The 2015 Lagos International Trade Fair kicked off yesterday amidst high expectations from the organisers and visitors. The trade fair, which is in its 29th edition, is currently holding at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) and is scheduled to end on Sunday, November 15.

Though, a number of the exhibitors’ stands were still being set up when News Express visited the trade fair venue yesterday, this did not deprive the visitors from visiting in large numbers.

Olusegun Alabi, Head, Corporate Communications, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), organisers of the trade fair, said over 5,000 exhibitors from all over the world are expected to be at the fair, the biggest in West Africa.

Alabi told News Express that the 2015 Lagos International Trade Fair is unique in the sense that it is accommodating an industry that has been unattended to for a very long time – the creative industry, with a special focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which have the capacity to grow any economy.

“It may be too early to give a specific number of exhibitors that will attend the fair, but we are expecting more than 5,000 exhibitors. We want to surpass our previous record and to make the fair the biggest in Africa,” Alabi said.

The Chairman, Trade Promotion Board of LCCI, Chief Micheal Olawale-Cole, said the organisation would continue to strive to preserve the profile of the Lagos International Trade Fair as the flagship of trade fairs in Nigeria. “Our mission,” he said, “is to ensure the delivery of increasing value to our exhibitors and visitors and we are doing our best to live up to this bidding.”

•Photo shows Chairman, Trade Promotion Board of LCCI, Chief Micheal Olawale-Cole (L) and Muda Yusuf, DG, LCCI.

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