By Eamonn Ryan
“Your seat is waiting.” That was the promise made to participants at GCCA Africa 2026 – not just as conference attendees, but as co-architects of the continent’s cold chain future. Turning that promise into reality means moving from passive attendance to active participation.
© Cold Link Africa
GCCA Africa chairman Newton Matope (CEO of Cold Solutions Africa) closed her opening address with three clear asks.
- Speak up – Even if you disagree
This conference is not designed to be a one-way broadcast of polished narratives. It is meant to be a working forum.
Panels, table sessions, and Q&As are structured to invite perspectives from across the mosaic of African markets. If the way your market operates contradicts what’s being presented, that’s not a problem – that’s the point. Dialogue, by definition, welcomes disagreement. It is the friction between perspectives that surfaces blind spots, challenges assumptions, and sharpens strategy.
- Bring something specific
General sentiments are hard to act on. Specifics are not. GCCA and the Africa Regional Council are asking participants to come forward with one concrete item, such as:
- A regulatory barrier that is blocking expansion or trade
- A cost in your operation that you simply cannot explain
- A practice or model that is working well and should be copied elsewhere
Specifics can be researched, quantified, and incorporated into advocacy, training or technical support. They turn frustration into an actionable agenda.
- Bring someone who isn’t in the room
Look around any industry gathering in Africa, and you will see who is present – but also who is missing: smaller operators, emerging markets, underrepresented regions.
For the cold chain ecosystem to be truly resilient and representative, those missing voices need a seat at the table. The invitation is simple: identify who is not in the room this year and commit to bringing them next year.
Because the future of Africa’s cold chain will not be built by a few large players, a handful of governments, or a single association. It will be built by the collective decisions of the people in the room – and the ones who have yet to join.
The theme of GCCA Africa 2026 is more than a tagline. It is a call: ‘Time for Dialogue’.
Not dialogue for its own sake, but dialogue that connects islands of infrastructure, aligns regulation, de-risks investment, builds skills, and ultimately puts safe, reliable food within reach across the continent.
The table is set. The seats are ready.
The question now is not whether there is space for you in this story, but how you will choose to sit, speak, and shape what comes next.