Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025
Boosting Intra-African Trade for a Sustainable Future: Innovation,
Value Addition, and Green Industrialization
Algiers, Algeria 4 September 2025
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Opening Remarks
for
H.E. Amb Selma Malika Haddadi
Deputy Chairperson, African Union Commission
AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE
UNIÃO AFRICANA
UMOJA WA AFRIKA UNIÓN AFRICANA
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السيد عبد المجيد تبون، رئيس الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية،
أصحاب الفخامة رؤساء الدول والحكومات،
أصحاب المعالي نواب الرؤساء،
فخامةةةةة الةةةةرئيس أولوسةةةةيوون أوساسةةةةانجو، رئةةةةيس المج ةةةةس ا س شةةةةار
اإلفريقي البيني، ل معرض ال جار
، ونخةةة أصةةةحاب المعةةةالي الةةةواراء المشةةةارنيل والمنحمةةةيل لهةةة ا الحةةةد
سال نر :
السيد سيفي غريب، الواير األول سالنياسة،
السةةيد ادمةةد ع ةةار، وايةةر الدولةةة وايةةر الشةةاون الخارليةةة والجاليةةة الوطنيةةة
سالخارج والشاون اإلفريقية،
السيد نمال رايق، واير ال جارة الخارلية وترقية الصادرات،
السيد ال يب اي وني، واير ال جارة الداخ ية وتنحيم السوق الوطنية،
سعادة الدن ور سندنت أوراما، رئيس البنك اإلفريقي ل صدير وا س يراد،
السيد وامكي ي ميني، األميل العام لمن قة ال جارة الحرة القارية اإلفريقية،
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، محةةافل الةةدورة الراسعةةة ل معةةرض ال جةةار سةةعادة السةةفير العرسةةي ل ةةر
اإلفريقي البيني (IATF)،
سعادة السفراء ممث ي الس ك الدس وماسي المع مد سالجزائر،
الضيور الكرام،مل نل نواديإفريقيا و العالم،
ممثوا األسرة اإلعالمية،
السيدات والسادة،
مع دفل األسماء و المقامات،
عبةةةةارات ال قةةةةدير ي س سةةةةم ديشةةةةرفني، ساسةةةةم ا تحةةةةاد اإلفريقةةةةي، أن أتولةةةة
وا م نةةان إلةةالسةةيد، الشةةعب الجزائةةر الةةرئيس عبةةد المجيةةد تبةةون، وإلةة
دفةةاوة ا سةة قبال ونةةرم الضةةيافة ال ةة ان لمسةةناتما منةة أن وط ةةت أقةةدامنا ع ةة
تةة ا الب ةةد الوةةالي ع ينةةا لميعةةا ل مشةةارنة فةةي تةة ق ال حةةاترة اإلفريقيةةة البةةاراة،
ررعبي إل إل رر المعرر اإلاري ي ررتإللرة رربينإلالفي يررتإليررتإلبفعةررلإلال ا عررتشإلالم ع رر إل
» وا تإلالعفويإلإلىإلي صإلج ي ن ».
إل
أن الجزائةةر فةةي الجزائةةر، سواسةةة أفريقيةةا، لهةةو د لةةة ع ةة إن انعقةةاد تةة ا الحةةد
الةةةدوام دارةةةنة لودةةةدة إفريقيةةةا، المرداسةةةة تحةةةل ع ةةةو مةةةدخلنحةةةو قفاقهةةةا
الردبةةةة، وفضةةةاء خصةةةبا ل عزيةةةز أواصةةةر األخةةةوة وال عةةةاون سةةةيل دولهةةةا
وشعوسها.
