Hot SourceBolaji Adebiyi, in Algiers
Former president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday praised the outgoing President of the Africa Export-Import Bank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, as the 4th edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair commenced in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria.
Obasanjo stated that Oramah’s 10 years at the helm of the continental bank were exceptional and immeasurable, emphasising that he is a visionary who keeps his promises.
“He shows audacity of courage, vision, hope, persistence and performance,” the former president said, adding: “He promises solutions for his country, the continent of Africa, global Africa, and he actualises those promises.”
He said the bank’s boss was an outstanding intellectual, whom his peers hold in high esteem for his foresight, courage and achievements.
“Oramah opens difficult doors and walks through them himself before handing the keys of Africa’s Economic Freedom to the next generation,” Obasanjo stated, celebrating Oramah as “a great son of Africa, a go-getter, an achiever and a true transformation leader”.
The former president, who is also the chairman of the IATF 2025 Advisory Board, stated that the trade fair had emerged as the most important trade and investment gathering on the continent, explaining that it is more than just an event but a symbol of Africa’s economic awakening, where the power of trade and investment unites Africans across regions of the continent and energises the ambition of the AfCFTA.
He stated that over the past eight years, across multiple editions, IATF has demonstrated the power to connect buyers, sellers, investors, innovators and governments from every corner of Africa and now the global African continent.
He explained that the IATF had become the engine driving trade expansion and investment flows, and emphasised that the previous three editions had generated combined trade and investment deals of more than $ 120 billion.
Obasanjo noted that the Algiers fair was the largest, with 48 African countries participating in exhibitions.
The advisory board chairman emphasised the transformative significance of the fair and mentioned the $2.9 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (Rufiji Dam), one of Africa’s largest energy infrastructure projects, which was approved by the Tanzanian government and Egyptian contractors in 2018 at the Cairo Fair.
According to him, the project executed solely by African contractors, a joint venture between Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric, and designed to deliver 2,115 MW of clean power and generate more than 6,000 GWh annually for over 60 million Tanzanians, was an outstanding testimony to the strength of intra-African trade.
Organised by the Afreximbank in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the AfCFTA Secretariat, the IATF is expected to attract $44 billion in trade and investment deals, over 35,000 conference delegates, including trade visitors and media, 75 exhibiting countries, and 2,000 exhibitors.
The fair closes on Wednesday, September 10th 2025.
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