Oramah counts Continental Trade Fair Blessings

• Says over $75bn deals closed, $43bn more in the works

Bolaji Adebiyi in Cairo, Egypt

Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank, has said the continental bank is living up to its mandate of promoting and facilitating intra-African trade, explaining that its biannual goods and services exhibition initiative has yielded substantial results.

“Since 2018, when we hosted the inaugural Trade Fair here in Cairo and commenced this journey, we have begun to see some “green shoots” of what is possible,” he told the presidential forum of the bank, including Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, on Monday at the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair 2023 in New Cairo, Egypt.

According to the Continental Bank president, “Overall, over 75 billion US dollars in large, medium-sized, and small trade and investment deals were closed during the Trade Fairs held in 2018 and 2021.”

The IATF is a biannual event aimed at facilitating the African Continental Free Trade Area’s objective of opening up and deepening access to African markets by Africans. Tagged the IATF 2023, the AfCTA marketplace, this year’s meet was sponsored by 71 business concerns with an estimated 16,000 exhibitors and 15,000 buyers as participants.

Specifically, Oramah listed the $2.9 billion Rufiji Dam project in Tanzania that was signed between three Egyptian contractors and the government of Tanzania in the maiden fair in Cairo in 2018, saying it was the largest intra-African EPC contract financing support arranged and wholly financed by Afreximbank

He also cited the $2 billion deal signed at the 2021 trade fair by the bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria to finance the construction of the 300-kilometre single-track standard gauge railway between Kano in Nigeria and Maradi in Niger.

The 2021 fair, he added, also saw the striking of an agreement with South Sudan to buy $80 million worth of maize from Malawi, with the trade financing provided by Afreximbank.

Saying the deals covered diverse sectors, from infrastructure, healthcare, and financial services to the Creative and Cultural industries, Oramah projected that $43 billion worth of deals would be sealed at this year’s exhibition and expressed the confidence that new business relationships, trade, and projects would be consummated.

At the forum were Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria; Albert Muchanga, AU Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade Industry and Minerals, who represented Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of African Union Commission, and Mr Wamkele Mene, Secretary General, AFCFTA Secretariat as well ministers of members states, diplomats and business chiefs.

The IATF 2023, which started last Wednesday closes tomorrow.