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Afreximbank’s 20TH Trade Finance Seminar and Workshop Holds in Durban, South Africa.

September 16, 2019

The 20^th Trade and Finance Seminar and Workshop hosted by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will take place in Durban, South Africa, from 4 to 7 November 2019. This was made known today during a briefing at the Bank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The seminar and workshop series, formerly known as the Structured Trade Finance Seminar and Workshop will be organized this year in collaboration with the South African Province of Kwazulu-Natal. The Series aims to equip African financial institutions, bankers and professionals from regulatory agencies, corporates and legal firms with skills for dealing with the challenges of financing transactions in times of economic uncertainty.Afreximbank is Africa’s foremost pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade.

Announcing details of this year’s event, the Bank said said that the 2019 seminar will focus on global topical issues affecting trade and on technical aspects of structuring trade finance transactions, thus enabling participants to properly identify the risks in trade finance transactions and to structure bankable trade and trade-related finance deals of varying levels of complexity.

According to the President of the Bank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, the event has not only become an important platform for African bankers and other trade finance practitioners to meet, network and share knowledge with their counterparts, but would also bring substantial benefits to Kwazulu-Natal from a tourism perspective. This year’s speakers are drawn from among highly-rated experts from leading financial institutions and firms as well as key financial service regulators from Africa and beyond.

The more than 250 expected participants will be senior executives from African banks and financial institutions, regulatory institutions, hedge funds, Africa country funds, venture capital institutions, corporate entities engaged in trade, manufacturing and privatized infrastructure projects, Afreximbank’s trade finance and project finance intermediaries, African law firms and insurance firms.

About 1,800 African trade finance professionals have taken part in the seminar and workshop series since it was introduced 20 years ago. The 2018 seminar and workshop took place in Casablanca, Morocco, following the 2017 event in Cape Verde.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

AfCFTA holds the prospect of transforming African economies— Ekra

July 27, 2019

Jean-Louis Ekra, an Ivorian national, and former president of Afreximbank, in this interview, he spoke on Africa’s trade relations, especially on Russia-Africa relations and AfCFTA, Africa’s expected game changer. Excerpts:

What are the prospects of African Continental Free Trade Area agreement hold for Africa’s development?

You know that Africa is a continent that trades the least with itself. There are benefits trading with your neighbors, like reduced costs and so on. The first thing that African countries will benefit from this agreement is the opportunity to trade with their neighbors by just opening borders.

The second is that it will push countries to transform their usual commodities into manufactured goods. You need to have complementary products to trade effectively with your neighbors. So, it will be a good incentive for African economies to enter a process like AfCFTA that will help to transform their economies.

What is your view on the future of Africa-Russia relationship?

Africa needs to diversify its relationships for its own benefit. A diversified relationship protects one if one of many partners falls on bad times. So, it is important for Africa, from that perspective, to diversify its relationship. So the Russia-Africa relationship is welcomed in that context.

How best can Africa leverage on its relationship with Russia to bridge its infrastructural gap?

Russia, as you know, has advanced technology. In infrastructure, Russia is well known for power. It has capabilities in solar and hydropower energy that can be implemented in our continent. So, I think that it will be good for African and Russian private sectors to jointly develop those activities.

Some are canvassing that Africa countries should bring home some of their foreign reserves held abroad for investment in Africa. What is your view? There is an initiative that we launched in Afreximbank when I was there, which is ongoing. Yes, it is correct for Africa to try and use, as much as possible, its own resources, including external reserves. There is no reason the continent should be borrowing money when it has money in deposits in other places.

Won’t it have an adverse impact on foreign exchange markets on the continent? No. It won’t. These reserves are backed by strong ratings of an institution like Afreximbank. You have currency in America or in Europe. If you have it in Africa it is still your own, so it should not affect your exchange rate.

On the event that this becomes a reality, which institution will warehouse the foreign reserves?

Foreign exchange reserves have to be held in a strongly rated institution because they are important assets of a country. So, AfDB can hold those reserves likewise the Afreximbank. In my view, these are the two institutions that can hold such a reserve.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Celebrating Africa’s Doyen Corporate Banking; Amr Kamel

Vice President, Business Development and Corporate Banking of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Mr. Amr Kamel would be a credible chronicler of the advent and sustained the trajectory of the progress of Africa’s premier trade finance institution, having been at the Bank for all but two of its 26 years of existence.

Little wonder then, that Mr. Kamel currently oversees the Bank’s origination and business development, including Client Relations, Project Finance, Export Development, Syndication and Agency, Trade Finance, Guarantees, and Specialized Finance as well as Advisory and Capital Market departments. His experience spans many banking functions, including structured trade finance, documentary credits, operations, loan administration and agency, treasury, marketing, and business development.

