Kenya pledges to accelerate efforts to boost intra-African trade

Kenya is working towards fast-tracking the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to unlock opportunities for businesses in the country across the continent.

Speaking during the Kenya Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 Business Roadshow event, Kenya’s 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.

Organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the IATF is intended to provide a unique platform for facilitating trade and investment information exchange in support of increased intra-African trade and investment.

"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 Cabinet Secretary said.

The event 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. By creating a large, integrated market, the AfCFTA encourages countries to tap into the continental market by scaling up productive capacity and adding value to products, creating an enabling environment, attracting investment and creating jobs. This boosts economic diversification, expands productive base, and supports Africa’s vision for sustainable and inclusive development.

The roadshow is one of the five in the series 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 – 10 September 2025 under the theme Gateway to New Opportunities.

Addressing the forum, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Global Trade Bank, Haytham Elmaayergi 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, while 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.”

“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 made a clarion call for businesses, public and private sector in Kenya to participate and showcase their goods and services in IATF2025, where more than 2,000 exhibitors, including businesses from the African continent and globally, will exchange trade, market and investment information and showcase their goods and services to over 35,000 visitors and buyers from more than 140 countries. This is projected to translate into over US$44 billion in trade and investment deals.