james wika 
Kenya is working towards fast-tracking implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to unlock opportunities for businesses in the country across the continent.
Speaking during the Kenya IATF2025 Business Roadshow event, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, Lee Kinyanjui said the government is positioning and consolidating Kenya as a Trade, industrial and innovation hub to strategically tap into trade and investment opportunities presented by AfCFTA.
“The solutions to Africa’s problems lie with Africans. It is essential for countries within the continent to strengthen intra-African trade,” the CS said adding that the IATF 2025 offers a vital platform to advance the AfCFTA agenda.
“With a well-educated population, abundant resources, and banks ready to finance investment, Africa has what it takes to elevate itself to the next level.”
The Kenya IATF2025 Business Roadshow attracted over 200 members of Kenya’s business community, including buyers, creatives, automotive sector players, policymakers and investors together with executives and officials of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and African Union Commission (AUC).
It focused on exploring ways of promoting intra-African trade.
The theme was Harnessing Regional and Continental Value Chains: Accelerating Africa’s Industrialisation and Global Competitiveness under the AfCFTA.
Harnessing regional and continental value chains under the AfCFTA is crucial for Africa’s industrial growth and global competitiveness.
The AfCFTA encourages countries to tap into the continental market by scaling up productive capacity and add value to products, create an enabling environment, attracting investment and creating jobs.
This boosts economic diversification, expand productive base, and supports Africa’s vision for sustainable and inclusive development.
The roadshow is planned for Nairobi, Accra, Johannesburg, Lagos and Algiers ahead of the fourth edition of the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025) that will be held in Algiers, Algeria from 4 to 10 September 2025 under the theme Gateway to New Opportunities.
IATF is Africa’s premier trade and investment event that serves as a crucial platform for fostering economic growth, collaboration, and innovation across the continent.
Over the years, the IATF has established a track record as the premier African trade and investment platform and has achieved significant milestones since it was established in 2018 as an instrument to implement the AfCFTA Agreement.
Hosted by the Government of Algeria and promoted by Afreximbank, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the AfCFTA Secretariat, the IATF2025 event will provide businesses from Africa and beyond with a platform to showcase their goods and services and exchange trade and investment information.
Mr. Haytham Elmaayergi, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Global Trade Bank, said one of the key objectives of the IATF is to address access to trade and market information for intra-African trade to take place.
“For instance, as a result of a lack of information on African production and supply, countries like Tunisia, Morocco and South Africa import in excess of around US$400 million worth of leather products, mainly from Europe and South America,” Elmaayergi noted.
“Countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan—which have the supply capacity to meet a substantial part of this demand—continue to export their leather products to markets in Europe and Asia.”
Further, he said Kenya has rapidly emerged as a major force in digitalisation and innovation, both within the region and across Africa.
The IATF presents a great opportunity for Kenyan Fintech companies, mobile money innovators and other technology companies to come together and showcase their ingenuity to diverse sectors on the continent.
“It could potentially help them scale beyond the Kenyan borders as well as attract investment to their respective businesses,” added Elmaayergi.
Elmaayergi has called for businesses, as well as the public and private sectors in Kenya, to participate in IATF2025 and showcase their goods and services.
The event is expected to host over 2,000 exhibitors, including businesses from across Africa and globally, who will exchange trade, market, and investment information, and present their offerings to more than 35,000 visitors and buyers from over 140 countries.
This is projected to translate into over US$44 billion in trade and investment deals.
IATF is a platform for boosting trade and investment in Africa.
In the last three editions of IATF, over $100 billion in trade and investment deals have been closed cumulatively with over 70,000 visitors and more than 4,500 exhibitors participating.
The week-long IATF2025 will feature a diverse range of activities, including a trade exhibition showcasing goods and services from various countries and businesses.
The Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme will host a dedicated exhibition and summit focused on fashion, music, film, arts and craft, sports, literature, gastronomy, and culinary arts.
Additionally, the event will also include a four-day Trade and Investment Forum with leading African and international speakers, and the Africa Automotive Show for auto manufacturers, assemblers, original equipment manufacturers, and component suppliers.
IATF2025 will also feature a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) platform, facilitating matchmaking and business exchanges.
Furthermore, the event will host the AU Youth Start-Up programme for showcasing innovative ideas and prototypes, and the Africa Research and Innovation Hub @IATF, designed for university students, academia, and national researchers to exhibit their innovations and research projects.
