NDAMU SANDU
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed financial services group CBZ Holdings leads a cast of 25 local companies that will showcase at the inaugural intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) as Zimbabwe seeks to get a share of the projected $250 billion in intra-African trade.
The fair runs from December 11 to 17 in Cairo, Egypt and is meant to drive intra-African trade which is at 15 percent compared to Europe (59 percent), Asia (51 percent) and North America at 37 percent.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) attributes the low intra-African trade to lack of access to trade and market information.
According to the Zimbabwe’s trade and promotion body, ZimTrade, other companies to exhibit are Archer Clothing Manufacturing, Paramount Garment Works, Boltgas, ZITF Company, Beit Bridge Juicing, Sable Chemicals Limited and ZFC Limited among others.
ZimTrade said other bodies attending the fair include various business membership organisations, four Government departments and authorities such as the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and the Zimbabwe Investment Authority as the push to lure foreign investors intensifies.
IATF comes on the back of the African Continental Free Trade Area signed by 44 countries in March to promote trade among Africans and create one of the biggest single markets in the world.
ZimTrade CEO, Allan Majuru, said, “The Intra-African Trade Fair is an opportunity to get direct access to the lucrative AfCFTA market which according to sources, boasts of over 1 billion people and a combined GDP of over $3,4 trillion. This fair will certainly open up
opportunities to engage with other African countries and to build strategic partnerships thereof.”
The participation of Zimbabwe at IATF comes on the back of efforts by Government to boost exports and avert a crippling foreign currency shortage that has stalled the growth of businesses.
The foreign currency shortage has forced companies to procure dollars on the parallel market thereby increasing the cost of production and making local products uncompetitive.
In the first half of the year, Zimbabwe realised $2,47 billion from exports, up 36,5 percent from the $1,81 billion realised in the same period last year. Imports amounted to $3,36 billion, a 27,5 percent increase from $2,63 billion realised in the comparative period last year.
Zimbabwe does not trade more with African countries with exports largely destined for South Africa (62,7 percent), Mozambique (10,5 percent), United Arab Emirates (6,4 percent), Zambia (1,7 percent) and Belgium (1,5 percent).
Zimbabwe’s major sources of imports include South Africa (40 percent), Singapore (22 percent), China (9 percent), Zambia (3 percent), and Japan, Mozambique, United Kingdom, India, Mauritius and United Arab Emirates (2 percent).
IATF seeks to bring together continental and global players to showcase and exhibit their goods and services, and to explore business and investment opportunities in Africa.
It provides a platform to share trade, investment and market information with stakeholders including investors, SMEs, the informal sector, Africans in Diaspora, and to identify solutions to address the challenges affecting intra-African trade.
The fair dovetails with Afreximbank’s strategy to promote intra-Africa trade under its three key pillars create, connect and deliver.
Afreximbank says the create pillar supports the production of goods and services with a view to enhancing engagement in regional trade. Under the connect pillar, the Cairo-headquartered bank seeks to provide traders with links to various markets on the continent.
The deliver pillar focuses on facilitating the provision of efficient and cost-effective distribution channels within the continent.
The bank seeks to increase intra-African trade to $250 billion from $170 billion in 2014.
