DURBAN, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) kicked off on Monday in South African city Durban with a call for Africans to exchange ideas to improve trade within the continent.

"The trade fair would provide an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase goods and services, engage in business to business exchanges and conclude business deals," said Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian president and chairperson of the IATF 2021 Advisory Council at the fair's opening ceremony.

He said that the IATF would provide a platform to discuss business by Africans and implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Obasanjo expressed optimism that the trade fair would address the challenges affecting trade in Africa which includes border bottlenecks.

The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA secretariat Wamkele Mene said AfCFTA has positive targets like lifting over 100 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035 and increasing intra-Africa trade. Mene warned that if African countries do not work together, the AfCFTA would fail.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala welcomed the world to Durban and urged them to engage and clinch deals.

"IATF2021 must be remembered as a marketplace of ideas, an occasion of sharing experiences, and an affair of making business connections and concluding concrete trade deals. It must inspire the African youth to lead in innovation and in accelerating the entrepreneurial revolution, leapfrog development and eliminate poverty and underdevelopment." Enditem

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