Head of the African Department of the TPOI Leila Baghban said the African continent is rich with natural resources, high potentials and capacities, and Iranian traders should seize the opportunity to enhance their trade with African countries.
The continent has been paid less attention by Iranian businesspeople due to the difficulty of access to the lucrative market in Africa, low logistics facilities and attractiveness of the neighboring countries’ markets, she stated.
Baghban put the value of the products exported from Iran to the African states in 2022 at $1.3 billion and said the bilateral trade reached about $500 million in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 to November 22, 2023), showing a significant decline compared to last year’s corresponding period.
Raisins, dried nuts and food products are presently exported to the African states, she noted.
Elsewhere in her remarks, the TPOI official pointed to Iran’s shipping lines and said direct shipping lines have been launched from Iran to two African countries, the first shipping line is towards east Africa which moves regularly once a month to Kenya and Tanzania while the second shipping line that moves towards north Africa was launched two months ago.
Most of the African states have excellent climatic conditions with fertile land areas, so Iran can take advantage of the opportunity created for boosting cooperation with the African countries in the agricultural field, Baghban added.
She also said that the 5th edition of the Iran-Senegal Joint Economic Cooperation Commission will be held in Dakar on December 20 after a 12-year hiatus.