The Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), the continent’s premier trade and investment gathering, generated a cumulative $120 billion in trade and investment deals over its first three editions.
This was disclosed by Olusegun Obasanjo, chairman of the IATF advisory council, during the opening day of the 2025 edition in Algiers, Algeria.
The fair, which is organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in partnership with the African Union Commission and the AfCFTA Secretariat, has seen a steady increase in trade commitments since its inception.
Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, president of the African Union Commission, who was represented at the event, noted that the first edition of the trade fair in 2018 held in Cairo, Egypt, generated $32 billion in commitment. In 2021, during the fair in Durban, South Africa, commitment value rose to $42 billion. The past edition in 2023 returned to Cairo generating up to $43 billion in trade commitments.
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Obasanjo recalled the Cairo fair in 2018, where one of Africa’s largest intra-African engineering and construction deals was sealed. It was a $2.9 billion hydropower project between Egyptian contractors El Sewedy Electric and Arab Contractors and the Government of Tanzania designed to deliver 2,115 megawatts of clean power and provide reliable electricity for over six million Tanzanians.
Obasanjo said such transformational projects show how the IATF connects African companies with governments and investors to deliver solutions to some of the continent’s toughest challenges.
Amid the announcements, Nigeria was confirmed as the next host of the fair, with Lagos set to welcome the 2027 edition. Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Trade and Investment, received the flag of acceptance on behalf of the federal government.
