Cairo, 7 October 2020: – Afreximbank, in collaboration with the African Union, has hosted the third in the series of five live events as a countdown for the African continent’s premier trade event, the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2021), which is to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 6 – 12 September 2021, under the theme ‘Building Bridges for a Successful AfCFTA.’
Antoine Kajangwe, Director General of Trade and Investment, Ministry of Trade and Industry of Rwanda spoke about initiatives that have enabled attractive investment opportunities across multiple sectors, such as agriculture, ICT, infrastructure, mining and tourism. He said: “For years we have been trading in silos, but economies of scale mean a larger market is open for business and industries can produce and trade more, with a competitive advantage, which is what AfCFTA stands to provide. Rwanda has prioritised energy development as a sector for example.”
Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Export Promotion Authority said the IATF was crucial for Ghana, to look at value chains, and trade and development across the continent. She mentioned several projects Ghana had been involved in and some of the opportunities. “It enables an opening up of the African continent so rather than merely trading with West Africa, ECOWAS, we are doing so with other parts of Africa.”
Guy M’Bengue, Chief Executive Officer, Cote D’Ivoire, Exports Promotion Agency spoke about why it was important to participate in the IATF before the regional integration of the AfCFTA. He spoke about helping SMEs and forging an agreement with ITC and Afreximbank, Nigerian and Rwandan export boards, on dealing with AfCFTA, export readiness, market research, export development, risk management and skills and helping cocoa producers in Cote D’Ivoire.
Jean Bertrand Azapmo, Principal Adviser to the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry, African Union Commission, discussed the impact of Covid-19 and logistics and the importance of the IATF because it “unified fragmented and disjointed African economies, still surviving the brunt of the colonial economic system, bringing them closer to each other and asking the private sector to increase trade once they grasp the opportunities in other parts of Africa.” Jean spoke about SMEs and youth and how at IATF 2021 there will be 150 slots for African youth start-ups.
“ The IATF is something that will not only help the continent recover from the pandemic, but address the structural impediments holding the continent back and achieve structural transformation.”
John Rocha, Chief Director, Trade Invest Africa, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, spoke about export and import councils unlocking opportunities for the AfCFTA. As part of their strategy, they created 18 export councils covering, clothing, footwear, leather, mining processing, agriculture, fruit, all major industry sectors of the South African economy. John said: “We work with companies enabling them to participate in the IATF and national pavilions around Africa, taking them on trade missions to markets around the continent and enabling African companies to come to South Africa to look for suppliers and buyers of their products. All these activities are financed by our department, we have developed an international export strategy and the IATF helps us to communicate with our trading partners around Africa.” He spoke about Covid-19 which has drastically affected the economy, borders and ports are closed for export and import and this has reduced trade by about 50%. They have organised virtual webinars and exhibitions with Zambia, Ghana and Mozambique discussing post-Covid measures, and hope to replicate this in East and North Africa. John added: “Our approach to the continent is anchored on three pillars: Firstly, intra-African trade, which we need to increase significantly, as it hovers at only 16%. Secondly a huge desire to work with our sister countries around the continent to promote industrialisation. Thirdly, we also have to invest in our infrastructure as we are often better connected with markets worldwide, that with each other in terms of logistics and supply chains, would like to invite countries to begin that conversation. He concluded by saying Africa needed to start looking at import substitution and producing goods locally. In terms of preferential procurement, African countries spend $400 billion annually on construction projects paying foreign companies to do business in Africa. John concluded by saying: “We need to develop value chains, e.g. we import tyres, but West Africa produces rubber, so we need to add value by manufacturing our raw materials, including making PPE.”
Media contact: press@afreximbank.com
About the Intra African Trade Fair
Organized by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union and hosted by the Government of Rwanda, IATF2021 will provide a platform for entry into a single market of over 1.2 billion people joined together by the African Continental Free Trade Area, serving as a marketplace bringing together continental and global buyers and sellers and showcasing goods and services. It will enable stakeholders to share trade, investment and market information as well as trade finance and trade facilitation solutions designed to support intra-African trade and African economic integration. In addition to establishing a business-to-business and a business-to-government exchange platform for business deals and advisory services, IATF2021 will also operate a Virtual Trade Fair on an interactive online platform accessible to all. It will also focus on Africa’s creative economy as well as the automotive industry with dedicated programs. A Conference will run alongside the exhibition and will feature high-profile speakers and panelists addressing topical issues relating to trade finance, payments, trade facilitation, trade-enabling infrastructure, harmonization of trade standards, industrialization, regional value chains and investment.
To register as a delegate or as an exhibitor for IATF2021 please visit: www.intrafricantradefair.com
About Afreximbank
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution with the mandate of financing and promoting intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank was established in October 1993 and owned by African governments, the African Development Bank and other African multilateral financial institutions as well as African and non-African public and private investors. The Bank was established under two constitutive documents, an Agreement signed by member states, which confers on the Bank the status of an international organisation, and a Charter signed by all Shareholders, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that are supporting the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby sustaining economic expansion in Africa. At the end of 2019, the Bank’s total assets and guarantees stood at USD$15.5 billion and its shareholders funds amounted to US$2.8 billion. Voted “African Bank of the Year” in 2019, the Bank disbursed more than US$31billion between 2016 and 2019. Afreximbank has ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A-), Moody’s (Baa1) and Fitch (BBB-). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com
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