The second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2021) has been rescheduled to take place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa from 15 to 21 November 2021. “Relocating IATF2021 to Durban saves us time on the calendar and will enable African countries and corporates, as part of their recovery strategy, to take full advantage of the Trade Fair, which is also an important component of the implementation of the African
Continental Free Trade Agreement under which trading commenced this year. ” said Chief Obasanjo

The Forum was jointly promoted and sponsored by the European Commission and the African Union
Commission and organised in partnership with the Pan-African business organisations Africa Business
Council, Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, AfroChampions, Business Africa, and the PanEuropean business organisations Business Europe, European Business Council for Africa and the
Mediterranean, Eurochambres and European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME.

The EABF was the culmination of months of preparatory discussions between business representatives and public sector stakeholders from the EU and Africa that prepared the event, assisted by 12 thematic working groups. The members of each of these working groups drafted valuable proposals for their
respective areas, reflecting the discussions in the working groups, which are annexed to this business declaration.

To assess the impact of Covid-19 on the state of business and industry, PACCI asked leaders of chambers of commerce and industry associations to complete a survey to help understand the impact of the ongoing global pandemic on business. This survey, which took place from 28 April 2020 to 12 May 2020, reflects the view of 112 presidents and senior officials of chambers of commerce and industry (City/Regional and national chambers), and Business Membership Associations, out of which 21 were women business leaders. This is the first edition of the survey that will be a quarterly tracking poll on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on businesses for the duration of this pandemic, so that we can track the impacts over time.

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This regional briefing paper was prepared as part of stocktaking exercises to prepare background documents for knowledge and capacity building deliverables under the AfDB non-lending project “Improving Trade facilitation Environment in the IGAD Region Through Knowledge Generation and Capacity Building”. The report provides an analysis and recommendations based on surveys undertaken by PACCI among chambers of commerce and businesses in IGAD member countries, complemented with additional information from key stakeholders and analysis of secondary data.