By Ayomide Otitoju
Africa’s flagship trade and investment platform, the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), is transitioning into a permanent continental institution with its headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe, to further accelerate economic integration across the continent.
The new body, the Intra-African Trade Fair Company (IATFCO), was officially unveiled during the 2025 edition of the fair in Algiers. The initiative aims to ensure the sustainability, scalability, and alignment of the fair with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) vision.
Zimbabwe was chosen to host the IATFCO headquarters after a competitive bidding process involving Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. According to IATF Advisory Council Chairman and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Zimbabwe stood out due to its strong conferencing facilities, air connectivity, accommodation capacity, and commitment of land for expansion.
“This marks a new chapter for IATF as it powers growth in intra-African trade and reinforces the ambition of AfCFTA,” Obasanjo said.
Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah hailed the milestone, announcing that the bank has approved an initial capitalization of $28 million for IATFCO. He urged African governments, corporations, and financial institutions to provide additional support during the institution’s formative years.
IATF, co-convened biennially by Afreximbank, the African Union Commission, and the AfCFTA Secretariat, has grown into a premier continental marketplace. The 2025 edition attracted over 112,000 visitors from 132 countries, 2,148 exhibitors, and generated $48.3 billion in trade and investment deals.
By tapping into AfCFTA’s single market of 1.4 billion people and $3.5 trillion GDP, IATF is expected to deepen Africa’s integration and boost intra-continental trade and investment flows.
