The Minister of Trade and Export Promotion, Tayeb Zitouni, announced, Monday in Algiers, that the value of Algeria’s exports to the African continent amounts to 2.7 billion dollars, including 650 million dollars of non-hydrocarbon exports.
The minister was speaking at a joint press conference with former Nigerian President and Chairman of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) Advisory Board, Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, following the signing ceremony of the convention on the organization by Algeria of the IATF.
Mr. Zitouni indicated that the attribution of the organization of the 4th edition of the IATF scheduled for September 2025 was mainly due to “Algeria’s place on the economic scene and its positions expressed by the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who attest that we are a country of peace, a country that supports everything that contributes to stability, through the economy and trade.”
The minister added that the Fair “will be a political, historical, cultural and economic meeting par excellence”, stressing that “Algeria, once a Mecca of revolutionaries thanks to its contribution to the liberation of many countries on the continent, has mobilized, for decades, its financial resources to accompany, support and help many African countries in different areas.
He also stressed that Algeria’s historic commitment to the African continent was dictated by “our conviction as to the community of our destiny”, noting that it had drawn up “an economic program oriented towards Africa”, through various projects in the field of infrastructure and the development of economic and commercial exchanges, including the opening of several Algerian banks and national production fairs in certain African countries.
Mr. Zitouni said he was convinced that the show which will be held in Algiers from September 4 to 10, 2025, “will be the best compared to previous editions”, highlighting the potential, the infrastructures, and the services available, particularly at the level hotel establishments and large exhibition spaces.
The Exhibition Center (Pins Maritimes-Algiers) will offer exhibition areas of at least 100,000 m2 thanks to the ongoing extension project of the palace, which will be completed “by the end of the first half of next year “, he added, according to the APS.
For his part, Mr. Obasanjo noted the importance of such economic events to strengthen inter-African trade, calling for “the acceleration of the continent’s integration into the economic value chains of today’s world.”
He also stressed the importance of taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF) to increase the volume of inter-African trade, which has seen a decline from 20 to 14% of the continent’s total trade with the rest. of the world over the past two years, due to the effects of the global health crisis.
