Twenty-five local companies to exhibit at IATF in Egypt next month

Harare (New Ziana) -At least 25 local companies, more than half of which are led by women and youth, are set to exhibit at the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) to be held in Cairo, Egypt next month, an official has said.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) organised the IATF in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) secretariat.

In an interview with New Ziana on Tuesday, ZimTrade chief executive officer Allan Majuru said over US$20 million worth of business deals are expected to be clinched at the fair, which will run from 9 to 15 November under the theme The AfCFTA Marketplace..

ZimTrade is facilitating the business trip to Cairo in line with its thrust to integrate young people and women in mainstream exports.

Majuru said they have made deliberate efforts to ensure 50 percent of the participating companies are youth-led and women-led enterprises.

He said participating companies will have access to over 1 100 exhibitors and more than 10 000 buyers.

Taping into these numbers will make it easy for local companies to unlock access to markets across the continent and beyond, with 35 African countries as well as China, Netherlands and Sweden having already confirmed their participation at the fair, he said.

The IATF supports the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) by bringing together buyers and sellers from across the continent.

“This is the third time we are participating at the event. From the successes of the previous IATF held in South Africa, where deals worth over US$15 million were realised, I am confident we will get more positive results again this time. We are projecting over US$20 million worth of deals will be concluded during the fair,” said Majuru.

The IATF will provide a 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 African Continental Free Trade Area.

Majuru said in streamlining their programmes to dovetail with the country’s National Development Strategy 1, their thrust is to build an export-led economy.

To achieve that, he said, they have directed that companies reserve a portion of their production for export business, at least 20 percent.

Majuru also revealed that through ZimTrade interventions, some families in the rural areas are now earning thousands of dollars from exports, thereby improving their livelihoods.

One such program is the Cluster Development Initiative, which is targeted to integrate rural communities into mainstream export business, complementing the devolution agenda which the government is implementing.

“To date, we have unlocked access to export markets for communities in areas such as Chimanimani in Manicaland, Chivhu in Mashonaland East, Mashava in the Midlands, Lupane, Binga, and Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North province,” said Majuru.

New Ziana