Abuja trade fair starts off with 500 exhibitors

On Friday The 17th edition of the Abuja International Trade Fair organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry started off the Trade Fair Complex in the Federal Capital Territory.

A statement issued in Abuja by the Media/Strategy Officer, ACCI, Olayemi John-Mensah, stated that the trade fair, with the theme, “Creating an Export Ready Market Through SME Digitisation,” would host 500 exhibitors, 10,000 products and over 100,000 visitors.

It read in part, “On the first day, many exhibitors from within and outside Nigeria are already on ground with different products of value and visitors have started trooping in to take advantage of the fair.

“The fair serves as a standard platform for brand establishment that brings together various aspects of trade and industry, foreign ambassadors, business persons, decision-makers, business delegations, entrepreneurs, and innovators.”

The chamber said the Abuja Trade Fair would continue to provide an avenue where businessmen, entrepreneurs, service providers, and many others converge.

“It also provides an avenue for the distribution of trade, investment, market opportunities and ideas that would greatly help sellers, buyers, investors and countries to promote relationships in business,” the ACCI stated.

The chamber stated that some exhibitors said this year’s event seemed to be the largest fair since the struggles with COVID-19 that caused disruptions to businesses.

It said exhibitors stated that though the fair was held in the COVID-19 year, it recorded low participation, as this affected their sales.

“From what we are seeing in the first day, it seems promising and we are hoping for better patronage and business connectivity,” the statement quoted an exhibitor, but did not mention the exhibitor’s name.

The ACCI said the focus of the 17th AITF was to offer a range of opportunities for SMEs to improve performance, spur innovation, enhance productivity and compete with larger firms.

It said the fair would enable SMEs to reflect economies of scale, lower operation and transaction costs and reduce information asymmetries.

“Digital tools bring many significant benefits for firms as digitalisation reduces transaction costs by providing better and quicker access to information, and communication between businesses, suppliers and networks,” the chamber stated.

(Punch)