By Nik Ogbulie
The Eko Hotel venue of the roadshow to promote the 2023IATF in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday was agog as government representatives, private businessmen and the media were very eager to have adequate information on the impending trade exhibition which has been widely considered as the only determined and sustained effort to sell African goods among themselves and the world.
The event has continued to convince Africans to develop the interest in buying their own products.
Leading the team of Afreximbank delegates to Nigeria was Mrs Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President , who has urged the teeming Nigerian participants to explore all the options available in the new African trade opportunities to expand the growth and development of all aspects of business activities in Africa.
The event which was attended by about 600 Nigerians was considered as a privilege to investors and manufacturers who have economic services and products to offer to Africans. I
According to Awani, the whole essence of inventing IATF is to reorientate buyers of Made in African goods based on certain beliefs that have supported an effective intra-African trade.
She noted that buyers should know the quality of goods available.
“We want African goods to remain competitive so as to achieve harmonisation of standards in all areas of production. The policy initiative is simply to harmonise standards because that is what offers manufacturers the capacity to compete.”, she emphasised.
Awani told Moneyreport Magazine that the rejection of African products would be abolished if they are presented to buyers in a standard that conforms with what is available elsewhere.
The CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr Ezra Yakusak noted at the event that the roadshow has become a major conviction and assurance tool to many manufacturers who may not have been convinced of the plans and dates of the event based on the earlier issues connected with hosting.
He told Nigerians to show their strength and depth and follow it up with effective trade practices that can show the reality of intra-African trade.
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, a major investor and producer in the intertainment industry also echoed Awani’s treatise on standards but attributed the lack of it to poor leadership based on their failure to put in place the appropriate infrastructure for the production and creation of efficient end-products.
Indications are rife that there maybe a slide in participation based on the impending global economic strife, but MoneyReport investigations can reveal that the business aspect of the event will still be upbeat as the event has remained largely the only such space for economic development.
We can also reveal that the sincerity of Afreximbank in its numerous deliverables has remained a major pull to governments and other business participants.
According to the organisers, there are strong indications that the rate at which African countries trade among themselves must have risen beyond the much trumpeted 16%. By the end of this year’s exhibition which is the third in a seamless stretch, Africans would be told whether the intra-African trade statistics has changed or not.
The seven days event commence from November 9 and ends 15.
