SARA Trade Mission and Expo

Date/Time
Date(s) - August 24 2025 - August 29 2025
All Day

Location
Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg

Building on the momentum and relationships established during the 2024 SARA Rail Conference and the signing of the Letter of Intent between Rail Forum and the Southern African Railways Association (SARA), this mission aims to deepen UK–Southern Africa collaboration in the rail sector.  

With rising demand for efficient, modern and sustainable rail infrastructure across the region, the mission provides a platform for UK businesses to showcase capabilities, generate new leads, and secure commercial outcomes. 

Mission Opportunity

We are seeking expressions of interest for UK companies wishing to participate in this mission which comprises of:  

• Exhibition space as part of the UK Pavillion (36m2), including branding, shared* across participating delegate companies and host organisations branding (DBT will allocate space accordingly) 

• Arrangement of one-to-one meetings during the conference  

• Arrangement of site visits 

• Provision of pre-event briefing and post-event debriefing sessions 

• Feature in the electronic Mission brochure 

See the ‘Costs’ section below for elements delegates will be responsible for. 

Find out more about the SARA conference here: https://www.sararailconference.com/conference/  

Who should attend?

The delegation will consist of 10–15 UK companies drawn from across the rail offer and we are specifically interested in the following capabilities to respond to known needs: 

• Rail strategic advice expertise 

• Planners, designers of Transport Infrastructure 

• Supply chain of Systems, Rolling Stock, equipment 

The Mission will be supported in person by the DBT Africa Infrastructure sector team and DBT Southern Africa as well as representatives from UK DBT and Rail Forum. 

Provisional Programme

24 August: 

Arrival of delegates 

25 August: 

• AM: Site visit  
• PM: Site visit

26 August: 

• Opening of SARA Rail Conference
• Engagement with African stakeholders and DBT teams
• Evening: SARA Conference Gala Dinner 

27–29 August: 

• Participation in B2B meetings  
• Attendance at the UK Booth (36 m²)  
• DBT Africa-led UK Business Briefing Session 
• End-of-Mission Debrief Session  

Costs

Participating organisations will be required to cover the following costs: 

• SARA Conference fee £500
• Travel to/from South Africa and hotel, and local travel* 

*we will advise further details on travel to / from site visits in due course)

Eligibility

This mission is open to any UK companies. 

What happens next?

On submission, your Expression of Interest submission will be shared with our partners for review and you will be contacted by a member of the Department for Business & Trade mission team for further discussion.  

For an informal discussion about the market, please contact: 

• Radwa Sultan Radwa.Sultan@fcdo.gov.uk  
• Cat Appleby Cat@railforum.uk   

The Expression of Interest information including contact details will be treated confidentially between Rail Forum and Department for Business & Trade (UK and Africa).