Colourful beams light up the hall at the Sandton Convention Centre. This is the 2024 home of the South African Future Trust Summit that took place on 24 and 25 October. Here, attendees could witness the success of many founders and listen to seasoned entrepreneurs share insight into common struggles about starting and scaling businesses.
The South African Future Trust is an initiative that was founded by the Oppenheimer Family during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to empower and support entrepreneurs through financial and non-financial solutions, including mentorship, across various industries. With the summit, the Trust aims to increase its impact, delivering stakeholders with networking opportunities, interactive workshops, international and local speakers, and exhibits of innovative tools.
The South African Future Trust Summit 2024 Exhibitors
2024 Exhibitors consisted of a wide array of solutions. From financial institutions to government funders, and human resource integrations such as Bento or newcomer Lemi. Start-up Alley, sponsored by Startupclubza, featured a multitude of start-up businesses. Among them are interesting apps, a board game developer who teaches children how to be financially savvy, investment platforms, and a mobile dentist.
Other exhibitors included promotional gift companies, media and even a furniture manufacturer. Many food stalls and coffee shops were also present.
The South African Future Trust Summit 2024 Speakers
Many speakers from leading tech companies in South Africa shared their knowledge and advice in panel discussions and presentations during the event. These were divided into the following categories: Founder stage, Maverick stage, and Changemaker stage. Across the two-day event, there were over 30 sessions.
Feedback from attendees included that the ‘silent disco headsets’ were a great idea. This enabled them to explore the exhibit space – whether to grab a bite or investigate business solutions — while also listening to the various speakers. Others indicated that the use of an event app helped them stay on track with the agenda and the speakers they intended to listen to. The app itself listed important information about the speakers, and exhibitors and created a digital space for attendees to share messages.
The event closed with a closing keynote from South African singer and motivational speaker, Lira.
The Value of Industry Events
The Business Events industry conducted a study between 2019 and March 2020 projected that direct expenditure for international events amounted to almost R 72,4 million. This is not counting any domestic events. The number indicates that the business industry benefits from these events in one way or the other.
Other benefits include:
- Networking
- Exposure to international speakers
- Awareness of the brand and its products/services
- Gaining knowledge about industry challenges
South Africa Future Trust summit is a huge advantage to anyone who seeking funding advice, specifically on how to pitch or scale their business ideas.
Furthermore, any business that chooses to host an event can do to attract potential customers and build existing relationships.
Industry event ideas that a business can host include:
- Conferences,
- Webinars
- Exhibitions and expos,
- Round tables
- Summits
As a business owner, it is important to consider what will benefit your business most: Attending an event, exhibiting at an industry event or hosting an event. In order to decide, consider what you aim to achieve. It might be more useful to only attend an industry event to gain insight into particular topics rather than to exhibit, especially if you won’t have your target market present.
SME South Africa has interviewed some of the speakers from the South Africa Future Trust Summit 2024. Keep an eye out for them in our SME Founder Focus series.
Don’t miss out on next year’s event as tickets sell out quickly. If you like to find out more about industry events, read our article on how to find industry events.
