South Africa’s factories, entrepreneurs and investors are converging on Johannesburg this week as the Manufacturing Indaba opens at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday, 14 July, with Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition John Steenhuisen delivering the opening address.
The annual gathering has become one of the continent’s premier platforms for makers of all sizes, SAnews reports.
A showcase for African makers
“The Manufacturing Indaba is an annual exhibition platform allowing businesses of all sizes from industry giants to emerging entrepreneurs to showcase their products, technologies, and innovations to a highly targeted audience,” the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition said in a statement.
This year’s edition runs under a theme with real ambition: “Made in Africa for Africa: Get South African and African Production onto shelves and into global value chains.”
According to the department, the exhibition aims to promote Africa’s reindustrialisation by bringing together business leaders, policymakers and investors, and provides a platform to strengthen economic development, create employment and promote local production.
The whole manufacturing ecosystem in one room
What sets the Indaba apart is the breadth of who shows up. The event draws together the full chain of people needed to get a South African product from the drawing board to a shop shelf abroad:
- Manufacturers, from established industry giants to emerging entrepreneurs
- Investors and financiers looking for industrial opportunities
- Policymakers shaping the rules of trade and industry
- Technology providers and logistics companies that keep production moving
“The event is dedicated to advancing Africa’s industrialisation and reindustrialisation by promoting local manufacturing, value-added production and economic growth,” the department said, adding that participants will discuss strategies for competitiveness, sustainability and innovation.
Connecting, learning, building
The department said the Manufacturing Indaba 2026 represents a key opportunity to connect, learn and drive Africa’s manufacturing future through innovation, trade and industrial transformation.
For South Africa, the stakes are encouraging rather than daunting. Every local product that lands on a shelf — whether in Nairobi, Lagos or London — supports jobs at home, and every factory that grows adds skills, suppliers and opportunity around it. A packed convention centre in Sandton this week is a good sign that the country’s makers are ready to claim more of that future.
With government leadership opening the proceedings and a hall full of entrepreneurs ready to pitch, partner and produce, the message from Sandton is clear: South Africa is serious about making things again — and making them for the world.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
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