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IFSEC West Africa round up

Find out what happened. Watch the video.

The inaugural IFSEC West Africa attracted a great deal of attention from across the globe with over 90 exhibitors, and a total of 2270 visitors – all descending on the Eko Expo Centre in Lagos for the spectacular two-day event held on 15 and 16 February.

“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,” says 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, and presented the ideal opportunity for global security companies to extend their operations to the West African region. With crime becoming a growing concern in the region, IFSEC West Africa was specifically tailored to meet the needs of the local audience and address both 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 at a rate of 1% per annum. 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, with a 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,” says 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.

Conference

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. It provided security practitioners with unique insights to help them weigh up the pros and cons of different security strategies, helping them make informed decision about security budget spending.

The discussion began with an overview of the key security issues and infrastructure challenges facing West Africa, as well as how the government, police and public sector are addressing these limitations with workable strategies to improve West Africa’s security situation, and open up the region to international investment.

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.

The discussion included an evaluation on how major corporations such as Fidelity Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Shell Petroleum Development Co, and Addax Petroleum Development are implementing cost-effective security measures to protect staff and assets.

Finally, the conference agenda incorporated some of the most innovative 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 for next year’s event. “Overall, we are very pleased with the first IFSEC West Africa and will continue to make this an annual event,” concluded Blue.

Watch the video at www.ifsecwestafrica.com/video

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