Not-to-be-missed line-up at AFRICA FORUM 2017: Research and Innovation, Made in Africa!

Press Release Africa Forum 2017 will see the launch of the much anticipated African Market Research Association (AMRA) and will set the African Agenda for market research (including social research and opinion polling. To celebrate the journey ahead, an impressive line-up of African and international speakers awaits delegates at this once-in-a-lifetime two-day event in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 16 and 17 February 2017. Opening speaker Berenike Ullmann is Vice-President, Consumer and Market Knowledge, for Procter and Gamble IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa). She is a champion of consumers and expert in research and African life. She has spent more than 30 years doing consumer understanding work in China, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe. Berenike will be sharing her thoughts about the transformation of consumers and markets and hence of research needs, using examples from Africa, China, the Philippines and other emerging markets, for inspiration.   Swaady Martin is the founder and CEO of the SWAADY GROUP, a woman-owned social enterprise; transforming African agricultural commodities locally to contribute to the reversal of the African commodity trap. The group’s pioneer brands, YSWARA and AKRAFO, are perceived amongst Africa’s leading luxury and premium brands and are present at recognised luxury retailers in 15 countries in Africa, USA, Europe, Middle-East and Asia. Swaady has received recognition and numerous distinctions and awards from big names such as Forbes, Oprah Winfrey and Aljazeera. She is also the author/creator of the “Luxe Ubuntu” concept, an inclusive luxury business model providing economic value and meaningful income to all the members of the supply chain, who participate in the production of luxury products. Storytelling is one of the most important techniques for presenting research, and storytelling is a strong African tradition that cuts across African cultures, and Africa should be leading the way globally, when it comes to storytelling. Gcina Mhlophe has been writing and performing on stage and screen for over 20 years. She is South Africa’s favourite storyteller, and maintains that storytelling is the information technology of yesteryear. “For as long as there have been people in the world, there have been stories – long before all the great respectable sciences were known to us”. Gcina feels that the well-known traditional tales of Africa have worldwide appeal, as they recur in different versions in many other parts of the world. Gcina’s writings have been translated into German, French, Italian, Swahili and Japanese. She has received awards from BBC Africa, the Edinburgh Festival, Sony, London Open University and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, amongst others. Africa Forum 2017 also offers ample opportunity to network with market research clients and suppliers from Africa, and to learn from many thought leaders who will be sharing research innovations that work in Africa. More than 30 presentations are included, covering topics such as African client perspectives, digital research, technology and research in Africa, neuro marketing research, the future of the insights function, research and corporate decision making, professional standards, opinion polling in Africa, socio-economic classification systems, the challenge of sampling and weighted data in Africa, motivating research participation, the marketing of market research, young Africans and the future of Africa, intercultural consumer understanding, and using social networks for research. AMRA is the voice of market research (including social research and opinion polling) in Africa, aiming to ensure industry standards in Africa, and to promote market research (including social research and opinion polling) within Africa and to the rest of the world. This first Africa Forum is brought to you by AMRA and event partners AMISE in Morocco, MSRA in Kenya, NiMRA in Nigeria, SAMRA in Southern Africa, and ESOMAR World Research. This is your chance to be part of history: visit www.africanmra.org for programme details and to book – space is limited! Ends.   Issued By:                             African Market Research Association NPC On Behalf Of:                        African Market Research Association NPC For Media Information:          Leonie Vorster Email:                                                         amra@africanmra.org