BIO Africa Convention 27 – 29 August 2018, ICCC Durban, South Africa

The inaugural BIO Africa Convention is an international event organised by AfricaBio, a biotechnology stakeholder association in partnership with IPASA (Innovative Pharmeceutical Association of South Africa and TIA (Technology Innovation Agency) and endorsed by the South African Department of Science and Technology, Health and the dti.. Organised under the theme Africa: Open for Business- Together building the Bio-Economy”, BIO Africa Convention”. BIO Africa Convention, aims to attract international investors and facilitate business networks and the collaboration of minds amongst industry, academia, regulatory authorities and future industry leaders.

It will provide a platform for dialogue and discussion with stakeholders in the global biotechnology environment. It will also be a showcase of bio-innovations from the broader biotech community of South Africa and the Africa region, creating an enabling environment for commercialization of local innovations. It will bring together high-level executive industry leaders, policy makers, entrepreneurs, academics and investors from the Africa to discuss and share industry challenges, promote innovative small business and discover new collaboration opportunities. Biotechnology is a burgeoning business sector, across the fields of science, healthcare, food and agriculture and making an impact in regulatory environments. It is currently impacting most strongly on food security and health care with the development of drought tolerant crops and vaccines for HIV and other viral agents.

Why You should attend the BIO Africa Convention:

• The BIO Africa Convention will bring a number of local and international innovators together to partner with each other and develop new products and services. The convention provides a perfect platform for technology-based solutions to be developed and commercialized.
• It gathers Africa’s biotech community under one roof in the plenaries, exhibitions and in purposely identified functions – creating the ability to connect and exchange ideas easily.
• It creates the opportunity to network and meet with regulatory authorities, CEOs, investors and entrepreneurs through the business partnering platform.
• The Convention will allow an open discussion between industry and government officials on key legislative issues such as, but not limited to, IP policies, manufacturing incentives and product approval processes.
• BIO Africa Convention 2018 will showcase bio-innovations from the broader biotech community of South Africa and the Africa region.
• Attendees are hands on for the latest biotech innovations and products.

The Convention is organized along four thematic streams, being:

• Health biotech (Pharmaceuticals, Devices, Biologics, Biosimilars etc);
• Agricultural biotech (Crop, Animals and Feed);
• Industrial Biotech (Biofuels, bioremediation, biochemicals and enzymes); and
• Biotech industry cross-cutting matters (Funding, IP issues, and entrepreneurship)

The Convention will have the following activities:

• Plenary talks: Keynote speakers from industry, governments and academia on biotech key topics.
• Parallel tracks: Specific topics in health & pharma; agriculture; bio-industrials, funding, IP and entrepreneurship.
• Business Partnering: Enclosed partnering space for delegates to meet with decision makers and company executives from all over the world.
• Exhibitions and Pavilions: Exhibitions and pavilions for countries and companies to showcase their biotech innovations and meetings for technology exchange.
• Students and Postdoctoral Career Fair: A session for prospective employers to meet with students.

The conference will be attended by policy leaders, academics, business leaders, investors and other industry experts to discuss and share knowledge on the most pressing problems in health, agriculture and environment and also explore investment opportunities within Africa as an emerging market.

For more information: https://bioafricaconvention.com/