NOT EXACTLY A BIANNUAL RITUAL

Intra-African Trade Fair is advancing trade among Africans, writes BOLAJI ADEBIYI

Trade among Africans remains limited but is gradually rising. This was the consistent message from political and business leaders gathered in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, for the biannual Intra-African Trade Fair, which concluded on Wednesday.

Back in 1963, the African Union, then known as the Organisation of African Unity, believed that without integrating Africa’s economy, the continent would be unfairly controlled by developed nations. As a result, it envisioned a Common African Market where Africans could trade among themselves to foster growth and development. 

It remained a vision to be pursued for many years afterwards. Analysis by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), one of the promoters of the trade fair, reveals that intra-African trade accounts for a meagre 15%, compared to Europe (59%), Asia (51%), and North America (37%). Recognising a lack of access to trade and market information as a significant challenge, it decided to address these issues. Afreximbank, therefore, decided, among other actions, to organise the Intra-African Trade Fair every two years, providing trade and market information and connecting buyers and sellers from across the continent.

Supported by the African Union Commission and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the 7-day trade exhibition has become a platform for sharing trade, investment, and market insights, enabling buyers, sellers, investors, and nations to meet, discuss, and finalise business deals. It provides exhibitors with an opportunity to showcase their goods and services, engage in Business-to-Business (B2B) exchanges, and conclude deals.

Its growth has been remarkable since it began in 2018, when the first IATF was held in Cairo, Egypt, with an estimated 1,000 participants, leading to deals worth $20 billion. The second edition, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2021, welcomed over 1,100 exhibitors from 59 countries and recorded deals worth $42 billion. IATF returned to Cairo in 2023, featuring 1,600 exhibitors and trade and investment commitments exceeding $43 billion.

The Algiers exhibition, which closed on Wednesday, was expected to be the largest, with 35,000 conference delegates, 75 participating countries, and 2,000 exhibitors projected to secure $44 billion worth of deals.

Examining the outcome, however, Afreximbank’s Director of Trade Facilitation & Investment Promotion, Dr. Gainmore Zanamwe, noted that the 2025 edition exceeded the key performance indicators set by the Advisory Council.

According to him, deals worth $48.3 billion were signed, while 2,148 exhibitors from 132 countries and 112,476 delegates attended the 7-day event. He added that 49 African countries and 21 non-African countries had exhibition pavilions, which attracted 958 buyers, instead of the estimated 750.

“By all measures, including the number of buyers, visitors, exhibitors, and countries, as well as the value of deals made, this has been the best we have seen,” an elated President of Afreximbank, Prof Benedict Oramah, stated during the press conference at the end of the fair.

The Nigerian-born president of the continental bank has every reason to boast about this. Under his leadership, the fair has secured deals worth a staggering $166.3 billion, attracting 182,476 delegates and 5,458 buyers from 132 countries. 

This may be a modest achievement, given the size of the AfCFTA single market area, which covers more than 1.6 billion people and has a combined GDP exceeding US$3.5 trillion. However, not a few African political and business leaders think the cup is half-full.

Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria and chairman of the IATF Advisory Board, thinks the progress being made is laudable, saying the growth over the past eight years has been phenomenal. For him, Africa has no alternative but to band together, contending that the continent cannot survive unless it integrates its economy.

“I will say to every African, and everybody who loves Africa, that we must not outsource our development. Our development should be by us, for us, and with us,” he stated emphatically during a fireside chat moderated by CNBC’s Fifi Peters, at the sidelines of the Algiers fair.

Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, adopted a broader perspective on the issue. He urged African leaders to speed up the implementation of the AfCFTA to enhance resilience and protect the continent’s collective interests amid current global uncertainties and changing trade patterns. 

Focusing on the positive aspects, he stated that intra-African trade rebounded strongly in 2024, reaching $220.3 billion—a 12.4% increase from 2023—according to Afreximbank’s African Trade Report 2025. He explained that this recovery emphasises growing confidence in Africa’s integration model under the AfCFTA, adding that the data indicates a gradual shift in the continent’s trade composition. 

“While primary commodities still dominate, there is a clear growth in machinery, motor vehicles, food products, chemicals, and electronics. This shift signals our continent’s transition from raw commodity dependency toward industrial diversification, a shift that will only be sustained by stronger logistics and manufacturing value chains,” he told delegates at the fair’s opening last week Thursday.

Selma Malika Haddadi, the deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, remarked that although intra-African trade still makes up a small part of the continent’s overall trade, it has been gradually growing, increasing by 27% between 2017 and 2023. 

Hear him, “Our internal trade can be a powerful agent for industrialisation. Indeed, unlike our international trade, Intra-African trade is mainly driven by manufactured products. While Africa’s exports outside the continent only constitute 20% of manufactured goods, 45% of trade between African countries comprises manufactured goods.

Despite its potential, intra-African trade still accounts for only 15% of total African trade. This imbalance is not just due to an unfair international trade regime; it also stems from choices we have made, and therefore choices we have the power to change. Intra-African trade is and should be our primary focus.”

Haddadi’s stance underscores the need to further advance the achievements of IATF within the AfCFTA marketplace, a theme many other leaders, including Obasanjo and Oramah, emphasised as the curtain fell on the arguably most successful edition of the fair.

Africans, the former Nigerian leader noted, must look inwards to find their way out of the woods by taking seriously their own emerging institutions, including the AfCFTA, IATF, and Global Africa. He explained that this meant Africa must pursue economic integration by creating a common market to boost intra-African trade, with a unified payment system and improved connectivity.

As the continental trade meeting moves to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, in 2027, Oramah believes that consolidation is the next step. For him, the success of the Algiers fair would be measured by the level of implementation of the deals, urging his successor to follow through on the agreements.

Saying the IATF had become an institution, the outgoing president of the bank urged that Afreximbank must be deliberate in mobilising African financial institutions to participate in the fair, explaining that apart from the challenge of trade information, the lack of capital to finance projects and trade, as well as the ability to manage risks on the continent, are serious issues. 

“So, we must find a way to get African financial institutions, including credit insurance companies, to start deliberately supporting the trade that is beginning to develop,” he said, expressing regret that Shelter Afrique was the only development bank that participated in the fair.

He urged the IATF Headquarters, which was being established in Zimbabwe, to begin operations and expressed gratitude to the Afreximbank Board of Directors for approving $28 billion as the initial capital for the project.

Without a doubt, the Algiers fair was well organised despite the number of participants surpassing the organisers’ expectations. Elsewhere, it would have been a logistical nightmare. Kudos, therefore, to the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria under the watch of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Adebiyi, a THISDAY columnist, wrote from Algiers.