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All is now set as Lagos host Africa’s biggest Signage and Billboard exhibition according to plans unveiled by the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA).
The Agency has finalized plans for the event, which is the biggest of its kind in West Africa, holding at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre from 25th to 27th June, 2014.
Tagged the ‘Signage and Outdoor Conference and Exhibition Africa (Lagos 2014)’, it will feature over 200 exhibitors and conference participants from Europe, Asia, America and Africa. The biggest of its kind in the West African sub-region, the event is expected to attract over 4,000 visitors. Organizers also revealed attendance to the exhibition is free for all visitors.
As at press time participants from Holland, Belgium, China France, United Kingdom, Dubai, South Africa Kenya, Uganda, and other neighbouring African states have started arriving for the three-day event.
The conference and exhibition will offer signage and billboard owners a platform to display their creative innovations to the world. Nigerian exhibitors and delegates will have the added advantage of participation on home turf, in what is expected to become an annual event on the outdoor industry calendar in Lagos State. LASAA said the maiden edition is geared towards creating a convergence of stakeholders within the out-of-home advertising industry. It will focus on trends, best practices, innovations and challenges within the Nigerian and African contexts.
As at the last count, all the prospective international speakers for the conference are already in the country alongside their counterparts from within the country.
Steering the preparations for the highly anticipated event is George Noah, MD of LASAA, who said, “The objective is to provide a veritable platform for the growth and
development of signage and outdoor advertising in Lagos State, Nigeria and Africa. The event is expected to attract from within and outside the country, industry regulators, consultants, designers, researchers, brand managers, media buying agencies, event companies, suppliers, manufacturers, exhibitors in the signage, digital signage, retail signage solutions, outdoor media as well as screen and digital printing industries.”
Hopes are riding high for the exhibition, which is expected to take Nigeria’s blooming outdoor industry to new heights. Similar exhibitions in cities like London and Milan are reported to generate billions of dollars of sales for exhibitors serving the printing, signage and outdoor advertising industries. Many international stakeholders are already signed up for the inaugural edition, thereby offering a world class showcase for those who participate.
“LASAA is set to put the city of Lagos on yet another global stand economically and otherwise. The exhibition will provide for the comparison of creative inventions in signage and billboards via [set] parameters, with eventual winners emerging, ‘’Noah said.
”Our objective is to create an enabling environment that will help all players in our sector to grow their business and to keep abreast with new innovations from across the globe. Visitors and participants are expected to discover the latest developments in equipment, software, signage and outdoor materials, systems, fittings and
fixtures. Participants can maximize their time at the event by taking part in the tailored conference sessions as well as experiencing live demonstrations and networking opportunities. In addition, the conference and exhibition will deliver new market breakthroughs, significant on-site sales, joint venture opportunities, new trading partners and an improved regional profile for manufacturers.”
Judging by LASAA’s enviable record in organizing successful events, practitioners say they are looking forward to the first ever Lagos signage and billboard exhibition, which they describe as a move in the right direction. Over the years, the Agency has provided an oasis of calm from the arbitrary display of structures in Lagos State.
Hardly surprising therefore, that many are already predicting that the coming exhibition will be a success.
Like cities including Dubai, Munich, Beijing and Johannesburg where signage and billboard exhibitions are held regularly, the Lagos event will showcase the very best of signage and billboards alongside powerful representations of ideas that set the pace in the outdoor advertising industry.
