After the great success of plastprintpack & agrofood West Africa in Abidjan in 2018 and a long Covid-related break, fairtrade and their local Ivorian partners 2A were now back to Côte d'Ivoire and Francophone West Africa with plastprintpack West Africa 2024.

And the event was opened with great fanfare by representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Minister of State, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Production, H.E. Mr Kobenan Adjoumani.

Earlier, the ambassadors and economic attachés from Germany and Italy and the Association Ivoirienne de l'Emballage APECI had underlined their commitment to professional cooperation in their respective speeches.

plastprintpack West Africa took place in conjunction with agrofood West Africa in the brand-new Abidjan Parc des Expositions from 08 to 10 October 2024.

The 2024 edition was a highly international affair, with 78 exhibitors from as many as 17 countries presenting customized solutions for the Ivorian and West African markets. They came from Algeria, Austria, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tunisia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates.

In addition to Côte d'Ivoire, fairtrade in West Africa serves Nigeria with the plastprintpack Nigeria and Ghana with plastprintpack Ghana.

In a groundbreaking move marking the 2024 edition and beyond, fairtrade and the Association of Packaging Professionals in Côte d'Ivoire APECI have forged a collaborative alliance. This synergistic partnership entails APECI's orchestration of the Afrik'Embal Exhibition concurrent with the plastprintpack & agrofood West Africa 2024 event by fairtrade.

Afrik'Embal is back after several years. The first edition was held in Abidjan in 2002 and the second in Accra, Ghana, in 2005.

The primary objective of this collaboration is to create valuable synergy effects for exhibitors and trade visitors alike. 

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The increasing demand throughout the rather homogenous French-speaking West African market of 110 million inhabitants and the good general economic situation in Côte d'Ivoire continue to offer positive prospects for suppliers of plastprintpack & agrofood technology.   

With the exception of Guinea, all countries use the franc CFA franc, which is linked to the euro. The currency facilitates not only the overseas export of machinery from Europe and Asia to Abidjan, but also the export of food within the French-speaking countries of West Africa. 
 

Excellent pre-conditions for plastprintpack West Africa & Afrik'Embal 2024.

The West African plastprintpack sector provides great chances for doing business

• Plastics technology: Ivorian imports of plastics technology grew from €31 million in 2019 to €51 million in 2022. As such, Côte d'Ivoire represents the second largest investor in plastics technology in West Africa after Nigeria. West African imports of plastics technology more than doubled over the past few years, from €144 million in 2016 to €296 million in 2022, an average growth of 12.8% annually. Major West African import markets of plastics technology - apart from Nigeria – are Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Togo, Guinea and Mali, in this order.
• Printing and paper technology: From €93 million in 2017 to €146 million in 2022: West Africa’s imports of printing and paper processing technology show an annual increase of 9.4% with Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal being the major buyers.
• Last but not least West Africa imported packaging technology at a value of €392 million in 2022, up 7.3% annually from €240 million in 2016. Major West African import markets of packaging technology - apart from Nigeria – are Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Togo, in this order.