News

Registration is now open for this year’s MEADFA Conference taking place in Accra, Ghana. The event will be held from the 19th to the 21st of November at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City and will mark the first time this annual event has been hosted in West Africa.

Ghana was chosen to be the location for this year’s event to emphasise the strategic importance of the African market to MEADFA and its members, and to highlight the unique opportunities and challenges within the region. The country serves as a gateway to Africa and is home to some of the fastest emerging economies in the world.

Managed by TFWA, this year’s MEADFA Conference is hosted by Dufry, which has a significant presence in Africa with operations in several countries across the continent. This year’s event will be sponsored by Diamond Sponsors: Aphrodite Sarl (hosting the Welcome Cocktail), GN Tobacco Sweden AB, Imperial Brands Global Duty Free & Export S.L.U., Inter African Marketing and International Duty Free Trading & Agencies (IDF), Platinum Sponsors: Dubai Duty Free, Mondelēz World Travel Retail, Pernod Ricard Gulf, Gold Sponsors: Al Nassma Chocolate, Beam Suntory, Bahrain Duty Free, Benigna Parfums, Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG, Ghandour Cosmetics – Scent of Africa, Heinemann Egypt, Muscat Duty Free, and Oriental Group, Coffee Break: Nestle and Lindt, Other Sponsors: Liviko and Scent of Africa, MEDIA Partners: The Moodie Davitt Report, TR Business Limited, Global Travel Retail Magazine and DFNI-Frontier, and Airline Partners: Air France - KLM.

The conference will be held over two half days on November 20th and 21st, and will feature senior executives from airports, retailers and brands active in the Middle East & Africa, along with a number of experts in aviation, tourism and brand-building.

Topics that will be addressed include the development of aviation and related industries in Africa, the rebuilding of the business model for airport retail, a progress report on sustainability in the region, catering to the African shopper and tracking the post-Covid MEA traveller.

Visitors will also benefit from a packed social programme with ample opportunity to network. This will include an Opening Cocktail on Sunday, a Gala Dinner on the Monday and networking coffee breaks and lunches throughout the conference.

To book your place and for further information, please visit: https://www.tfwa.com/the-meadfa-conference.

“Anticipation is building as we prepare our journey to Ghana for the MEADFA Conference. We are delighted to witness robust support from the industry, with registrations steadily coming in at an encouraging pace. This underscores the collective interest to explore the promising African market and stay up to date on developments in the Middle East. The conference programme includes a number of senior executives from across our industry, with a strong focus on the African continent. We invite you to join us in Accra for an enlightening experience and the opportunity to strengthen our industry connections. We look forward very much to welcoming our friends and business partners to Accra.”

Sherif Toulan, MEADFA President

“The MEADFA Conference is one of the highlights of the duty free and travel retail calendar, and we at TFWA are proud to be supporting the event once again. West Africa represents an important geography for our industry, where there is clearly much untapped potential. The MEADFA Conference connects industry colleagues from the region with those from other international markets and will provide attendees from other parts of the world the opportunity to discover more about doing business in Africa and the Middle East. Accra will doubtless serve as an excellent location for this not to be missed event.”

Erik Juul-Mortensen, TFWA President