More than $100billion investment deals have been signed since the inception of the Intra-African Trade Fairs (IATFs) in 2018, the Managing Director and Group Chief Economist of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr Yemi Kale, has said.
He said the fairs had moved beyond discussions to real action, creating opportunities for African businesses to strike business deals.
Dr Kale stated this in an interview with The Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday on the sidelines of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 Ghana High-Level Roadshow in Accra on Tuesday.
The programme was on the theme “Harnessing Regional and Continental Value-Chains: Accelerating Africa’s Industrialisations and Global Competitiveness under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
It was organised by AfCFTA, African Union Africa Export Import Bank (Afreximbank.)
The IATF2025 is scheduled for September 4-10, 2025 in Algiers in Algeria.
Dr Kale explained that most of the deals were in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, technology and services.
He noted that in the previous edition held in Egypt in 2023, more than $44 billion worth of trade and investment deals were signed among African businesses.
He explained that the IATF, an initiative supported by Afreximbank, had emerged as a key platform to facilitate trade across African countries.
“These are not theoretical conversations. We are seeing Ghanaian businesses discover suppliers in Kenya, Nigerian firms finding partners in South Africa, and Rwandan producers exporting to West Africa. This is what transformation looks like,” he said.
Dr Kale noted that infrastructure challenges continued to hinder the smooth flow of goods across the continent.
To address this, Dr Kale said Afreximbank was working with governments to improve infrastructure and logistics, including port facilities, road and rail connections, and customs systems.
He called on Ghanaian businesses and stakeholders in the private sector to actively participate in IATF 2025, scheduled to take place in Algiers, Algeria.
“The more we trade with each other, the more our economies grow. This is how we reduce dependency on external markets and secure Africa’s economic future,” Dr Kale said.
The IATF is expected to attract thousands of businesses from across the continent, reinforcing efforts to deepen the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agenda.
The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, said the IATF2025 was important because “Because Africa’s path to genuine, inclusive prosperity depends on stronger trade performance; a fundamental prerequisite for lifting our people out of poverty.”
“But, for too long, Africa’s share of world trade has stagnated at just around 3 per cent. While other regions trade extensively within themselves, Europe at 70 per cent, Asia at 60 per cent, North America at 40 per cent, intra-African trade accounts for just about 15 per cent,” he said.
The Algerian Ambassador to Ghana, Mourad Louhhaidia, said Algeria was excited and proud to host this year’s IATF.
He urged businesses in Africa to take advantage of the fair to showcase their products and services and strike new business deals.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
