Business and government leaders at the World Export Development Forum (WEDF) in Kigali declared Africa is open for business on Wednesday, at the conclusion of the three-day meeting.

Speaking at the closing session, International Trade Center (ITC) Executive Director Arancha González said the conference, first time held in Africa, reflected the reality of global trade.

"We have seen the dynamism and synergies of South-South partners at this WEDF, including from China, India, Brazil and Turkey who have been here to talk business and do business with Africa. This reflects the reality of trade today. South-South trade represents a rapidly growing share of global trade," she said.

González noted that this year's event had been the largest ever WEDF, with more than 1,200 registered participants from 73 countries and commended the Government of Rwanda for having ensured a successful event.

Rwanda was ranked as the 3rd most competitive country for business in Africa in the World Economic Forum's 2013-2014 Global Competitiveness Index Report.

In the World Bank's Doing Business 2014 report, the small East African nation was ranked 32nd out of 189 countries for ease of doing business, up from the 52nd place previously.

At WEDF, it became clear that the private sector has become more vocal on policy issues such as trade facilitation and addressing non-tariff barriers, according to organizers.

Several leading business figures called on governments to create an environment more conducive to business and to ensure that business priorities are represented in government policy.

Francis Gatare, Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board, said they were glad that the ITC chose Rwanda as the host of its inaugural event in Africa and its 50th anniversary.

The forum, he said, has come at a significant time in our country's economic development, when we are doubling our efforts to build an export oriented economy.

"It is good to know that concrete deals have come out of it and we will follow up to ensure that these come to fruition. More so, we will continue to create a more favourable environment and double our efforts in export promotion," he said.

González said ITC intends to strengthen the partnership with SMEs to address these issues and help them internationalize. "We are committed to focusing on deliverables. We are committed to results. We are committed to trade impact for good," she said.

Meanwhile, at the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum, which was held in conjunction with WEDF, around 500 business-to-business meetings led to 44 letters of intent being signed, worth around 5. 5 million U.S. dollars.

The agreements included a Brazilian buyer that will sell tour packages that bring tourists to Africa for coffee sampling, eco- tourism, Nollywood, fashion and more.

The Mara Group offered its free online application to be used by Africans who seek mentors and peer-to-peer networking across Africa; KOSGEB of Turkey offered to train African governments free of charge in the development of incubators; while the Indian government encouraged African business people to take advantage of its sponsored training facilities.

In her closing remarks González announced that next year's event would be held in Qatar, in association with Tasdeer, the development agency of the Qatar Development Bank.

ITC is a joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. Endi

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