Johannesburg | After a seven-year break, Mediatech Africa returns to Johannesburg’s Kyalami circuit with a fully booked show floor and more than 500 brands. Packed halls, strong distributor presence and rising global interest underline Africa’s growing importance as a ProAV market.
Mediatech Africa: Packed Halls, Strong Comeback
Mediatech Africa is back after a seven-year, pandemic-related hiatus. The show remains the leading ProAV and broadcast event on the continent – effectively a regional blend of ISE and IBC. This year’s edition takes place at Johannesburg’s iconic Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, a striking venue on the hills above the greater metropolitan area.
The exhibition halls – including the pit garages – are packed with B2B visitors from across Africa. The paddock, typically a restricted operations zone during race weekends, has been transformed into a lively hub with food stalls, sound demos and broadcast trucks. One of the halls even opens to the outdoors, offering sweeping views across Johannesburg while allowing warm winter sunlight to fill the space.
The atmosphere throughout the venue is vibrant. The industry has clearly been waiting for a dedicated Africa-focused gathering to return. The show is fully booked, with more than 500 global brands represented either by local distributors or directly. Leading regional players such as DWR Distribution, The Prosound Group and Viva Afrika Sound & Light occupy significant floor space.
Notably, many global brands that operate via distribution partners are also present in person. invidis met Panasonic Connect’s European Head of Marketing, Hartmut Kulessa, who has recently taken responsibility for Africa as well. Panasonic is exhibiting at the DWR booth, which itself spans an entire hall. For Panasonic, Africa is a high-potential growth market.
The company reports strong global market feedback for its new 55-inch modular display lineup with Vesa mount. In addition, the recent acquisition of media server startup Hive adds a distinctive solution to its portfolio. Hive’s SDM-based slot-in architecture replaces traditional 19-inch rack-mounted media servers, reducing both system complexity and project costs – key factors also for many deployments in the region.
Mediatec Africa 2026 runs for three days and continues until Thursday.
