Obasanjo Heads Advisory Council for Intra-African Trade Fair

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has inaugurated an Advisory Council for the
inaugural Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2018), with former Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo as Chairman. Egypt has been selected as the preferred host for the
inaugural fair following a competitive bidding process. A former President of
Afreximbank, Jean-Louis Ekra is the Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Council, which
is charged with the responsibility of providing guidance for the preparations for
the trade fair scheduled to hold in Cairo between December 11 and 17, 2018.

Also represented on the Council, according to a statement issued by the Director in
charge of the Communications Department of Afreximbank, Mr. Obi Emekekwue, are the
African Union Commission; African Development Bank; Pan-African Chamber of Commerce
and Industry; World Trade Centre, Miami; International Trade Centre, Egypt, as the
host country; the AfroChampions Initiative; and PixyKorner, the professional trade
fair organiser retained for the event. Afreximbank is serving as the Secretariat. At
the inaugural meeting of the Council in Kigali on March 22, 2018, Afreximbank
President, Dr. Benedict Oramah said that the role of the body was to be the main
driver for the planning of the trade fair in order to ensure that it achieved the
objective of driving intra-African trade.