Nigeria is now the second country to announce plans to take a country pavilion at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) being organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo from 11 to 17 December.
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who made the announcement during an engagement session on the IATF co-organised by Afreximbank and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), said that Nigeria would participate effectively in the trade fair and would use it as an opportunity to showcase its trade and investment opportunities.
In June, South Africa had announced that it would take a country pavilion.
“We believe that the Trade Fair will provide an opportunity for Nigeria to engage with other countries and investors who are interested in partnering with Nigeria to support the “Zero Oil Policy” to reposition the Nigerian economy,” Osinbajo, who was represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Presidency, Rahman Adeola Ipaye said.
He urged Nigerian companies and states to book space at the trade fair in order to showcase their unique goods and services, asking them to spread word about the trade fair to their networks so as to ensure that Nigeria was properly represented.
Also speaking, a statement quoted the Governor of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, to have said that there was a need to reinforce the collective belief that African economic liberation could only be realised by and within the African continent.
Represented by the Deputy Governor of the state, Ibrahim Hassan, Abubakar, who is also Chairman National Committee on Export Promotion of the National Economic Council, said Nigeria was committed to leveraging on the opportunities to be created by the trade fair to expand its continental trade.
Earlier, the Managing Director of the Intra-African Trade Initiative at Afreximbank, Kanayo Awani, said the aim of the IATF was to close the gap on access to trade and market information in Africa, adding that the trade fair would create a sustainable platform for connecting buyers and sellers across Africa.
Awani added that the trade fair would transform the way African countries traded with each other, saying that there was a case for the launch of a Nigeria-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme (NATIPP)
“Under NATIPP, we will make available a suite of products, programmes and services as well as risk mitigation to support trade and investment between Nigeria and other African countries,” she said.
“NATIPP, proposed at $1 billion, will also support the financing of transactions concluded at the trade fair.”
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