Black Business Edmonton highlighting 90 local businesses at trade fair this weekend

The first-ever Black Business Edmonton Trade Fair takes place this Saturday at Fort Edmonton Park. Founder, Ibukun Orefuja and Lead planner, Ajibike Akinrinwale joined CTV Morning Live’s Meteorologist Cory Edel, on what the event entails.

Cory Edel: The Black Business Edmonton Trade Fair takes place this Saturday at Fort Edmonton Park. This is the first time this is going to be happening. Why don't you tell us about why you came up with this idea?

Ibukun Orefuja: We're looking for opportunities to showcase businesses and talent in our community. So personally, for someone that's a community builder, I wanted to be able to use my skills within the community to grow business. Then it inspired creating BBE. Then over the past year, we've showcased over 400 businesses and events in the city. So we thought, in order to provide more visibility to businesses, let's have a market, but in a trade fair setting. So that's why we are doing this event.

Cory: It's pretty big. How many vendors do you have?

Ajibike Akinrinwale: We have about 90 vendors, including organizations and some of our allies. It's a wide range of vendors, from beauty to accessories to services and all kinds of products like food. It's a really wide variety, and we're excited about that.

Cory: This is the first year this is going to be happening. What can people expect when they show up?

Ibukun: There's a lot. Special highlights like the city of Edmonton and the procurement department will be there. If you're looking to get business permits, you have the opportunity to connect with them. We have people that'll be providing financial services, loans and all that kind of stuff. There's also Amazon, so if you're looking to sell to Amazon, you have the opportunity. There's a lot of businesses ranging from non-profit, beauty, food, and we have live performances as well. There's live music, there's dance, cultural exhibition, and we also have physical health booths and mental health boots. We prioritize that in the community, so that people can access all of these resources.

Cory: Perfect. Why don't we go over a few of the things in front of us?

Ibukun: This pastry is one of the best, it tastes so good. House of Ziva is a business name, so she's going to be exhibiting and selling pastries to try out.

Ajibike: This jewellery is by JV Accessories. She's actually a two-time winner of the African Fashion Week in Toronto. Her accessories are really unique and beautiful. Then we have another vendor called Beautiful Creations. They also deal in accessories and leather products. So they have belts, wallets, and all these beautiful bracelets.

Cory: There's also art that will be presented?

Ibukun: Yes, this lady is so talented. Her business name is Janani Arts and Music. She sings, and also makes all these art pieces. You can see how beautiful they look, and you can see these Lauryn Hill jackets at the fair. She makes all of these as well, so she does the artwork on the back of the jackets.

Cory: So if you're looking for something very special, very unique, and you want to be entertained as well, it sounds like a great place to come down to.

Ibukun: Yes, and we encourage people to buy from our website, because it's discounted through there.

Cory: Perfect. For more information, people can visit bbedm.ca.