$43.7bn trade, investment deals sealed at Cairo meeting — Afreximbank

Afreximbank says about 43.7 billion dollars worth of trade and investment deals were sealed at the just concluded Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) held in Egypt.

Kanayo Awani, Intra-African Trade Bank, Afreximbank Executive Vice-President, said this at the Post-Event Virtual News Conference held in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday.

Awani said the 43.7 billion dollars worth of trade and investment deals sealed was against the projected figure of 43 billion dollars which was set, describing the event as a success.

She said the third edition of the  IATF2023 attracted no fewer than 1,939 exhibitors, with 45 African countries represented.

Awani said from the 45 African countries represented, 42 had pavilions, saying this was a remarkable achievement.

She said that 16 non-African countries were represented at IATF2023, bringing the total number of countries to 61.

“We did promise to come back and give you conclusive key indicators after doing the necessary audits.

“In terms of participants of attendance both in-person/virtual, we ended up with 28,282.

In terms of the number of exhibitors, I think we had announced 1,615 at the close of the trade fair but following our audit, it was 1,939. we had actually targeted 1,600.”

She said that by their own estimation and standard set, the IATF2023 was a huge success because they exceeded many of their parameters.

Awani said the trade fair was a platform used to connect buyers and sellers, saying we were aware that the contracts that were being negotiated had to be financed in one form or the other.

“As Afreximbank, we ensured that financial institutions and non-banking financial institutions were part of the trade fair to provide the necessary financing and expand access to finance on the continent.”

Awani said that the IATF2023 was a huge platform to access finance.

“The IATF is not just a platform to grow intra-African trade but a platform for banks to grow access to finance.”

It was reported that Afreximbank, working with the African Union and other strategic partners, inaugurated the Intra-African Trade Fair in 2018 as a key initiative to support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).