Africa-Press – Botswana. Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) is a strategic intervention by Afreximbank to help advance implementation of Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within member states.
Speaking at the IATF 2023 Botswana Business Roadshow held in Gaborone recently, Manager IATF portfolio management Intra African Trade Bank ,Hillary Kumwenda on behalf of Director for Trade Facilitation and IATF, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Mr Kumwenda said the roadshow was meant to sensitise the business community to participate at the IATF 2023 to be held in Cairo, Egypt November 9-15.
He said IATF was used by businesses within the continent to connect through trade exhibitions and Investment Forums. IATF 2023 would provide a unique and valuable platform for businesses to access an integrated African market of over 1.3 billion people with a GDP of over US$3.5 trillion created under the AfCFTA, he said.
Mr Kumwenda said over the years the fair availed market information, bringing together both continental and international buyers and sellers into one plac,e which was the AfCFTA market place.
The first edition of the trade fair which was held in 2018, attracted about 1 100 visitors from 46 countries in Africa and other countries across the world and trade and investment deals amounting to US$32.4 billion were reached, he said.
He said with the IATF 2021 held in Durban, South Africa, trade and investment deals amounting to US$42.1 billion were sealed by 48 African countries and 22 non-African countries.
Mr Kumwenda said for the IATF 2023 they were targeting 55 African countries, and already Botswana had expressed interest to partake.
He appealed to Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) who coordinated investment from a national level to bring more businesses to participate at the trade fair.
Mr Kumwenda said that secondary to this intervention was AfCFTA Adjustment Fund which was a US$10 billion adjustment fund for supporting countries that had ratified the AfCFTA agreement to adjust smoothly to the new liberalised and integrated trading environment established under the contract.
He said this would mitigate the potential adverse impacts of AfCFTA-induced tariff revenue losses, citing that the fund would also help to address the infrastructure deficits and supply chain bottlenecks to the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Further, he said there was the general fund which would mobilise concessional finance to support the development of trade-enabling infrastructure and execution of key industrialisation initiatives.
He explained that the credit fund would be used to mobilise commercial funding to support both the public and private sectors enabling them to adjust and take advantage of the opportunities created by the AfCFTA.
Mr Kumwenda said third amongst the interventions was the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), which was the impact investment arm of Afreximbank selected as the Fund Manager of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund.
The fund reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to the AfCFTA and its potential to transform the continent’s economy, he said, noting that the fund would play a critical role in supporting African countries to adjust to the new realities of the free trade area and seize the opportunities it presented.
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