Botswana’s local communications agency, Soapbox in collaboration with Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery of South Africa will bring the Electra Mining exhibition to Botswana for the first time from the 3rd to the 5th of September this year. The exhibition will be held at Gaborone Fairgrounds.The expo, dubbed Botswana InternationalMining Expo 2013, is a powerful platform for the mining industry to launch new products/services, acquaint itself with the operational challenges faced by the mining companies,and to strengthen company positioning. Soapbox Communications Managing Director, Vuyiswa Mojela said that Botswana has a story to tell about it’s mining industry and it is hardly shared.
“This is the time to share our success stories with other people in other countries. There are a lot of opportunities that a lot of people do not know about, for instance;selling mining equipment, as well as knowing about new products and services coming into the industry. We intend to make this a biannual event,”Mojela said. Manufacturing and supply companies that cater to the mining industry will exhibit at the 3-day expo. The expo will also host two conferences. The first is dubbed the ‘Exploration Exchange,’ which will focus on finding matches between mining opportunities and sources of financing in the region. It is designed to be the communication centrepiece for mining and investment opportunities for companies,governments and related industries.
The other conference will be on ‘Mines and Money Botswana,’which is an ideal platform for mining industries, financiers and other investment and development strategists. It provides opportunities for foreigners to communicate with Botswana’s most influential decision makers from the investment communities,government and the mining sector. Mojela said the response has been overwhelming as they have had confirmations from as far as Nigeria, Japan and Australia amongst other internationals who will be participating. She added that, “We are expecting about 400 exhibitors and 2000 walkins. We are getting a lot of support from Botswana Chamber of Mines and Diamond Hub and these will also be taking part as key speakers at the event.”Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila is expected to officiate at the event.