The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry organized a high-level business roadshow ahead of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2023) scheduled for November 9-15, 2023 in Cairo, Egypt.
Under the theme of “Promoting trade and investment between Egypt and Africa in the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Zone (AfCFTA), “IATF2023 Egypt High-Level Business Roadshow” brought together captains of industry, business, senior government officials, the diplomatic community, as well as executives and senior officials from Afreximbank, AUC and AfCFTA Secretariat to deliberate on how the IATF plays an important role in stimulating and advancing trade and investment opportunities under the AfCFTA between Egypt and the rest of Africa.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of the IATF2023 Advisory Board and former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria said, “we are here today to demonstrate and confirm that the third edition of the IATF will take place here in November 2023 in this beautiful city of Cairo. urge industry to take advantage of IATF2023 and use it to explore business opportunities. The possibilities are enormous and limitless. IATF2023 is expected to be bigger and better than the previous two editions and the event is expected to attract more than 1,600 exhibitors; more than 35,000 visitors, buyers and conference participants from all 55 African countries and the rest of the world; with more than $43 billion in trade and investment deals.”
Professor Benedict Oramah, president and chairman of the board of Afreximbank, said the IATF was created to accelerate Africa’s economic integration through the AfCFTA. He added: “The main challenge on the continent is the lack of information on the commercial advertising market of what exists on the continent. This can be traced back to the colonial era when Africa was divided into 55 domestic countries that had and still have very limited ties to themselves. It created a situation where someone in an African country knows more about what is happening in America, Europe and Asia than what is happening in a neighboring country across the border. One way to deal with this is to create a platform like IATF where Africans can come together to understand their markets, get to know themselves and understand more about the African countries. Egypt is a major beneficiary of the IATF. At the first trade fair in 2018, held in Cairo, Egypt signed the majority of the US$32 billion in trade and investment deals made at the Trade Fair.
Ambassador Albert Muchanga, AU Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals on the low levels of trade in Africa said: “To develop intra-African trade, we need highly efficient and cost-effective road infrastructure, railways, shipping lines, airlines , airports and payment systems and essentially we need to produce goods and services that can be traded. The production and trade of raw materials cannot be the basis for intra-African trade. We need to move towards production and agro-processing, so that these, based on donations in African countries, can form the basis for intra-African trade.”
Chief Communications Adviser, Ms. Grace Khoza, representing the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, said: “IATF is a platform that we believe creates an avenue for Africans to connect and get to know each other. Africans need to understand which products are produced in different regions of Africa that can be exported to other regions of Africa. Since Egypt is the second largest economy in Africa, it benefits from the huge opportunities offered by the IATF as an AfCFTA marketplace.
Speaking on behalf of HE Hon. Scary. Ahmed Samir, Minister of Trade and Industry, said: “IATF is becoming a major trade and economic event across the African continent since the first edition proudly held in Egypt in 2018, witnessed the participation of 1,100 exhibitors with up to $32 billion in trade and investment deals closed during the show. The Egyptian government considers the economic development of Africa as one of its top priorities. We aim to achieve this by promoting investment from Africa to Africa, increasing intra-African trade, developing infrastructure projects and supporting industrialization plans. Events like this are a faithful reflection of our strong commitment to achieving economic development, which would be boosted by the full implementation of the AfCFTA, which will redefine African economic fortunes for the future.”
The Deputy Minister’s speech was followed by a panel session that discussed, among other things, unlocking Egypt’s export potential by using AfCFTA for economic growth and continental integration. The panel session also explored various opportunities that exist under the AfCFTA for Egyptian manufacturers, exporters, investors, creatives and the automotive sector. It also took stock of Egypt’s current trade relations with Africa and discussed some of the challenges and opportunities faced by Egyptian companies operating across the continent. Speakers included Dr. Ahmed Fikry Abdel Wahab, Vice President, African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM); Mr. Ayman El Zoghby, Acting Director, Intra-African Trade Bank, Afreximbank; Mr. Ahmed Sadek El Sewedy, President and Chief Executive Office, El Sewedy Electric; HE Yahia El-Wathik, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Ms. Maii Assal, Chair, Egypt Expo and Convention Authority (EECA); and Mr. Ahmed Hanafi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LMTL Group Egypt.