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الجزائةةر ال ةةي نانةةت ومةةا تةةزال لسةةرا سةةيل شةةعوب القةةارة وفضةةاء لامعةةا
لودةةةدتها، نمةةةا يعكةةةس مكانةةةة الجزائةةةر نمنةةةارة ل ودةةةدة اإلفريقيةةةة ورافعةةةة
سيل دولنا. ل كامل ا ق صاد
فخةةام كم تحيةةات وتمنيةةات معةةالي وي يةةب لةةي، فةةي تةة ا المقةةام، أن أنقةةل إلةة
تةة ا ، سنجةةا رئةةيس مفورةةية ا تحةةاد اإلفريقةةي، السةةيد محمةةود ع ةةي يوسةة
الم ميز. القار الم ق
نمةةا أود أن أؤنةةد تقةةديرنا العميةةق لشةةرنائنا فةةي تنحةةيم تةة ا المعةةرض: البنةةك
ةةةارة الحةةةرة القاريةةةة يراد، وأمانةةةة من قةةةة ال جةةةاإلفريقةةةي ل صةةةدير وا سةةة
اإلفريقيةةة، ونةةل مةةل سةةاتم سجهةةدق ورؤي ةةي فةةي سنةةاء تةة ق المنصةةة الجماعيةةة
إطةةالق إمكانةةات قارتنةةا الهائ ةةة وتعزيةةز تجارتهةةا مةةل خاللهةةا إلةة ال ةةي ن مةة
شعوب إفريقيا نافة. البينية، سما يعود سالنفع وا ادتار ع
ن مةةة معةةالي رئةةيس مفورةةية ا تحةةاد اإلفريقةةي، اسةةمحوا لةةي اقن سقةةراءة نةة
، سال وة ا نج يزية، المعدة سه ق المناسبة، السيد محمود ع ي يوس
“Excellencies, Distinguished guests,
Since its inception in 2018, the Intra-African Trade
Fair (IATF) has emerged as Africa’s premier trade
and investment marketplace.
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The numbers are witness to this success.
From its first edition in 2018, with just over one
thousand exhibitors and $32 billion in
commitments, to Durban in 2021 with $42 billion
despite a global pandemic, and Cairo last year,
surpassing $43 billion, and today Algiers that is
even more promising, each fair has brought us
closer to the aspirations of the African Union
Agenda 2063: an integrated, connected, and
prosperous Africa.
But these are not just deals; they are the very fibre
of an integrated and prosperous continent, woven
together by inclusive growth, sustainable
development, and our shared aspirations for
stability.
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This fourth intra-African Trade Fair, convened in
Algiers, under the theme “Boosting Intra-African
Trade for a Sustainable Future: Innovation, Value
Addition, and Green Industrialization,” is therefore
both timely and strategic.
It speaks to the actions Africa must take now: to
innovate, to add value, and to industrialise so that
we no longer remain exporters of unprocessed raw
materials but become architects of the very
industries that will power Africa’s prosperity.
In the shifting global geopolitical and geoeconomic
context, this should no longer be a distant
aspiration but an urgent imperative, and it is
becoming a reality.
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The African Union, through the AfCFTA, and in
close cooperation with African institutions, notably
the Afreximbank, continues to drive this agenda.
This is why, the African Union Commission, as a
co-convenor of IATF2025, intends to leverage this
important and strategic platform to advance the
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the
AU’s Agenda 2063 as well as its very successful
partnerships with pan-African institutions like
Afreximbank, to promote trade, investment, value
creation, and industrialization across the continent.
Through its activities, the AUC will champion
flagship initiatives such as the Youth Start-Up
Pavilion and the African Women in Processing
Pavilion (AWIP), while also spearheading high-
level policy dialogues on trade and industrial
development.
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In addition, the AU will showcase Agenda 2063
flagship projects and highlight opportunities in
digital trade, green industrialization, and inclusive
growth.
As part of these efforts, the AUC will co-deliver the
Youth Start-Up Program in collaboration with the
Algerian Ministry of Start-Ups. Among others, the
program will feature:
– 63 start-ups exhibiting innovative solutions,
– Masterclasses on venture capital and
investment readiness,
– A competitive pitching session,
– Panel discussions with industry leaders, and
– Networking opportunities with investors,
mentors, and policymakers.
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Paving the way for the next edition of the 4th
African startup conference, later this year in
Algeria, these activities are designed to connect
young African entrepreneurs with critical resources
and partnerships, creating pathways to scale
innovations across borders and contribute to
Africa’s broader integration and economic
transformation agenda.
Excellencies, ladies and Gentlemen,
Boosting intra-African trade is not simply an
economic imperative but a measure of our political
resolve and our commitment to reform. Africa
contributes just 2.9% to global trade.
While intra-African trade still represents a small
fraction of the continent’s overall trade, it has been
steadily increasing. Between 2017 and 2023, intra-
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African trade expanded by 27%, approaching the
USD 200 billion mark.
