IATF2023: Afreximbank records $43.7 billion in trade and investment transactions

Afreximbank has revealed that at the recently finished Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) held in Egypt, trade and investment agreements valued at around 43.7 billion dollars were signed.

Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice-President of Afreximbank and Intra-African Trade Bank, made this revelation on Tuesday at the Post-Event Virtual News Conference in Cairo, Egypt.

According to Awani, the $43.7 billion in trade and investment agreements signed at the final IATF2023 surpassed the $43 billion estimate.

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Speaking further, the Afreximbank Executive revealed that the IATF2023 attracted no fewer than 1,939 exhibitors from 45 African countries and 16 non-African countries.

Awani said 42 out of the 45 countries represented at the event had pavilions, which she noted as remarkable.

“We did promise to come back and give you conclusive key indicators after doing the necessary audits.

“In terms of participants of attendance both in-person/virtual, we ended up with 28,282.

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“In terms of the number of exhibitors, I think we had announced 1,615 at the close of the trade fair but following our audit, it was 1,939. we had actually targeted 1,600,” Awani stated.

Awani described the IATF2023 as a huge platform to access finance, saying “We were aware that the contracts that were being negotiated had to be financed in one form or the other.”

“As Afreximbank, we ensured that financial institutions and non-banking financial institutions were part of the trade fair to provide the necessary financing and expand access to finance on the continent.

” The IATF is not just a platform to grow intra-African trade but a platform for banks to grow access to finance,” she added.