Durban, 19 November 2021 - The IATF2021 Conference segment of the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2021), ended on 18 November 2021 in Durban, South Africa, with African Export-Import Bank hailing the contribution of the trade fair to addressing the challenge of African businesses transacting business with counterparts within the continent.

In a closing statement, Amr Kamel, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Business Development and Corporate Banking, said that the decision to establish the IATF had been reached following surveys by Afreximbank which showed that lack of information about how and who to do business with within Africa, was a recurring challenge for most businesses. 

The IATF2021 Conference offered important opportunities for exchanging information and ideas in line with the objective of establishing trade pathways across Africa to bring the AfCFTA to life, said Mr. Kamel.

“We must continue to create innovative financial products that will see the improvement of the AfCFTA,” he added, explaining that the conference was a proof of the impact which Afreximbank continued to have in Africa.

Earlier, in a session on investment into Africa, participants expressed great optimism about Africa’s future with Charles Robertson, Chief Economist o Renaissance Capital, telling the audience that “Africa continues to outperform other markets in the midst of a global recession.” 

Mr. Robertson highlighted the importance of adult literacy rates in a country’s ability to reach its full industrialisation potential and said that that measure could be used to quickly identify which countries on the continent showed the most immediate room for growth. Describing Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Tanzania as the frontrunners, he said that African countries with the lowest literacy rates ran the risk of falling behind in the industrialisation process.