North Africa Regional Trade Show Specialist Full Time

OVERVIEW OF ATI

The USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) Activity is designed to bolster the U.S. Government’s ability to boost trade and investment to, from, and within the African continent. The continent-wide program is USAID’s flagship effort in support of the Prosper Africa initiative and will expand and accelerate two-way trade and investment between African nations and the United States.

Driven by market demand, ATI embraces innovative approaches to achieve its goals. ATI is designed as a small, core set of centrally coordinated technical and institutional support activities, and a large, flexible performance-based subcontracting and grants under contract facility designed to support the needs and opportunities that USAID Missions and the private sector identify.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

ATI aims to generate higher levels of export sales between Africa and the U.S. in line with Prosper Africa objectives. One mechanism is through trade promotion activities via a fully integrated array of support services provided before, during, and after trade fair events such as the Sourcing at MAGIC exhibition.

The ATI Middle East Regional (MER) Bureau requires the services of a Regional Trade Show Specialist to support the North Africa team to recruit, screen, and prepare 30 textile and apparel, home textile and leather goods firms to exhibit in-person support for Sourcing at Magic Las Vegas (MAGIC)and 45 agri-food firms at the Summer Fancy Food Show (SFF).

MAGIC is one of the premier fashion tradeshows in the US and is held twice a year (February and August). The event showcases men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, footwear, accessories, and manufacturing resources from around the world. MAGIC brings together a global audience of over 32,000 retail buyers and 860 brands covering 60 countries, influencers, media, and leaders together under one roof. It is well attended by major competitors from Asian countries, such as China, shedding light where African suppliers should be and may have a comparative advantage to enter and/or expand into the U.S. market.

The Summer Fancy Food Show (SFF) has been an annual event in New York for over 60 years. In 2024, the show featured over 2,200 food makers from six continents and attracted over 30,000 professionals. This event provides an excellent platform for African exhibitors to meet buyers and gain exposure. The specialty food market comprised 63 categories and had $87.3 billion in sales in 2023, accounting for 67% of all specialty retail sales.

POSITION OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVES

The Regional Trade Show Specialist will support and coordinate with ATI and USAID Middle East Regional Bureau to recruit, screen, and select retail ready and export ready firms, prepare selected firms to exhibit in-person in advance of MAGIC and SFF trade shows and follow-up with firms post the show.

Responsibilities

• Assist all pre-selected North African firms to complete the MAGIC and SFF application forms.
• Follow-up with and collect signed partnership agreements from the North African firms.
• Collect and coordinate submission of relevant information from exhibitor firms including logos, contact information, addresses, profiles, product catalogs, and photos for Africa Pavilion Look Books.
• Provide North African firms with technical assistance so they can effectively engage with buyers at the trade show.
  • Provide onsite assistance to North African firms regarding optimal use of lead retrieval systems.
• Support firms to update their catalogs and websites in English.
• Ensure individual Deal Notes are signed and submitted to ATI in a timely manner.
• Coordinate the participation of firms in preparatory webinars.
• Update database of North African firms
• Attend the trade shows in person and support participating firms to facilitate deals, along with any other needs ATI should identify during the shows.
• In collaboration with ATI, follow up with North African firms to collect data about closed deals and projected deals after the trade shows.

Qualifications Required

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university in business, management, marketing or related fields.
• At least 9+ years of progressively responsible work experience in the apparel, textile, home textile and/or leather products sector including some years in promotion and sourcing function.
• Knowledge of the regional agri-food sector.
• Able to write reports and presentations using MS Office Suite applications.
• Experience tracking and cleaning data in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets.
• Fluency in spoken and written English.

Desirable

• Post graduate degree or professional qualification in business administration, management, merchandizing, fashion design, economics or another relevant field.
• International work experience, particularly in North Africa countries.
• Training and public speaking experience.
• Relevant specialized experience in specific textile, apparel, or footwear products.
• Fluency in spoken and written French and Arabic.

Reporting

• The Regional Trade Show Specialist will report to the USAID Africa Trade and Investment Activity Regional Manager working closely with the Trade Specialist.

ABOUT DAI

DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine and project operations worldwide. We tackle fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action—action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world.

DAI and its employees are committed to confronting racism and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work. DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner.

DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All of our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks.

Tagged as: Algeria, DAI Global, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia