AFCFTA: ACCI grooms SMEs for trade connectivity, holds 16th Abuja International Trade Fair

Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has moved to groom Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria to actively participate economically in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) for collective prosperity.

Speaking on Monday in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the Chamber’s 16th International Trade Fair, the President of ACCI, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar, stated that the AFCFTA promises to connect Africa by trade.

“The importance of AFCFTA is underscored by the full support of government towards preparing the nation to exploit the opportunities the AFCFTA platform has provided.

“As Nigeria is grooming her business class for Continental trade, other African nation’s are also in the same race. This is where the Organized private sector becomes a critically relevant partner of government to deliver on the benefit of AFCFTA.

“It is in the realisation of the above that Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) decided and chose this year’s theme; ‘Exploring Opportunities of the AFCFTA’.

“As a Chamber, we have embarked on series of activities to strengthen the capacity of our members and the private sector as a whole to be strong players at Continental level,” Abubakar said.

On her part, the Director-General of ACCI, Victoria Akai, stated that the Chamber had embarked on a commitment to improving the quality of its trade events, first through improving its infrastructure and then engaging MICE expertise, with the intention to eventually upgrade the delivery of our events to world-class standards and to align with current realities of business.

“The fair is assisting the Nigerian government to properly position the SME sector for the export market. The standard of product packaging and the quality of products now on display show that Nigeria is indeed prepared and ready to take advantage of the huge opportunities offered by AfCFTA.

“The fair is thus a major contributor to the facilitation of trade both locally and internationally. The fair is always the right place for business networking, buying and selling,” she said.

On the Trade fair outlined, the AfCFTA round table will hold on Thursday, October 7, 2021.

 

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