Zimbabwe to Host Inaugural African Marketing Summit in 2014

Zimbabwe has won another opportunity to host a high-profile event that is set to bring in more recognition to the country as marketers will host the inaugural African Marketing Summit in the country next year.

The summit which comes hard on the heels of the successful co-hosting of the UNWTO General Assembly in Victoria Falls, will run under the theme “Making Africa a Better Business Giant through Marketing” from March 26-28.

The African Marketing Confederation, the host, is a pan-African body of marketing professionals aiming to spearhead the development of the highest possible marketing standards across Africa.

It recognises that the continent’s unique and varying cultures, languages, standards of education and levels of development require home-grown marketing approaches designed and nurtured by Africans themselves.

The body comprises a membership of partners in six countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe.

AMC secretary-general Gillian Rusike said the hosting of the summit would promote the local marketing industry and the country as a destination.

“Our vision is ambitious and it completely challenges the way in which Africa has been thought of before. We want to provoke Africans marketing professionals to champion the development of Africa through home grown solutions as we better understand our continent than outsiders,” he said.

He added that hosting of the event in Zimbabwe posed a greater challenge for local professionals to prove that they were a cut above the rest in Africa and beyond.

Rusike said besides being able to bring visitors to the country, hosting of such events in the country would facilitate the image building of the nation hence also contributing to national development at large.

Hundreds of delegates from emerging and developed markets are expected to participate, including CEOs, academics, marketing practitioners, government officials, entrepreneurs and world-renowned thinkers, among others from around the world who share a common interest in sustainable development through business as a whole, and through marketing in particular.

The event will also feature leading multinational companies, African marketing institutions, universities, Chambers of Commerce and other bodies.