Buhari Leaves Paris for South Africa to Attend Intra-African Trade Fair

• Returns to Nigeria Tuesday

Deji Elumoye in Paris, France

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, left Paris, capital of France for Durban, South Africa, on the special invitation of President Cyril Ramaphosa, where he will join other African leaders at the official opening of the 2nd Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2021 which takes place on Monday.
The event, holding from November 15 to November 21, is being convened by the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.
The fair, with the theme, “Building Bridges for a Successful AfCFTA”, is aimed at boosting trade and investment across the African continent.
It also promises to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive across the African continent; bring to fruition the lofty ideas behind the creation of the AfCFTA by providing the platform to further identify and proffer solutions to challenges militating against intra-African trade and; generate market information needed to connect buyers and sellers throughout the continent.
Global businesses including non-African international brands are expected to key into opportunities generated by the fair, thereby attracting for the continent trade and investment deals worth $40billion. Various Nigerian investors are already in Durban to take advantage of the event.
The President is being accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; Director General, National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar and the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Segun Awolowo.
President Buhari is expected back in Nigeria on Tuesday, November 16.