By Obinna Uballa
The 2025 edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025) opened on Friday in Algiers, Algeria, with calls for stronger economic ties and accelerated intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune urged African nations to deepen integration by increasing trade flows to drive growth, create jobs, and reduce vulnerability to global economic shocks.
He emphasised the need to bridge infrastructure gaps to support trade, highlighting Algeria’s ongoing regional projects such as the Trans-Sahara Road, Algeria Gas Pipeline, and optic fibre installations to strengthen connectivity, energy security, and digital networks.
The week-long event, hosted by Algeria in partnership with Afreximbank, the African Union Commission, and the AfCFTA Secretariat, brings together more than 2,000 exhibitors and thousands of buyers from across the world. Organisers project that trade and investment deals worth over US$44 billion will be concluded during the fair.
Former Nigerian President and Chair of the IATF2025 Advisory Council, Olusegun Obasanjo, said this year’s fair has attracted participation from 48 African countries, the largest since its inception in 2018.
“In previous editions, IATF has shown its power to connect buyers, sellers, investors, and innovators. It has become a driving force for trade expansion and investment flows,” Obasanjo said, citing the US$2.9 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project as one of the fair’s landmark deals.
AfCFTA Secretary General, Wamkele Mene, urged African leaders to fast-track the implementation of AfCFTA, noting that intra-African trade rose by 12.4% in 2024 to $220.3 billion, according to Afreximbank’s African Trade Report 2025. He pointed to a gradual shift towards industrial diversification, with growing trade in machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, and electronics.
African Union Deputy Chairperson, Amb. Selma Malika Haddadi, noted that intra-African trade accounts for only 15% of the continent’s total trade, despite its potential to drive industrialisation.
Afreximbank President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, described the fair as a platform for Africa’s “new struggle for economic independence,” enabling innovation, partnerships, and investment across sectors.
The fair’s programme includes Global Africa Diaspora Day, Algeria Investment Forum, Arise Industrialisation Day, Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), and the Africa Automotive Show, among others.
Since its launch in 2018, the IATF has attracted over 70,000 participants from 130 countries, hosted 4,500 exhibitors, and facilitated trade and investment deals worth more than US$118 billion.
