The inaugural IFSEC West Africa saw more than 90 exhibitors, and a total of 2214 visitors to the Eko Expo Centre in Lagos for the two-day event on February 15 and 16.
"As the first event of its kind to meet the developing needs of the emerging West African security market, IFSEC will play an important role in assessing the future needs of the local West African security industry," said Ross Cullingworth, Commercial Events Director, Montgomery Africa.
According to James Blue, Portfolio Director at UBM Montgomery, IFSEC West Africa provided a vehicle to develop and extend business across Africa.
With crime becoming a growing concern in the region, IFSEC West Africa was say organisers tailored to meet the needs of the local audience and address commercial and homeland security throughout its exhibition and educational content.
The most populated country in Africa, Nigeria’s population is expected to reach over 200 million people by 2025 and its crime rates continue to increase. By 2015, Lagos is expected to be the third largest city in the world.
Frost & Sullivan’s recent market survey valued the Nigerian security market alone at $3.5bn, witha further forecast to grow at 14% CAGR to 2014. "As with any large African country where security concerns are paramount, there is great scope for the provision of security products and services, including electronic security, CCTV, access control, physical security, vehicle and personnel tracking devices, armoured vehicles, scanners and manned guarding services," said Blue.
Henry Bellingham the British Undersecretary of Parliament for Africa, arrived for the official opening, and addressed the conference delegates before conducting a tour of the exhibition and chatting to exhibitors about security solutions for the West African region. "With four times the population of South Africa, Nigeria is powerhouse in Africa with enormous security market opportunities," said Bellingham.
The IFSEC West Africa Conference entitled Security Strategies and Solutions for Corporate, Personal and Asset Protection, addressed a range of security topics pertinent to businesses operating in the West African region.
The conference also explored the issue of kidnapping threats, identifying key kidnapping threat situations for permanent and visiting personnel, and evaluating anti-kidnapping technologies to reduce the threat.
The corporate and security planning portion of the conference examined designing and implementing a holistic security system to protect against external and internal security threats for corporations.
It included a discussion of asset protection strategies, and pertinent to oil-rich West Africa, was the examination of initiatives to improve the security and protection of Oil and Gas assets.
The discussion furthermore included an evaluation on how major corporations such as Fidelity Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Shell Petroleum Development Co, and Addax Petroleum Development are implementing security measures to protect staff and assets.
Finally, the conference agenda incorporated technological solutions for asset and corporate protection, including: wireless technologies for protecting remote assets from malicious damage and implementing IP surveillance, access control and alarm systems.
By most accounts the show was an unparalleled success, and plans are already underway next year’s event. "Overall, we are very pleased with the first IFSEC West Africa and will continue to make this an annual event," added Blue.
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