(Ecofin Agency) - From March 3 to March 5, 2016, Dakar will host the first African Halal Business Forum. According to the Senegalese Ministry of Trade which co-organizes the event with various Islamic financial institutions, the event “will gather businessmen and investors from Arab and Asiatic countries, members of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic) and allow them to meet economic operators of the sub-region so as to build new partnerships and establish halal business-related connections”.

The event in fact is the concretization of a decision taken at the 30th ministerial session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC), which took place in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2014.

The forum will also favor economic actors from a continent where Islam is dominant and where, food market shows an economic potential of $150 billion in Africa. Moreover, its timing is perfect given that many African and Maghreb countries are implementing halal-focused policies.

It should be recalled that 16.4% of global food expenses are halal.

Aaron Akinocho