The African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, today unveiled its flagship African Trade Report 2025 at the ongoing Afreximbank Annual Meetings, AAM2025, in Abuja. The report offers a bold and data-driven roadmap to navigate Africa’s trade future in a volatile global financial environment.
Themed “African Trade in a Changing Global Financial Architecture,” the report explores how Africa can turn current global challenges, rising geopolitical tensions, new trade barriers, and financial uncertainty, into opportunities for resilience, innovation, and deeper regional integration.
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President and Chairman of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah described the report as “a compelling roadmap for Africa to reposition itself in a volatile global economy.” He emphasized the need for the continent to strengthen its trade finance systems and accelerate the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA. “The message is clear. Africa must turn global fragmentation into an opportunity for industrialisation, digital progress, and greater control over its financial systems,” he said.
The Bank’s Group Chief Economist and Managing Director of Research, Dr. Yemi Kale noted that despite global headwinds, intra-African trade rebounded by 12.4 percent in 2024, reaching US$220.3 billion. This followed a 5.9 percent contraction in 2023. “This shows the tangible benefits of AfCFTA implementation, even as the continent continues to grapple with inflation, sovereign debt risks, and a persistent trade finance gap,” Kale said.
Africa’s total merchandise trade surged by 13.9 percent in 2024 to US$1.5 trillion, recovering from a 5.4 percent drop the previous year. However, the continent still accounts for only 3.3 percent of global exports. This underscores the urgent need to diversify away from raw commodity exports and ramp up industrial production to join global value chains meaningfully.
While the global economy slowed to 3.3 percent growth in 2024 and is forecasted to dip further in 2025, Africa maintained a growth rate of 3.2 percent, driven by strong commodity prices and improved fiscal management in several countries. Still, growth patterns remain uneven across the continent.
The report also highlights critical progress in regional integration, particularly through the AfCFTA and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, PAPSS, which is reducing Africa’s dependency on foreign currencies and simplifying cross-border transactions.
Beyond analysis, the report offers actionable strategies. It calls for greater regulatory harmonisation across African nations, increased mobilisation of domestic capital, such as pension and sovereign wealth funds, and the strategic use of Africa’s seat in the G20 to press for global reforms. These include a fairer distribution of international financial resources, better access to climate financing, and reforms in credit rating systems that more accurately reflect African economies. The rising significance of the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, AAMFI, is also captured in the report. Afreximbank alone disbursed over US$17.5 billion in trade finance in 2024 and is targeting US$40 billion by 2026.
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As the continent navigates a fast-changing world, the African Trade Report 2025 provides more than an outlook. It presents a blueprint for how Africa can build a stronger, fairer, and more self-sustaining economy from within. Afreximbank is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution established to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade.
For over 30 years, it has played a leading role in deploying innovative financial structures to accelerate industrialisation and trade across Africa. A firm supporter of the AfCFTA, the Bank launched PAPSS to streamline payments across the continent and has committed US$10 billion through an Adjustment Fund to support countries in AfCFTA implementation. As of December 2024, Afreximbank’s total assets and contingencies exceeded US$40.1 billion, with shareholder funds amounting to US$7.2 billion. Headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, the Bank is part of a group that includes its equity impact fund, FEDA, and its insurance subsidiary, AfrexInsure.
