Industrialisation Key to Unlocking $77bn Intra-African Trade – Afreximbank

Africa could unlock an additional $77 billion in intra-African trade by addressing market and policy bottlenecks, but achieving that potential will require accelerated industrialisation, stronger regional value chains and expanded trade finance, according to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

The bank made the disclosure in its 2025 Annual Trade Development Effectiveness Report, which highlights the vast opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) while pointing to persistent structural challenges that continue to constrain trade among African economies.

According to the report, Afreximbank deployed $22.4 billion across 183 investments in 2025, mobilised an additional $13.1 billion in co-financing and issued $6.2 billion in guarantees. These interventions facilitated $8.7 billion in intra-African trade, supported $2.8 billion in manufactured exports, created nearly 209,000 direct jobs and benefited more than 10 million people across the continent.

The report said the bank’s strategy increasingly focuses on financing industrial projects to help African countries shift from exporting raw commodities to producing higher-value manufactured goods.

It noted that manufactured and semi-processed products account for more than 60 per cent of intra-African exports, compared with only 13 to 17 per cent of Africa’s exports to markets outside the continent, which remain largely dominated by primary commodities.

Afreximbank identified minerals and mineral processing, machinery, motor vehicles, electrical equipment, food processing, chemicals and plastics as sectors with the greatest unrealised export potential and urged greater investment in these industries under the AfCFTA framework.

Despite recent gains, the report said Africa continues to face an annual trade finance gap of more than $120 billion. It explained that Afreximbank’s interventions helped reduce the gap by 18.7 per cent in 2025 through $4.8 billion in trade finance facilities extended across 26 countries. The funding generated nearly 59,000 sub-loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them owned by women and young entrepreneurs.

The report also highlighted the growing adoption of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which processed cross-border payments through 72 commercial banks in 27 countries during the year. The platform is designed to reduce dependence on foreign currencies and lower transaction costs for businesses trading across Africa.

Beyond trade finance, the bank expanded investments in industrial parks, healthcare, transport, agriculture and energy. It noted that the African Medical Centre of Excellence in Abuja treated more than 2,000 patients after opening in June 2025, while special economic zones supported by Afreximbank in Benin and Togo attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and created thousands of jobs.

The report further cited the success of the 2025 Intra-African Trade Fair in Algiers, which attracted more than 112,000 visitors, 2,190 exhibitors and generated $49.94 billion in trade and investment deals. An impact assessment found that every dollar invested in the fair facilitated $2.20 in intra-African trade and supported 42 additional jobs for every $1 million invested.

Afreximbank said it has achieved nearly 89 per cent of the targets under its current five-year strategic plan, which ends in 2026, despite geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainty.