Africa, with its two billion inhabitants, celebrates its diaspora during the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025. Under the banner of Frantz Fanon, this event in Algiers highlighted the economic potential of global Africa. An economy estimated at 4,000 billion dollars in combined GDP that the continent intends to capitalize on. This is the call made by Benedict Oramah, outgoing president of Afreximbank, who urges greater collaboration.
The Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025) dedicated Friday, September 5, 2025, to the Diaspora. A moment both symbolic and strategic, aimed at connecting the two billion people of African descent and giving substance to an economy estimated at nearly 4,000 billion dollars in combined GDP. In a packed room at the International Conference Center in Algiers, the outgoing president of Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah, called for turning this latent potential into organized power.
With a population of about two billion people and a combined GDP estimated at nearly 4,000 billion US dollars, an integrated and protected economy of peoples of African descent represents an unprecedented economic opportunity for those who are part of it. But to realize this potential, we must transform the global Africa into a cohesive and coherent market.
BENEDICT ORAMAH , Outgoing president of Afreximbank
The flagship announcement of the day is the upcoming launch of the Africa Trade and Distribution Company (ATDC), an initiative led by Afreximbank and its partners to streamline the trade of African products within the continent and the diaspora.
I am particularly proud that today we are marking the launch of the activities of the Africa Trade and Distribution Company (ATDC), a bold initiative aimed at streamlining intra- and extra-African trade, empowering businesses, and strengthening supply chains, from production to processing, from distribution to consumption.
Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of the IATF Advisory Council
Beyond the numbers, the ambition is cultural and symbolic. Afreximbank is counting on new competitions to strengthen the identity bond, an African World Athletics Championship and an expanded Unity Cup football tournament between African and Caribbean nations. On September 7, 2025, the 2nd CARICOM–African Union Summit will open in Addis Ababa. Afreximbank is advocating for the meeting to adopt the creation of a Global Africa Commission, intended to become the institutional driver of this project.
