South Africa’s premier mining and industrial exhibition, Electra Mining Africa 2026, will take place from 7 to 11 September at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec. The biennial event is expected to feature over 1,000 exhibitors, surpassing the 950 exhibitors and 40,000 visitors recorded at the 2024 show.

The exhibition comes as South Africa’s manufacturing sector operates below installed capacity, constrained by low demand, stagnant domestic growth, import competition and high input costs. Despite these headwinds, local manufacturers possess world-class technical capabilities and are seeking new business opportunities and strategic partnerships at the show, which is co-located with the Local Southern African Manufacturing Expo.

“Local manufacturing firms will take advantage of the marketing opportunity to generate business leads and develop industry partnerships, which have been shown to boost sales for the 12-18 months following the event,” said Charlene Hefer, Portfolio Director at Montgomery Group Africa, the show’s organiser.

A new outdoor “Orange Zone” has been introduced for 2026 to accommodate growing exhibitor demand, complementing the existing Red, Blue, Green and Yellow outdoor areas. Major original equipment manufacturers including Bell Equipment, Komatsu, Sandvik, Sany and Eickhoff will showcase heavy machinery, alongside technology partners and service providers such as Barloworld and nVolve Solutions.

Exhibitors will present locally developed innovations including Diesel Particulate Filter retrofitting systems for mining engines to comply with new health and safety regulations, industrial gearboxes now exported to the UK, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Chile, and locally assembled Neutral Earthing Compensator Resister Transformers for earthfault management.

“South African engineers are leaders in innovation and technology development, creating solutions for real-world industry challenges,” said Eric Bruggeman, CEO of the South African Capital Equipment Export Council, noting that South Africa exports R220-billion in mining technology globally each year.

The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy will host a Seminar Theatre, while the Society for Automation Instrumentation Mechatronics and Computer Engineering will present industry workshops on the second day of the show. Registration is open at www.electramining.co.za.