Colours of Africa exhibition planned for September
The embassies of 12 African countries will come together for Colours of Africa exhibition 2024, exhibiting new perceptions of African investment opportunities.
One of the most significant objectives of the event is to present to Thais diverse perspectives of Africa and give them a better understanding or the continent. Another is to address the potential of the continent by promoting investment and trade opportunities between Thailand and countries in Africa.
At the exhibition, different perspectives of Africa will be shown through cuisine, fashion, and traditional dances. Joining the embassies will be elements of the private sectors such as hospitality and airway businesses.
There will be events for Thai students to participate in such as a trivia competition on the African region, English speech contests, and a drawing competition on the topic “Africa in My Imagination”.
Colours of Africa 2024 is the fourth such event the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organised. It will be held from September 9 to 11 at Central World.
“Africa today has the largest free-trade area, known as the CFTA or African Continental Free Trade Area, with a population of 1.3 billion people and a growing middle class of about 600 million,” said Lindsay Kimwole Kiptiness, Kenyan ambassador to Thailand. “The ultimate goal of the CFTA is to promote free trade in Africa, to remove trade barriers, and allow people to move freely within Africa.
“How would Thai businesses benefit from CFTA? Number one, we have a big market. You can come and sell products from Thailand, and we encourage you to come and set up business in Africa, take advantage of the CFTA. And not only for the Africa market; you can produce and import back to Thailand, Asia, and Europe.”
The ambassador mentioned avocados, South African wine, and Kenyan coffee production as examples of how Africa is an area used to produce high-standard products and export to other regions.
Kenya is the largest producer of avocados in Africa, with 518,500 tonnes in 2023 according to Business Day Africa. Avocados also grow well in various African countries such as South Africa and Tanzania.
Market Forces Africa also reported that Ethiopia, the biggest coffee producer in the continent, is expected to produce more coffee in 2024, as many as 8.35 million 60kg bags after producing 8.27 million bags this year. However, the export potential needs to be expanded.
Colours of Africa 2024 is organised by 6 African embassies in Thailand (Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa), 6 African embassies in other countries (Mozambique, Ghana, Uganda, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Botswana) along with Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs and private sectors.
