AFRICA’S automotive policy and industry decision-makers will meet in Durban in November for the Intra African Trade Fair (IATF), which will be an in-person event thanks to relaxed lock-down restrictions.
The main theme of the dedicated Automotive Show is how the auto sector can drive industrialisation on the continent. It includes an exhibition and the Automotive Forum, which are part of the multi-sectoral pan-African trade initiative
According to show co-ordinator, Andrew Binning, CEO of Inkanyezi Events, the Automotive Forum will include a roundtable of Heads of State of several countries considering automotive industrialisation, tentatively including Ghana, Rwanda, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo has been asked to facilitate the Round Table.
“The Forum has attracted Heads of State, industry executives and African industrialists around this agenda, but the wider exhibition, match-making and networking opportunities will connect suppliers of raw materials, vehicles, automotive parts and aftermarket services and technology with buyers across Africa,’’ Binning said.
Featured among the exhibiting global brands are Nissan, Isuzu, EL Industries International, Bosch Automotive, Manelise Group, Medaturist Nigeria, DataDot, Maxe, the AAAM and German Association of the Automotive Industry, among others, Binning said.
Binning said the forum, was constituted by The African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) and would include presentations from AAAM President Mike Whitfield, and Chairman of Nissan’s Africa Business Unit.
Forum speakers will address six key themes for the sustainable and viable development of automotive manufacturing on the continent, over two days on 16 and 17 November 2021.
AAAM Executive Director Dave Coffey said the Automotive Tradeshow and Forum at IATF provided “an essential opportunity for policy and automotive decision makers across the continent to refine a common understanding and deepen relationships”.
“The Automotive Forum will connect this range of important role players and pave the path to an African automotive manufacturing supply chain that can optimise the new African Free Trade Agreement.’’ Coffey said.
The pan-African event, which in its inaugural edition in 2018 in Cairo drew 10,000 visitors and more than 1000 exhibitors, will take place at the Durban ICC and Durban Exhibition Centre, and cover close to 15,000 sqm of indoor and outdoor exhibition and conference space.
The event is organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2021).
