Les préparatifs sous les chapeaux de roues – Le Jeune Indépendant

The holding of the 4e Edition of the intra-African trade fair (IATF 2025) advance Gradually and preparations are accelerating at the highest level. The president of the IATF advisory council, Olusegun Obasanjo, is on the move in Algeria to inquire about the latest preparations, with a view to hosting this continental event in the best conditions.

The Minister of Foreign Trade and the Promotion of Exports, Kamel Rezig, received, this Sunday, the president of the advisory council of the IATF, who is also a former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasan, as part of his visit to Algeria in anticipation of the holding of this event, the ministry said in a statement.

The preparations were thus reviewed by both parties. The president of the IATF advisory council had already made the trip to Algeria last July, on the occasion of the “promotion tour” of the intra-African trade fair, organized in Algiers. Olusegun Obasanjo had been received, it is recalled, by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

It is the Algerian diplomat, Lartbi Latrèche, who will be in command of the IATF, especially since he was appointed this Sunday, commissioner of the 4e Edition of IATF 2025, scheduled from September 4 to 10, 2025 in Algiers. He will be assisted by two assistants, namely Abdelkrim Beha, current Ambassador of Algeria to the chopped kingdom of Jordan, and Messaoud Mehila, current Algerian ambassador to the United States of Mexico.

Larbi Latrèche, current ambassador to Vienna, and whose competence as well as the professional career is no longer to be recalled, was one of the major actors in the organization of the 31e session of the Arab Summit, whose work has held in Algiers the 1er and November 2, 2022, and 7e Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries (GECF Gas exporting country forum), which took place, in Algiers, from February 29 to March 2, 2024.

African economic integration online in sight

Algeria, for which the realization of African economic integration is of great importance, is focused on this fair, which should open new perspectives but above all strengthen intra-African trade.

The challenge today for Algeria is the success of this major economic event. All means are mobilized to achieve this objective and regular monitoring of preparations is ensured. Several coordination meetings with the sub-committees responsible for preparations for the IATF were chaired by the Minister of Internal Trade, which has reviewed the progress of preparations at the level of the various sub-commissions, in particular with regard to the organization of spaces, reception, accommodation, transport and information.

The Minister of Foreign Trade, for his part, organized several meetings where it was a question of the evaluation of the preparations of the IATF. Above all, it has emphasized the need for all actors to join their efforts in order to guarantee the success of this major economic event, which should record a large participation of government representatives, African economic institutions as well as business and economic operators from the entire continent.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Community abroad and African Affairs is also “fully committed” to support and guarantee the success of this fair. The Secretary of State to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in charge of African Affairs, Selma Mansouri, who had expressed himself at the end of the IATF 2025 promotion tour, organized last July, in the presence of several Algerian and African officials, exposed the efforts made in this direction.

She had mentioned the mobilization of the Algerian diplomatic corps in Africa to promote and encourage participation in this important event. It had also expressed the coordination established between Algerian companies and their African counterparts to facilitate the participation of delegations of businessmen, as well as the instructions given to facilitate the granting of visas for the participants in the IATF 2025.