The Intra African Trade Fair (IATF2021) is expected to be a grand event that comes in the backdrop of very optimistic forecasts for the automobile industry in Africa.
To be held next year in Kigali, Rwanda, from 6 – 12 September 2021, the IATF 2021 is a major trade event, that serves to boost sells of vehicles and related parts across the continent. The event will provide a unique and valuable platform for businesses to explore a single integrated African market of over 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of over US$2.5 trillion.
Thanks to increased regional value chains, Afreximbank is of the view that new vehicle sales increase from 1 million to 5 million units a year across Africa.
A senior trade facilitator Gainmore Zanamwe told an online seminar that the sector prospects are brigh and described the Automotive Tradeshow is a critical base from which to drive growth through the development of intra African partnerships.
The online seminar was only one of several virtual events held by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union, to raise awareness of IATF2021.
A Conference will run alongside the exhibition and will feature high-profile speakers and panelists addressing topical issues relating to trade finance, payments, trade facilitation, trade-enabling infrastructure, harmonization of trade standards, industrialization, regional value chains and investment.
At the IATF 2021 there will also be the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) who will convene an Automotive Forum under the theme “Building Bridges for a successful AfCFTA.”
“There is huge potential of African markets to be the next major opportunity for the global and domestic automotive sector with its young demographic profile, rapid population growth and urbanisation, burgeoning middle class and technology all suggesting exponential growth in demand, said Dave Coffey, CEO of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM).
“We regard the ‘Pan African Auto Pact’ as the potential gamechanger for the development of the African automobile market, through its potential to connect African regions to create a harmonised portfolio with distributed value chains and manufacturing, started with a ‘coalition of the willing,” he said.
What is the Intra African Trade Fair?
The event is organized by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union and is hosted by the Government of Rwanda.
IATF2021 provides a platform for stakeholders to share trade, investment and market information as well as trade finance and trade facilitation solutions designed to support intra African trade and African economic integration.
The forum opens door for entry into a single market of over 1.2 billion people joined together by the African Continental Free Trade Area, serving as a marketplace bringing together continental and global buyers and sellers and showcasing goods and services.
It serves to enable the establishment of a business-to-business and a business-to-government exchange platform for business deals and advisory services.
To increase its reach and also as a care measure for the Covis-19 global outbreak, IATF2021 operates a Virtual Trade Fair on an interactive online platform accessible to all.
