Nigeria is setting its sights on a continental stage after Lagos secured rights to host the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in 2027, positioning the country at the heart of Africa’s push for deeper economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
The announcement was made in Algiers during this year’s edition of the biennial fair, where thousands of delegates witnessed Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, accept the host flag on behalf of the federal government.
Read also: African manufacturers in last-ditch bid to extend US trade programme
In her words, the IATF is “like hosting the World Cup or the Olympics,” accurate for an event that has quickly grown into the largest marketplace for intra-African trade.
For Nigeria, the choice is as symbolic as it is strategic.
The country has been vocal in shaping AfCFTA policy, pushing for stronger regional value chains and wider market access for its entrepreneurs.
At IATF2025 in Algiers, Nigerian firms and officials made their mark. From winning the award for Best Stand for Doing Business to sealing $1 billion financing deal between Afreximbank and the Bank of Agriculture.
That momentum will now be carried into Lagos, which Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu hailed as a ‘global financial hub in the making.’
He noted that the 2027 fair will reinforce the state’s T.H.E.M.E.S Plus development agenda and accelerate its ambition to attract global investors.
The expected inflow of delegates, exhibitors and visitors will bring a rush of demand for hotels, transport and urban infrastructure, sectors that could see long-term benefits well beyond the weeklong event.
The last edition in Algiers drew over 112,000 participants and generated more than $48 billion in trade deals, setting a high bar for Lagos.
Organisers say IATF2027 will not just be about the numbers but about deepening Africa’s capacity to trade with itself – from agro products to garments, pharmaceuticals to ceramics, sectors where Nigerian exporters are already active.
The fair also comes at a time when the federal government is under pressure to convert AfCFTA’s promise into real gains for local businesses. Earlier this year in Lagos, Oduwole had pointed to a 13 percent rise in intra-African exports as evidence that trade corridors were expanding, with Nigerian firms already seizing opportunities.
Read also: AI expected to boost global trade by 37% — WTO
Hosting IATF2027, observers say, will test whether those gains can be scaled up into a wider national and regional transformation.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and one of its biggest economies, will be using the Lagos showcase, aid high expectations to reaffirm itself as a unifying force in the continent’s integration drive.
