The Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF) Advisory Council has said that it is satisfied with the preparations for the second edition of the continental exhibition, which is set to run from 15 to 21 this month in Durban, South Africa.
A statement issued by IATF following a meeting, which the council held on 3 November to review progress made so far in preparing for the event, indicated that the organisers of the event and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government of South Africa were very satisfied by the state of preparations and general enthusiasm for the event.
“Nearly 8,000 delegates from 95 countries, including 52 African countries, are now registered to participate in IATF2021. The trade fair is also expecting more than 1,000 exhibitors and seeks to facilitate more than $40 billion in trade and investment deals,” read part of the statement.
The trade fair is organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat as part of AU’s efforts to promote trade among African countries.
“(T)he second Intra-African Trade Fair will bring together continental and global buyers and sellers, and 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 the economic integration of the continent,” the statement said.
IATF2021 will also focus on Africa’s creative economy as well as the automotive industry with dedicated programmes.
The trade fair, which will also have a virtual version, will also have a concurrent conference.
“A conference will run alongside the exhibition and will feature high-profile speakers and panelists addressing topical issues relating to trade, trade finance, payments, trade facilitation, trade-enabling infrastructure, trade standards, industrialisation, regional value chains and investment,” read part of the statement.
Relatedly, Since September Zimbabwe’s export and foreign trade promotion body, ZimTrade has been rallying local companies to showcase their products and services at this year’s edition of IATF. Over 30 Zimbabwean companies are set to participate in the continental trade fair. ZimTrade Chief Executive Officer, Allan Majuru was appointed IATF2021 Active Ambassador.
The first IATF was held in Cairo in Egypt in 2018 and the second one was set to be hosted by Rwanda in September 2020 but was postponed to September this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2021 the IATF Advisory Council announced its decision to move the event to South Africa and change the dates to November after consultations with the Rwandan Government. Rwanda cited logistical constraints related to Covid-19, which it said hampered the progress in constructing a new facility to host the event.