From Uche Usim, Abuja

Organisers of the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2021) said a postmortem on the event has revealed a $42.1 billion in trade and trade-related investment deals were executed at the 7-day fair.

According to the latest tally released yesterday by the IATF Advisory Council, the latest figures captured additional data submitted by Trade Promotion Agencies of Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa.

Organised by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the event took place from November 15 – 21 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The record value of trade and investment deals was the outcome of more than 500 business deals concluded during the rich and varied seven-day programme of business-to-business, business-to-government and government-to-government exchanges, exhibitions, trade and investment conference sessions, as well as other verticals, such as the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, the IATF Automotive Show and the African Union’s Youth Start-Up programme.

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IATF 2021 thus surpassed its pre-set target of $40 billion in trade and investment deals, going well beyond the $32 billion in transactions closed at the first edition in Cairo, Egypt in 2018.

The expected number of participants and exhibitors were also exceeded. Against a target of 1,100 exhibitors, IATF 2021 saw 1,161 exhibitors showcase their goods and services. While the organisers aimed for at least 10,000 participants, the event attracted over 30,000 participants of which 11,828 were in person ended up with 11,828 people attending in person and over 27,000 participating virtually via the IATF Virtual platform, bringing the total number of participants to around 39,000 from 128 countries around the world.

Opened on 15 November at a ceremony attended by seven African Heads of State and Government, IATF 2021 was also marked by several major innovations, such as the first African Sub-Sovereign Governments Conference held on 18 November, on the sidelines of the trade fair, as well as the first ever African Auto Show and Auto Forum.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of the IATF 2021 Advisory Council and former President of Nigeria, commended the outstanding performance while congratulating the organisers and host country for their tenacity.

“Despite the uncertain environment arising from the COVID-19 pandemic situation, IATF 2021 attracted exhibitors from 59 countries, of which 46 were African countries. Buyers, sellers and investors came physically and virtually from across Africa and beyond to connect and exchange trade, investment and market information. We have effectively begun the process of building bridges for a successful AfCFTA, less than a year after the commencement of trade under this agreement,” said Chief Obasanjo.