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African Heads of State Converge in Durban for Intra-African Trade Fair 2021.
KwaZulu-Natal Province — proud host of Intra-African Trade Fair The Province of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban recently hosted the sixth major international in-person trade fair in November 2021. The seven-day expo which kicked off large-scale business events in the city was a resounding success. The who’s-who of African leaders attended the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2021) from 15 to 21 November to build a strategic platform to boost trade and investment throughout the continent.
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rganised by the African ExportImport Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, hosted by the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2021) took place at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. IATF2021 provided a platform to promote trade under the AfCFTA. It brought together continental and global buyers and sellers, and enabled stakeholders to share trade, investment and market information as well as trade finance and trade facilitation solutions designed to support intra-African trade and the economic integration of the continent. In addition to establishing business-to-business and business-togovernment exchange platforms for business deals and advisory services, IATF2021 also operated IATF2021 Virtual, an interactive online platform that replicates the physical event. IATF2021 also focused on Africa’s creative economy as well as the automotive
industry, with dedicated programmes. A conference ran alongside the exhibition and featured high-profile speakers and panellists addressing topical issues relating to trade, trade finance, payments, trade facilitation, trade-enabling infrastructure, trade standards, industrialisation, regional value chains and investment. Commenting on the successful hosting of IATF 2021, the woman behind the success of the IATF, Ms Sonto Mayise, general manager of the Durban KwaZulu-Natal Convention Bureau, commented: “In the midst of a global pandemic, we had an incident free IATF 2021. We thank the many people who worked hard behind the scenes to make it a truly memorable event. We pay tribute, to law-enforcement agencies for diligently working to safeguard the event and all participants. We were truly honoured to see the participation of African Heads of State and Governments, African diplomats, senior government leaders, captains of industry, entrepreneurs, exhibitors, and scholars. We are happy that we reached and surpassed many of our targets.”
4 Business Events Africa February 2022
Ms Sonto Mayise, general manager of the Durban KwaZulu-Natal Convention Bureau.
“It is no mean feat to pull together seven sitting heads of state to grace the opening ceremony and they stayed throughout the ceremony that lasted for hours. To me that is commitment towards the IATF at the highest level. The IATF delivered on its objectives... When I look at what we accomplished, the word that comes to my mind is ‘impressive’. It is impressive due to our display of African ingenuity and furthermore, our readiness to www.businesseventsafrica.com
