Dental News - Interview: “For me, IDEA is like a dream come true”

Nathalie Schüller

Mon. 18. December 2017

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: The International Dental Exhibition Africa (IDEA) has grown significantly within the last year. In Dakar, 1,500 attendees were welcomed in 2016, and this year, over 2,700 people registered for the event held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa from 14 to 16 December. Dental Tribune Online spoke with Dr Gianfranco Berrutti, President of IDEA and Vice President of the Italian Dental Industries Association (UNIDI)—the organisation that planned, promoted and hosted the exhibition—about whether the vision of a dental event in Africa has been realised.

Yesterday, UNIDI President Gianna Pamich told me that IDEA will return to Addis Ababa next year. Is the choice to host the 2018 event in Ethiopia again due to the fact that Ethiopia is the fastest-developing economy in the region? Would it not be easier to hold IDEA in Kenya or Senegal, where regulations are more facilitative?
Ethiopia was selected because it has a very good position geographically, and it is a very important hub regarding connection with other African countries. We realise that Africa is a continent, but there are actually many regions and we cannot consider just one area and get all of Africa interested. French-speaking countries might not be as interested. The southern and northern countries of Africa are also completely different regions, so we decided for the next year to continue here in East Africa and present a good exhibition, and then maybe alternate with West Africa every two years. We want to stay in Ethiopia next year; we have invested a great deal of effort for the Ethiopia event to yield good results, including establishing good contacts with the necessary institutions, and we would like to continue to profit from all the work. We would then start to alternate in 2019. We still have to decide where, maybe back to Senegal or another country in West Africa.

Senegal is a French-speaking country. Was it an issue holding an English meeting there, or do you expect great results going back there?
The language was not a major issue. The difficulties we encountered were more related to the location. It is not that well connected with other countries, so we had many difficulties even inviting delegates from other countries. There were no direct flights and flights were very expensive. Those concerns are still something we are keeping in mind in deciding on the location for 2019.

UNIDI also organises Expodental Meeting, which takes place yearly in Rimini in Italy. Are the challenges very different between the two events?
Expodental Meeting is very different in that it is much larger and we have been organising it for many years. It has become a well-oiled machine. The challenge with Expodental Meeting is promoting it. With IDEA, we start from the beginning and in a country, that is not ours. It is therefore necessary to establish contacts with associations and the government, but once this has been done, the event organisation is more or less the same. For me, IDEA is like a dream come true, since I conceived the idea for this meeting.

Why Africa? What motivated you to come here?
The main starting point was because of my company. We had started selling more and more in Africa and it was difficult. In every other part of the world, there are exhibitions where one can have a booth, promote one’s company and meet dealers. In Africa, there are many exhibitions, but they are local exhibitions. There are now also more and more dealers in Africa. Before, it was very difficult for companies to travel to and exhibit in other African countries and so the idea came to me to create an event that a company could attend, invest some money for a booth and present its products, gain new customers, offer its products and make them available to a greater number of people.

The ratio of dentist to inhabitants is very low in most African countries. Do you feel then that IDEA is a good meeting to have?
Yes, absolutely, it is a great meeting. Ethiopia is one of the fastest-developing countries in the world. Of course, we hope that this growth will continue in the future. The number of dentists is growing already. We did not want to have a local exhibition and therefore we invited representatives from Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

What do you feel are the weaknesses of the African market?
One of the weaknesses is that the dental market is a new one. I am not talking about South Africa or northern Africa, but about sub-Saharan countries that are just starting to develop. Most of the dealers here are from the pharmaceutical industry and have found that the dental market is a good opportunity in which they are starting to become involved. This is one of the main difficulties: finding and attracting the companies and dealers to sell other products. Another is that every country has its own rules and regulations. For example, in Ethiopia, in order to be sold, products have to be registered. Maybe another difficulty is that there are many countries and it is our main goal to hold one event in one country, Ethiopia or somewhere else, that will attract people from many other African countries.

There is a sharp difference between the cost of living and income in Africa compared with Europe. Can African companies, dentists and dealers really afford to buy from European companies? Can European companies afford to sell in Africa?
I think the market is growing now because before they were buying very cheap Chinese products. Now, a middle class is emerging and clinics are looking for better products. This is the reason that we started to sell our products three years ago and we now have good sales.

Is it cost-effective for African companies to buy European products?
Like in any developing countries, doctors and patients begin demanding higher quality materials and treatments. This is what is happening in many African countries now. Of course, the numbers are still small, but if one projects in five to ten years, there will be a huge increase, so even if one starts with small quantities now, one will be in a better position later.

Have European companies been well received by African dental professionals? Is the collaboration you mentioned in your opening speech working smoothly?
As an example, Italian companies are very flexible and adapt easily. Of course, in Ethiopia and other African countries, the culture is different from ours and we cannot seek to come here and reason like we do in Europe. Yes, one needs to be flexible. Sometimes, it is difficult for us because, when we start the organisation of an exhibition, we start planning months in advance. We think everything is set and then something comes up. One needs to be ready and adapt, but unpredictability happens with many situations in life. Eventually, everything comes into place.

How did you decide which countries to invite as representatives of the dental industry?
We focused on nearby countries, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. We invited the presidents of the dental associations in these countries. Through the support of the Italian Trade Agency, we invited about 20 dealers from the above-mentioned countries, especially from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, but our promotion of the event was aimed at reaching all African countries. Our collaboration with Dental Tribune International of course has helped to that end, to promote as much as possible all over Africa.

What are the most interesting African countries with regard to the dental market in your opinion?
In West Africa, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria. In East Africa, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Let’s not forget Mozambique and Zimbabwe; the potential is everywhere. This is what we are working on and will be working on for the next edition: to increase the visibility of the event and to increase the participation of companies, because with more companies attending the event, there will be more dealers and visitors.