The African Union Commission has unveiled the 150 Youth Start-ups winners selected to participate at the African Union Youth Start-Up Pavilion in the 2021 Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), scheduled to take place from 15^th to 21^st November 2021, in Durban, South Africa.

Start-Ups are the critical partners for achieving growth and structural transformation. To support this, the African Union Commission, and the AeTrade Group are organizing the first edition of the AU Youth Start-Up Pavilion that will bring together, youth Start-ups from the continent and the diaspora, to participate and co-exhibit their products and services within the Pavilion. The 150 participants were selected from about 5000 digital applications submitted in the Continental Competition for Youth Start-Up launched on the 7th July 2020 as part of the activities on the commemoration of Africa Integration Day 2020. The competition focused on among others, innovative ideas in addressing Africa’s value chain challenges, sectoral diversity with a focus on emerging sectors and selection in compliance with gender equality.

In addition to the selected 150 youth start-ups, other partners involved in the pavilion will also invite youth start-ups to participate at the IATF. The Pavilion will open new business opportunities for each of the Start-Ups with the aim of positively impacting Africa’s productive transformation in the coming decades. 

The Second Edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair is a continuation of the first ever Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) held from 11^th to December 17^th 2018 in Cairo, Egypt, that attracted over 1,000 exhibitors, over 300 speakers from more than 45 countries, during which US$ 32 billion trade and investment deals were signed.

You can find from the attachment the full list of the Selected Start-Ups to participate in the AU Youth Pavilion at the IATF 2021.

For further information please contact:

Doreen Apollos | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 115 517 700 | E-mail: ApollosD@africa-union.org l | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Ms. Meaza Tezera| Department of Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining| African Union Commission | E-mail: Meazat@africa-union.org  | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org
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