The mini-Graad exhibition took place this weekend at the Benin Royal Hotel in Cotonou. The two-day exhibition is a showcase for local products processed in Benin. It gathered about sixty men and women entrepreneurs who are in the business of innovation and who manufacture typical Beninese products in front of a rather diverse audience.
Highly anticipated by lovers of local consumption, this mini-fair is quite rich thanks to a variety of food products, fashion, cosmetics … These include soap, oil, tea, balm, liquor and syrup made from moringa, biscuits made from cassava, shea butter, traditional medicine products, mint and mango drinks, clothes … in short everything you can find in a local market.
Nadine Hagen, the initiator of the project, emphasised the need for us Africans to consume our own African-made products at the opening of the fair. For her, the reason behind this extraordinary initiative was the health crisis of covid 19. “When covid came along, we realised that lemons and ginger, which cost nothing in Africa, have become sought-after commodities in all skies,” she says. She also highlighted our African products, which are very beneficial antioxidants for the body and sadly are neglected here at local level. “We have moringa, baobab powder… but we Africans ignore them.
Thus, sessions of presentation and tasting of products, positive testimonies, rejoicing, discoveries and wishes for success marked this mini-fair.
In addition, several communications followed by debates were also on the menu of this mini-fair to encourage entrepreneurs to innovate further in order to make their products more competitive on the regional and international markets. These interventions all pointed to the need to promote local products in order to make the most of them. “If we keep our products here, we will never be rich. We have to engage in network marketing where we sell to many,” insisted the event promoter.
In addition, it must be said that this mini-fair was organised to mobilise local entrepreneurs in preparation for the Great Meeting of Artisans from Africa and the Diaspora (GRAAD). The latter aims to bring together all the countries of French-speaking Africa and its diaspora around Made in Africa. It will be held on 28, 29 and 30 July 2022 at the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A unique event that makes Benin the host country as the former Dahomey is making progress in local processing. “Since I was born, I have always known Benin as a hub of business but also of homeopathy, the made in Benin is very advanced” according to Nadine Hagen.
At the end of the two-day exhibition, the fruit lived up to the promise of the flowers, according to the organisers. “Our expectations have been met, which means that we can count on these local producers to do good things like promote the made in Benin and moreover the made in Africa,” said the president of the organizing committee, Madina Adam Idriss. Appointment is therefore made for July 2022 around the Made in Africa