Most importantly, our internal trade can be a
powerful agent for our industrialisation. Indeed,
unlike our international trade, intra-African trade is
mainly driven by manufactured products. While
Africa’s exports outside the continent are only
constituted of 20 per cent of manufactured goods,
45 per cent of trade between African countries
comprises manufactured goods.
Despite its potential, intra-African trade still
represents a mere 15% of total African trade. This
imbalance is not only the result of an unfair
international trade regime. It is also the result of
choices we have made, and therefore choices we
have the power to change. Intra-African trade is
and should be our point of focus.
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We have signed declarations, adopted strategies,
and launched frameworks. Yet too often, our
actions fall short of our promises.
The barriers to our integration are not distant or
theoretical; they are systemic: restrictions that
make trading with a neighbor more costly than
trading abroad; infrastructure that fragments our
continent and makes it easier to send goods
overseas than across our own borders; and
financial systems that do not connect, leaving
African businesses unable to settle payments at
home as easily as they do with partners far away.
We also need to connect our ambition with actions.
We speak of industrialization, but our ambition
will remain words on a page unless African
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industries have access to power, roads, logistics,
and digital connectivity.
We speak of empowering women and youth,
but unless capital, credit, and markets are
accessible to them, empowerment will remain a
promise unfulfilled.
We speak of integration, but unless our
institutions harmonize regulations, standards, and
payment systems, integration will remain a
statement rather than a reality.
We speak of changing the international trade
rules to create space for our industrial policy
but we do not invest enough in our negotiating
capacity to secure such interests.
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Therefore, our task is to turn political will into real
change: to rewrite our rules of trade so that they
serve Africans first; to build infrastructure that
connects African economies before connecting us
to the world; to modernize our financial systems; to
design policies that place women and youth at the
center, not the margins, of Africa’s transformation,
and to support the private sector and
entrepreneurship as a dynamic force for our
economies to prosper and our intra-African market
to expand.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have been franc about our challenges — not to
discourage us, but to strengthen our resolve. For, if
we have achieved so much with bridges still under
construction, imagine what we will accomplish
when those bridges are complete.
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Allow me, however, to acknowledge the
remarkable dynamism that exists across the
continent and which needs harnessing. In 2023,
intra-African investment stocks reached
approximately $76 billion, a significant rise from
$19 billion in 2010. In the same year, Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) from outside the
continent totalled $53 billion.
The role of our own private sector—from small-
scale traders to large conglomerates—has been
pivotal in broadening trading and investment
opportunities within Africa. By harnessing and
supporting homegrown dynamics, we can power
our own growth. The opportunity is ours to seize.
That is the Africa we are working towards: an
integrated and prosperous Africa where growth is
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inclusive and built on dignity and self-reliance; a
peaceful Africa where stability allows enterprise to
flourish; and a confident Africa that takes its rightful
place as a dynamic force in the global arena. An
Africa where “Made in Africa” is not only a mark
of origin, but a symbol of dignity and pride.
Here in Algeria, a country that has long embodied
Pan-African solidarity, and which rich experience in
economic transformation and important ongoing
efforts for diversification is an inspiration – we carry
that legacy forward by making this Fourth Intra-
African Trade Fair another milestone in Africa’s
integration journey.
So I leave you with this challenge: before you
depart Algiers, commit to one partnership, remove
one barrier, simplify one process,
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or place your trust in one African product you had
not trusted before.
We cannot ask the world to believe in “Made in
Africa” if we do not believe in it ourselves. As our
Algerian brothers and sisters say in their
wisdom, “Li ma yethiq fi rouhou, ma ythiq fih el
ghir” those who do not trust themselves will not
earn the trust of others.
May this Fourth Intra-African Trade Fair be
remembered not only for deals closed but also for
the unity it strengthens, the pride it rekindles, and
the future it brings nearer.
Let me end my remarks by congratulating Algeria
and its leadership for the remarkable organisation
of the IATF2025 and for the magnificent
hospitality.
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Equally so, I would like to warmly congratulate
………… for hosting the 5th edition of IATF.”
ااام ي أميأاااني كمااا يفيتناااي اليتااالي أت ااا بياليا لااانيبيمتااا أاي أ دااا اليمما
أامييي أشرتف،ياع نهيهللايعلتا ييعلتكبيم أتتريي أتُمليي أمرك ت.
شكر .يي