Ms. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, Afreximbank, said in her remarks at the event: “Today’s roadshow will provide all of you, especially the business community, with crucial information about the IATF, its relevance to the transformation and integration of Africa. ambitions and to support the implementation of the AfCFTA. It should serve as a call for the full participation of the Egyptian business community in the IATF2023 in Cairo. I hope that opportunity will be seized”. Ms. Awani also highlighted Afreximbank’s support for Egypt’s industrialization and export development efforts. She said: “Afreximbank has consistently provided support to the Egyptian public and private sector. Since its inception, Afreximbank has provided financing support to Egypt in excess of $32 billion, including $28 billion in the past 5 years alone. Our support to Egypt extends to key sectors and industries deemed strategic to the government of Egypt and critical to the growth and development of the national economy. This support has helped strengthen financial institutions, energy, telecommunications, healthcare and construction, and the private sector, among others.”
The roadshow concluded with a ‘Media Launch’ featuring a high-level panel and Q&A with some of the key personalities behind the IATF. Speaking at the session was HE Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR Chair of the IATF2023 Advisory Board and former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank; HE Yahia El-Wathik, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry for the Arab Republic of Egypt; HE Amb. Albert Muchanga, African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals; and Grace Khoza, Chief Communications Adviser, representing the Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The IATF2023 roadshow was an excellent opportunity for the Egyptian private sector to learn more about the opportunities and benefits of participating in IATF2023, Africa’s premier trade and investment fair, which will be held in Cairo from 9 to 15 November. As Africa’s largest trade and investment fair, the event is not to be missed for importers and exporters seeking to benefit from a single market of 1.3 billion people created by the AfCFTA with a combined gross domestic product of $3.5 billion.
The extremely successful first trade show held in Cairo, Egypt in 2018 was followed by an even more successful IATF2021 in Durban. Collectively, the two editions of the Trade Fair brought together more than 2,500 exhibitors from 77 countries and generated more than US$74 billion in deals, providing a glimpse of the immense potential that exists for intra-African trade. Building on this success, the third edition (IATF2023) in Cairo, Egypt, in November 2023, will again provide exhibitors with the opportunity to showcase their goods and services, participate in Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) ). exchanges and closing business deals that will help maintain the momentum towards more intra-African trade.
The Roadshow and Media Launch was preceded by the 6th IATF2023 Advisory Council Meeting chaired by HE Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Report on the readiness of the different parts of the event including the exhibition, the conference, the IATF Virtual, the African Automotive Show, the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) program, the AU Youth Start-Up program, Country Day, Diaspora Day, and Business to Business and Business to Government generally showed the organizers a satisfactory level of preparation.
To register and become part of IATF2023, interested exhibitors, buyers, trade visitors and delegates are invited to visit www.IntrAfricanTradeFair.com and register. Also follow our social media to get up-to-date information.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.
Media contacts:
Evashnee Naidu: (email protected)
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About the Intra-African Trade Fair:
Organized by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) aims to provide a unique platform for facilitating the exchange of trade and investment information to support increased intra-African trade and investment, particularly in the context of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). IATF brings together continental and global players to demonstrate and showcase their goods and services and to explore business and investment opportunities on the continent. It also provides a platform to share trade, investment and market information with stakeholders and enables participants to discuss and identify solutions to the challenges facing intra-African trade and investment. In addition to African participants, the Trade Fair is also open to companies and investors from non-African countries interested in doing business in Africa and supporting the transformation of the continent through industrialization and export development.
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Cairo to host business roadshow Intra-African Trade Fair 2023 (IATF2023) to promote trade between Egypt and Africa
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