By Adedapo Adesanya
The 2021 edition of the Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF) will kick off on Friday, November 5 and end on Sunday, November 14 at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).
This was disclosed at a press conference by the Chairman, Trade Promotion Board of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Gabriel Idahosa, on Wednesday in Lagos.
The annual trade fair organized by the LCCI is the biggest trade fair in Nigeria and in the West and Central Africa sub-regions of the African continent.
This year’s fair, which is the 35th edition since inception, has the theme Connecting Businesses, Creating Value and according to the organisers, over 200,000 visitors are expected at the fair while about 1,500 exhibitors from 16 countries with an exhibition space of 28,000 square metres will be at the TBS over the 10-day period.
He said that African businessmen and women would be hosted at the Africa Hall of the TBS to promote intra-African trade.
“The objective of the hall is to bring exhibitors from all African countries under the same umbrella to showcase their goods, services, arts, crafts, regulatory services and particularly to promote Intra-Africa trade.
“We believe that Africans must grow trade and investment among themselves to give full activation to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA).
“In further pursuit of this objective, we will have the Africa Special Day at the Fair this year and investment and trade promotion agencies of some African countries have shown interest in this,” he said.
Mr Idahosa revealed that the LCCI’s marketing and customer care officials would be mobilised to the TBS to start attending to exhibitors and partners who may wish to start preparations at the venue.
“This does not stop them from attending to exhibitors in the Commerce House in Victoria Island or visiting the exhibitors in their offices as they may desire,” he said.
He listed some of the premium partners at the 2021 LITF to include the Bank of Industry (BoI), TGI DISTRI; a health and safety partner, FEDAN Investment Limited, Lifemate furniture, among others.
Mr Idahosa assured exhibitors of maximum security, uninterrupted power supply, sustained automation of bookings, the availability of the LITF radio, improved exhibition service centre and properly managed traffic management and related logistics.
Dipo Olowookere