On the morning of 25 April, Hon. Francis Asenso-Boakye, Minister of Construction and Housing in Ghana opened the first ICCX West Africa with his address to the auditorium followed by a tour of the trade exhibition. It quickly became clear that there is a huge need for specialist information in the Ghanaian concrete industry and the visitors made correspondingly intensive use of the information on offer. The exhibiting companies, most of which had travelled to Ghana from Europe, but also from other parts of the world, confirmed this demand. However, numerous conversations went far beyond an informative talk. Specific questions and clear ideas from the visitors proved that it was the right decision to come to Ghana with the ICCX event series.

Not least thanks to the support of the cooperation partners, above all the AHK (Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana), but also the Ghana Standards Authority, the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, the VDMA (German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association) as well as the main sponsors, MC-Bauchemie, Sika Ghana, Ghacem and Saint-Gobain, the foundation stone for a successful first event was laid.

Furthermore, the exhibiting companies must also be mentioned in this context, as they make an ICCX event so unique and successful. The companies' trust in the organisers should therefore be rewarded with many good contacts to the local concrete industry.

A lecture programme with international expertise offered numerous highlights, as the mixture of national and international speakers, all recognised experts in their fields, offered the visitors a broad and profound spectrum of specialist knowledge.

Trade exhibition

As a fixed component of an ICCX, the trade exhibition with the generously equipped networking area was also the central point of the event at the first ICCX West Africa. More than 40 national and international companies from the cement, concrete and autoclaved aerated concrete industry presented themselves to the trade visitors. AAC-related exhibiting companies were surprised by the visitor´s interest in this building material and the possibilities of production. In addition to many technical discussions at the exhibition stands, people met here to maintain and expand their professional network. The exhibiting companies uniformly confirm not only the large number of visitors, but also the quality of the contacts made. The need for such an event format for the concrete industry in West Africa is enormous, because until now there has been no opportunity to meet and exchange in such a concentrated and focused way.

The date for the second edition of ICCX West Africa has already been set. So make a note in your calendar now for 16 and 17 April 2024.

Statements by exhibiting companies (AAC sector) on the first ICCX West Africa

Masa:

"Our expectations were more than fulfilled. Thank you for this unique opportunity to showcase us to the local concrete industry."

WKB Systems:

"For us, ICCX West Africa is the starting point for our business activities in the West African region. We see very good opportunities here to place our machinery and plant engineering solutions in the construction sector. After the fair, we will make some appointments here on site to have more in-depth discussions."

Aircrete Europe:

"There were an amazing number of visitors here, which really impressed me. Of course, I realise that not all conversations lead to a client relationship, but nevertheless I am sure that some of the contacts made are very serious, which was evident from the very specific questions asked."

Hess AAC Systems:

"For us, the conference was good. The quality of the visitors was very good and the conversations also led to some leads. We will participate again next year."

mbk:

"ICCX West Africa was a valuable experience for us. Organisationally, everything was top notch and we were able to make very good initial contacts with the West African concrete industry. We are very excited about the future development of ICCX West Africa."

Video of the event

www.iccx.org