Intra-African Trade Fair: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 5 December 2021:
The Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2021, taking place at the Durban International Conference Centre, South Africa, will on Thursday, 18 November, host its Investment Day.
Organised under the theme “Unlocking Investment and Accelerating Deal Flow in Africa”, the investor forum is a full day dedicated to showcasing Africa’s investment potential and showcasing investment-ready projects. It will also feature sector specific parallel sessions on: Agriculture, Logistics, Technology and Tourism.
IATF is Africa’s biggest in-person business-to- business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) event of the year and seven Heads of Government attended the opening ceremony. The message was loud and clear that there is the political will and engagement to make the African Continental Free Trade Agreement a success and that at the heart of this is developing intra-African trade and investment.
IATF has featured three days of debates and discussions to help overcome the obstacles holding back trade such as the cost of moving goods and cross-border payments.
(Photo: The show floor at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 is alive as momentum picks up with deals being made and relationships being forged.)
Afreximbank has developed some specific products to help deal with these structural issues: the Afreximbank African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme (AACTGS) and the Pan-African Payments and Settlements System (PAPSS).
A full day of deliberations focusing specifically on the automotive sector and the pharmaceuticals industry to help grow domestic manufacturing is also taking place.
The investor day will focus on investment opportunities on the continent and unlocking cross-border investment by African national champions, focusing on some key sectors and learning from investors and companies who are committed and invested in the African continent.
Confirmed speakers include Ms. Bogolo Joy Kenewendo, Global Economist at Kenewendo Advisory and former Minister of Trade of Botswana; Mr. Amr Kamel, the Executive Vice President, Business Development & Corporate Banking at Afreximbank.
Other speakers are Dr. Acha Leke, Senior Partner and Chairman at McKinsey & Company, Africa; Mr. Akol Ayii, the founder and chairman, Trinity Energy; Mr. Paulo Gomes, the chairman of Orango Investment Corporation; Ms. Ndiarka Mbodji, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Kowry Energy; and Mr. Abdou Souleye Diop, Managing Partner, Mazars.
“I have always been a believer in the development of national champions and for these national champions to be the locomotive of private sector investment across the continent. We’re seeing it but the examples are still too seldom. The pandemic has highlighted the necessity to become self-reliant and this will require cross-border collaboration,” said Omar Ben Yedder, the project lead on the Investment Forum and publisher of African Business magazine.
“This Investment Forum is built on this same spirit of cooperation, bringing together projects from across the continent to present the investment potential in Africa,” he added.
(Photo by IAFT: The show floor at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 is alive as momentum picks up with deals being made and relationships being forged.)
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