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It is often stated that the best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

We pause to congratulate 21 KZN based entrepreneurs that have been selected to showcase their products and services to more than 32 000 visitors who will attend Africa’s largest business networking and trade event, the Intra–African Trade Fair.  The trade fair will take place in Cairo from 9 to 15 November 2023.

Our entrepreneurs were subjected to a grueling selection process managed by our entity Trade & Investment KZN.  

By and large, the selection process was designed to ensure that we market our products and services from all corners of our province – especially the townships and rural areas. This is in line with our  “Buy KZN Product” Campaign.

We are happy that today our entrepreneurs gathered at Investment House for a well deserving send-off.

For a very long time, through TIKZN we hosted International Expo Week as part of creating a demand for local products produced by our entrepreneurs.  

As the previous host of the 2021 IATF Trade Show 2021, we believe that this year’s event will put our entrepreneurs on the pedestal and augment the “Buy KZN Product” Campaign.

IATF is organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.

It is a platform for businesses to access an integrated African market that has more than 1.3 billion people and a combined  GDP of over US$3.5 trillion.

Critically, we are encouraged by an integrated approach involving Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA). 

Collectively, we have made it possible to deploy resources to cover logistics and other necessary expenses for our entrepreneurs. 

This is in addition to the enduring partnership between TIKZN and Transnet Port Terminal. This partnership has helped many entrepreneurs under the export capacity-building programme.  

Finally, we are confident that as more entrepreneurs export their products we will see a significant increase in foreign exchange earnings.  

We are saying to our entrepreneurs – the “Sky is not the Limit”.

Go there - establish contact with prospective distributors and buyers - ascertain the market demand and trends and promote the Zulu Kingdom.

Issued by The KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs