ALGERIA POSITIONS ITSELF AS CONTINENTAL TRADE POWERHOUSE AHEAD OF IATF2025

Algeria aims to boost exports, diversify beyond oil, and leverage the AfCFTA to expand regional trade ahead of IATF2025.

Algeria Infrastructure projects Economic reforms Free trade area Boosting export presence Africa.
Algeria IATF2025 Business Roadshow
Algeria IATF2025 Business Roadshow


Algeria is making a bold bid to emerge as a continental trade powerhouse, leveraging its strategic infrastructure projects and economic reforms to lead under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework. Speaking at the Algeria IATF2025 Business Roadshow, Minister of Foreign Trade and Export Promotion, H.E. Prof. Kamal Rezig, announced sweeping initiatives aimed at boosting Algeria’s export presence across the continent and diversifying its economy beyond hydrocarbons.

Key to Algeria’s trade strategy are major infrastructure developments, including the Trans-Sahara Highway, the Zouerate Road to Mauritania, and the Nigeria-Algeria gas pipeline projects designed to unlock cross-border connectivity and deepen regional value chains. These efforts come as Algeria prepares to host the 4th Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025), scheduled for 4–10 September in Algiers.

Prof. Rezig emphasized that Algeria is laying the groundwork for long-term trade expansion through improved transparency, stable investment laws, and simplified business procedures. “We are committed to improving the business climate by ensuring transparency, stable investment laws, simplifying procedures, and building human capital to adapt to global economic shifts,” he said, noting a gradual rise in Algeria’s share of intra-African trade from 1.9% in 2022 to 2.2% in 2024.

Currently, Algeria’s top African export destinations include Tunisia (accounting for 70.7% of exports to Africa), South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Senegal. On the import side, key partners include Mauritania, Tunisia, Morocco, and Uganda.

The IATF2025 Business Roadshow, organized by Afreximbank and the Algerian government, is part of a continent-wide series promoting the AfCFTA agenda. H.E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chair of the IATF Advisory Council, described intra-African trade as a “strategic lever for Africa’s economic self-reliance” and urged nations to harness AfCFTA to industrialise and build sustainable jobs.

Algeria, Africa’s largest country by land and fourth-largest economy, is now sharpening its competitive edge in sectors like energy, agriculture, ICT, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and automotive assembly. Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank EVP, encouraged Algerian businesses to seize the moment, noting that the lack of trade information, not just infrastructure, remains a major barrier to intra-African commerce.

IATF2025 will feature over 2,000 exhibitors and attract more than 35,000 buyers and visitors from over 140 countries. The event will include the Africa Automotive Show, the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), the Africa Innovation Hub, and various forums and matchmaking sessions designed to unlock trade and investment potential across borders.

Set under the theme “Harnessing Regional and Continental Value Chains: Accelerating Africa’s Industrialisation and Global Competitiveness under the AfCFTA,” the Algiers edition promises to be a catalytic moment for Algeria and the broader continent as it seeks to redefine its place in the global trade system.

Dignitaries in attendance included H.E. Ms. Baleka Mbete, former Deputy President of South Africa; H.E. Zitouny El-Tayeb, Minister of Internal Trade; H.E. Selma Mansouri, Secretary of State for African Affairs; and Mr. Jean-Louis Ekra, former Afreximbank President, among others.

As preparations for IATF2025 ramp up, Algeria is making it clear: the nation is ready to move from the margins to the mainstream of African trade.

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