As part of efforts towards improving trading activities within Nigeria and with the rest of Africa, this year’s edition of the Lagos International Trade Fair will emphasize bringing African businesses together towards boosting intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have said.

This was made known by the Chairman of the Trade Promotion Board, LCCI, Leye Kupoluyi, at a press conference held to announce the 2023 Lagos International Trade Fair in Lagos.

According to him, this year’s edition of the event themed, “Connecting Businesses, Creating Value” and will be declared open by the president, Bola Tinubu, will be held at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos from Friday 3rd to Sunday 12th November 2023.

The annual fair which is now in its 37th edition, will see different specialised fairs being held at the same time during the 10 days.

Another important feature he advised business owners to look out for during the fair is, ‘The Africa Hall Project’, which he said is an umbrella for businessmen and women within the African continent to come together under the same roof for the duration of the fair. “The Africa Hall Project started six years ago as an umbrella for businessmen and women within the continent to come together and it has been a successful adventure since it started. The Africa Hall is one of the chamber’s instruments aimed at boosting intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. We can confirm that almost all 54 African countries have been invited to this year’s edition and many of their ambassadors visited Lagos and Abuja. We are in advanced talks with many interested exhibitors from across Africa,” he said.

Speaking further, Kupoluyi said that this year’s edition would also feature an entertainment village in recognition of the contribution of the creative and entertainment industry to the Nigerian economy.

He also revealed that there would be a tech hub, saying: “The LITF Tech Hub is a single pavilion that hosts techpreneurs in telecoms, software, and ICT to showcase their innovative products and services. There will be an opportunity for tech enthusiasts to have their day at the LITF. By design, the LITF Tech Hub is the bigger version of our legacy tech event, the ICTEL Expo and Conference which is held every July.”

He added that about 200 exhibitors from China will be attending the fair and urged businesses and entrepreneurs to come meet with the Chinese exhibitors to seal commercial agreements and distributorship deals.

“In our quest to raise young entrepreneurs, LCCI established a mentoring programme, and year after year, we expose graduates of the programme to exhibit free at our fairs. This year, they will be coming in larger numbers to be part of the fair,” he said.

He revealed that the first three days of the fair will be free for all to attend and urged visitors to take advantage of this opportunity.