Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Today marks the launch of the inaugural Africa Expo 2022, the first Business-to-Business (B2B) tradeshow dedicated to African business professionals to showcase its products and services to Malaysia - a strategic gateway opportunity to break into the Asian markets. For 3 days only, (AE2022) is hosting exhibitors and participants at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur and is expected to attract over 5,000 trade visitors.

In his officiating address, H.E. Prof. Hillary Barchok, Governor of the County Government of Bomet, Kenya said, “Over the years, the economic growth of Africa’s private sector has reached impressive feats yet many Asian companies are not aware of Africa’s promising business climate. Until the Covid-19 pandemic, Africa was the second-fastest growing continent outside Asia.”

“Following the recent African Continental Free Trade Agreement signed by its countries, Africa is a rising power that offers massive, scalable investment and partnership opportunities for Asian trade sectors, as Africa ramps up its economic standing. Thus, the Africa Expo comes at the perfect time to strengthen the alliance between Africa and Asia towards mutually benefitting these two economies,” he added.

With the tagline ‘From Africa to Asia’, AE2022 features African business professionals from more than 28 countries; manufacturers, distributors, importers, and exporters of various scales, all the way to government bodies and policymakers. It aims to open the market for African products and services to cater to the Asian continent and globally while encouraging bilateral trade between the two biggest continents in the world – through Malaysia. Through AE2022, Malaysia further strengthens its position as an ideal springboard to the Asia-Pacific market due to its strategic location, ease of doing business, well-connected infrastructure, excellent fibre optic technology, as well as skilled workforce.

Meanwhile, Prof. Dr Abdul Kabur Ibrahim, Organising Chairman of AE2022 shared, “Foreign direct investment (FDI) to Africa increased four per cent to US$57 billion, driven by infrastructure investments especially in the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions, meanwhile FDI inflows into Southern Africa almost doubled to US$13 billion while investment in Eastern Africa grew 15 per cent to US$6.2 billion. This shows that Africa is continuing to sustain its economic and population growth and will attract market-seeking FDI into consumer-oriented industries.”

Throughout the three days, AE2022 features exhibitions from over 77 booths as well as summits and roundtable dialogues, business-matching sessions, industrial site visits and business awards for rising stars across industries.

In its debut, the Africa Expo 2022 will feature a wide range of sectors including agriculture, banking & finance, business services, chemical & biotechnology, construction, cosmetics, drones & robots, education & training, fashion, textiles & footwear, food & beverage, gems & mining, halal services, healthcare & wellness, infrastructure, lifestyle, machinery & automotive, pharmaceuticals, technology, and travel & hospitality. For more info on how to exhibit or participate, visit www.africa-xpo.com.

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