Africa is happening at the Sandton Convention Centre. The venue’s General Manager Shaun Bird says the facility is working with South African Tourism and industry partners to attract and secure future international congress exhibitions set to deliver long-term economic impact for the country

“Kicking off at Bond Day today. A lot of the key role players from around Africa and around the world will be here, and Sandton Convention Centre is very excited to have them. We feel that as a convention centre, we have a very important role to play in promoting South Africa and Africa to the wider continent and showcasing what Africa and South Africa has to offer. Obviously, the Sandton Convention Centre is the premier convention centre as far as we’re concerned, and as such, we intend to put our best foot forward to ensure that South Africa is well represented and we hopefully will have some successful ease through this event,” says Bird.

The South African Development Studies Association’s Itumeleng Dube reflects on the past years, as the industry welcomes news of an uptick in SA Tourism numbers to pre-covid levels.

“We saw the regression, but I think the bounce back was also quite good. We were able to especially maybe like in the events based on as academics, were able to then get visitors from outside the country, outside the province, where we were able to then post conferences when we spoke about, you know, issues that we dealt with before during COVID and after. So yes, it’s still a little bit of progress that’s coming there. But we, I think, like in the near future, maybe the next couple of years, we’ll probably be able to then get back to what we work for or even actually make it better. But I think with things like South Africa, we have people from all over the continent, all over the world coming through, we’re then able to make partnerships,” says Executive SADSS Itumeleng Dube.

Entrepreneur and Chief Executive Officer  of the Conversation Strategist Nozipho Tshabalala delivered a keynote address urging stakeholders to unite behind a common vision of moving the continent forward amid global geopolitical shifts.

“The wall does not move at the speed of our conviction and our dreams. The world does not move even at the speed of capital technology. I don’t think I need to compensate anybody in this room that the world moves at the speed of conversation. How you designed to rate and host conversation actually determines what the world decides is urgent, how you design, curate, and hold conversations, determines what becomes and is deemed bankable and investable. I want to provoke us this morning by arguing that perhaps our job is to do more than just to connect Africa to the world. Our job is to really begin to position Africa as the new source of life and a new leader in agenda centre setting,” says Tshabalala.

Meetings Africa will also showcase Africa’s cultural advantages with exhibitions expected on the second day and a keynote address by Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille.

The hope is for the partnerships formed, deals concluded and ideas sparked here at Meetings Africa’s Bon Day to help shape the next chapter of growth for the continent and the future of Africa’s business events industry.