This year’s IMEX Future Leaders Forum (FLF) Africa ended on a heartwarming note as Chinhoyi University of Technology student, Brian Mushakwe, walked away with the crown for his project that looks to uplift a small town near Victoria Falls.
The forum, hosted by the South Africa National Convention Bureau (SANCB) in conjunction with the IMEX Group, MPI and the MCI Group was proud to bring another exciting FLF at Meetings Africa 2020.
The event took place on Business Opportunities Networking Day (BONDay),yesterday, at the Sandton Convention Centre, and allowed students to demonstrate their creativity and passion in the events planning business.
Mushakwe’s project looked at unlocking Mosi-oa-Tunya’s tourism potential as a non-traditional business events venue. “It is a dream come true. I cannot believe I have scooped this award. I have been working many months on this. This is an award to honour my mom because she’s been investing much in me to be what I am right now.”
Judges looked at how his project could build the town’s community and the legacy it would leave behind. “They wanted to know if I was really answering the brief on non-traditional venues and how you are going to come up with a sustainable event that will reserve resources.”
Mushakwe will automatically qualify for IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany, to be held in May, where he will face other participants from around the world for the grand prize of a MPI Foundation Student Scholarship Award at the IMEX Gala Dinner.
FLF has been hosted at Meetings Africa since 2013 and this year saw 55 students from South Africa, Lesotho, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia take part. The forum also covers industry topics such as sustainability, technology and social media, online and offline networking, and business events trends.
FLF in Africa was an initiative that started in 2009 to encourage students to showcase their ideas and talents based on a brief and it is held at six selected Future Leaders Forums each year.
