10/09/2025
, closing turned the spotlight to performance volumes delivered by Gainmore Zanamwe, Director Trade Facilitation and Investment Promotion at African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the results spoke.
In a highly anticipated moment, the IATF Secretariat delivered its official report on the 2025 edition, proudly signaling that this year’s fair exceeded expectations.
The report began by highlighting high-level participation, with 20 Heads of State and Government attending, which is the highest number recorded since the event’s inception, highlighting growing commitment to Africa’s trade integration agenda.
In terms of exhibitor engagement, IATF2025 welcomed 2,148 exhibitors, surpassing its target of 2,000 and demonstrating the continent’s appetite for business expansion and cross-border opportunity.
Organisers had initially targeted the participation of 40 African countries, instead, 49 countries took national pavilions, signaling a powerful show of continental unity, similarly, special country and thematic focus days were expected to number four, while by the end of the fair, there were nine, underscoring the high demand for visibility and engagement.
The fair’s international reach also expanded, as the initial goal was to attract 75 countries, a total of 132 nations were represented, reinforcing IATF’s growing role as a global trade platform and on the buyer side, nearly 1,000 qualified buyers attended, significantly above the original target of 750 ensuring that exhibitors had strong commercial connections to tap into.
Perhaps most notably, IATF2025 delivered record-breaking results in terms of trade and investment deals, as instead of the target of $44 billion, confirmed deals had reached $48.3 billion with hosts, Algeria accounting for $11.4 billion in signed deals, with another $11.6 billion currently in the pipeline.
Even more impressive was the overall participation, what began with a target of 35,000 attendees ended with a staggering 112,000+ participants, thanks in large part to Algeria’s outstanding mobilisation efforts.
This edition, described by many as the most ambitious yet, has redefined what’s possible for intra-African trade, and was a celebration of what happens when political will, business drive, and continental vision come together on one platform.
💬 With IATF2025 exceeding nearly every target - from trade deals to participation what do you think this means for Africa’s ability to deliver on AfCFTA’s promise?
