Equip Auto has expanded its operations into sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and announced the launch of Equip Auto Côte d'Ivoire, an international trade show for the automotive, mobility, and industrial vehicle industries. The event is scheduled to take place in Abidjan from November 26 to 28, 2026.
Strategic Partnership
To support the deployment of Equip Auto in SSA, Equip Auto SAS, the organizer of the Equip Auto international trade show, has entered into a strategic partnership with Luc Azilinon, Chief Executive Officer of Interlinks Auto. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the international development of the Equip Auto brand, aimed at fostering growth in the African automotive, mobility, transport, after-sales, and automotive services markets.
Akin Akinbola, Managing Director and CEO of Promosalons Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon, will represent the organizers in Nigeria and Cameroon for the trade show.
Growing Automotive Markets
The African automotive and mobility markets are experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing vehicle and fleet volumes, the structuring of repair and service networks, modernization of road infrastructure, and rising demand for maintenance, equipment, services, and innovative solutions. Equip Auto aims to establish itself as a leading regional platform that brings together key players across the automotive value chain, including equipment manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers, distributors, repairers, mobility operators, institutions, and economic decision-makers.
Event Positioning
Equip Auto Côte d'Ivoire will complement Equip Auto Paris with an enhanced and expanded positioning, featuring a unique BtoBtoC format that brings together professionals, institutional players, and the general public. The event will address all mobility-related markets, including passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, transport and logistics, agricultural machinery, industrial vehicles, public works, and road infrastructure. This multi-sector approach is expected to create a unique forum for dialogue and business meetings addressing the specific challenges of African markets.
Exhibitors and Visitors
The event is projected to attract nearly 150 exhibitors and brands across 7,000 square meters, including international and regional equipment manufacturers, workshop equipment and tool manufacturers, distributors, repair networks, and players in innovative and carbon-free mobility. It is expected to draw nearly 10,000 trade visitors, repair professionals, distributors, fleet operators and managers, transport companies, farmers and agricultural cooperatives, construction companies, road infrastructure managers, and the general public for technological showcases and vehicle demonstrations.
Leadership Perspectives
Philippe Baudin, President of Equip Auto trade show, stated: "This partnership with Luc Azilinon represents a major opportunity to support the structuring and growth of the African automotive and mobility sectors. Equip Auto Côte d'Ivoire will be a unifying event for professionals in these markets. Our ambition is to offer Abidjan an international event capable of bringing together all players in the automotive, transport, infrastructure, and new mobility sectors, in the service of economic development of Côte d'Ivoire and West African countries."
Luc Azilinon, President of Interlinks Auto, added: "This collaboration with Equip Auto is a major strategic opportunity, based on the complementary nature of our expertise and a shared vision for the development of the automotive and mobility sectors in Africa. This partnership creates the conditions for the emergence of a key international event in Abidjan, capable of bringing together key players in the sector to address issues of modernisation, infrastructure, and new forms of mobility. Interlinks Auto is fully committed to working alongside Equip Auto to actively contribute to the design and implementation of this event, with the ambition of making it a sustainable lever for the transformation and development of mobility in Côte d'Ivoire and West Africa."
