Interview Kanayo Awani “A lack of access to trade and market information is one of the key reasons for the low level of intra-African trade”
Dedicated to intra-African trade, Afreximbank is at the forefront of the promoters of the ZLECA. As such, it will organize next September the Intra-African Trade Fair (AIF 2020). Explanations with Kanayo Awani, director of the Afreximbank Intra-African Trade Initiative.
As an institution dedicated to intra-African trade, you are at the heart of the process of creating an African common market. What are the main challenges ?
Intra-African trade critical in unlocking Africa’s trade potential. But, a lack of access to trade and market information is one of the key reasons for the low level of intra-African trade. Egyptian need to know that the Ethopian settle manufacturing and need competence, this is the way to identify ourselves. We need to open, we need to create information so that people know the market to sell goods and who to cooperate with, and their partners.
How do you contribute to its implementation? What tools do you offer ?
We have so many. We have the prime institution, also the implementation of the AfCFTA with the african finance bank, and we have a number of instruments that have introduced. It would not succeed if we don’t have the platform that we have now. These are simple things, as you know. It is a competition with Africa and collaboration with them. We want the African payment and settlement, and dimension.
We are trying to organize local conferences that is the initiative is all about, along with the funding of the bank originally started in Nigeria in July last year. These are some of the initiatives we have. It was last year or two years ago that we were working on.
It is in this context that you are organizing, next September, the AITF, what is the idea of this meeting?
IATF 2020 will be held from 1st to 7th of September this year and it has 6 main elements. It is full concentrated, and the IATF is more into industry. So it is not just services, more elements will be part of it. So there will be an exhibition, because the challenges that is faced by the african trade, the concept of the AfCFTA is is the lack of trade and market information, the lack of access to trade and market information. It is about bringing buyers and sellers together. These buyers and sellers will be investors, so there is an exhibition, there will be a conference, where we expect to bring all the stakeholders and I think the greatest one is the AfCFTA. They saw this event as an opportunity and there will be a quality dialogue. There will be international companies that they will be looking for an investment in Africa. There is also the greatest Africa exchange and export, that will also be present in this one, it will be momental event. There is also a virtual trade fair, so we have an online trade fair which is also running now by those who cannot attend, physically so they can get their good virtually, you know, on the platform…
I am going to talk about one example, there will be a big number of people, like the event in 2018, when they all come together under one umbrella for cultural events and investment opportunities. That gave a pass for business from governmental selection, I mean by that business and exchanging. We have cultural investment opportunities that are open to African and non-African investors who want to invest in Africa.
For more information : https://www.intrafricantradefair.com