For one who believes that more African entrepreneurs must be enabled to handle and benefit from businesses run within the continent, Mr. Kamel is leading the Bank’s team of business development experts to get as many as 700 commercial banks to provide financial services to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Everyone agrees that SMEs are the true drivers of growth and employment in developing economies and Kamel believes that if Afreximbank’s services reach more of this category of businesses by this year’s end, the Bank’s mandate of promoting, financing, promoting and expanding intra-and-extra-African trade would be met as its founding fathers expect.

The goal for the teeming small businesses in Africa is to have access to finance, which traditional commercial banks and their international partners have denied them and continued to make inaccessible as global uncertainties rock the international financial landscape. The Bank hopes to pump $25 billion into the market to support intra-African trade in the five-year period ending 2021.

Already, according to Mr. Kamel, Afreximbank is helping the continent to survive the ongoing global trade war through the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, especially now that it is set for the launch of its operational phase. The inaugural Intra-African Trade Fair held last year in Cairo, Egypt attempted to connect buyers and sellers on the continent as never before.

Mr. Kamel hopes that the biennial event will grow to become a living bazaar for building long-term relationship among Africa’s businesses and entrepreneurs. Mr. Kamel already looks forward to the expansion of the fair and the buy-in of more businesses in the coming years. Mr. Kamel’s managerial acumen has been largely influenced by his academic and professional background. He is an Economics graduate of the American University of Cairo and holder of an MBA in Financial Management from City University, New York.

He started his banking career in 1985, working variously for Bank of Credit and Commerce, Bank of America, and Chemical Bank, before joining Afreximbank in 1995 as a Senior Operations Associate. Mr. Kamel then progressed through the ranks to the position of Director, Banking Operations in January 2011 before he was promoted to his current position in 2016. Indeed, based on Mr. Kamel’s vast experience in the financial sector, some refer to him as the Doyen of corporate banking.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Market Integration holds the prospect of transforming African economies— Ekra

July 15, 2019

In this interview, Jean-Louis Ekra, former president of Afreximbank, spoke on the emerging Russia-Africa relations and the benefits of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreements which was just signed by African leaders in Niamey, Niger, among other issues. Excerpts:

What are the prospects of African Continental Free Trade Area agreement hold for Africa’s development?

You know that Africa is a continent that trades the least with itself. There are benefits trading with your neighbours, like reduced costs and so on. The first thing that African countries will benefit from this agreement is the opportunity to trade with their neighbours by just opening borders. The second is that it will push countries to transform their usual commodities into manufactured goods. You need to have complementary products to trade effectively with your neighbours. So, it will be a good incentive for African economies to enter a process like AfCFTA that will help to transform their economies.

What is your view on the future of Africa-Russia relationship?

Africa needs to diversify its relationships for its own benefit. A diversified relationship protects one if one of many partners falls on bad times. So, it is important for Africa, from that perspective, to diversify its relationship. So the Russia-Africa relationship is welcomed in that context.

How best can Africa leverage on its relationship with Russia to bridge its infrastructural gap?

Russia, as you know, has advanced technology. In infrastructure, Russia is well known for power. It has capabilities in solar and hydropower energy that can be implemented in our continent. So, I think that it will be good for African and Russian private sectors to jointly develop those activities. Some are canvassing that Africa countries should bring home some of their foreign reserves held abroad for investment in Africa.

What is your view? There is an initiative that we launched in Afreximbank when I was there, which is ongoing. Yes, it is correct for Africa to try and use, as much as possible, its own resources, including external reserves. There is no reason the continent should be borrowing money when it has money in deposits in other places. Won’t it have an adverse impact on foreign exchange markets on the continent? No. It won’t. These reserves are backed by strong ratings of an institution like Afreximbank. You have currency in America or in Europe. If you have it in Africa it is still your own, So it should not affect your exchange rate.

On the event that this becomes a reality, which institution will warehouse the foreign reserves?

Foreign exchange reserves have to be held in a strongly rated institution because they are important assets of a country. So, AfDB can hold those reserves likewise the Afreximbank. In my view, these are the two institutions that can hold such a reserve.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Denys Denya: One of Africa’s Rising Corporate Titan

When the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) closed the $150 million Korean-focused Club Facility in September, last year, with such resounding success that it realized $160 million due to the overwhelming confidence in its brand and solid ratings, Mr Denys Denya, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Finance, Administration and Banking Services could not be more excited. He told partners and inquisitive media persons at the London venue that the facility would help the Bank to diversify its sources of funding “by geography, instrument and investor base”.

Mr. Denya’s hope that such targeted facilities would become a common feature of Afreximbank’s operations to deliver on its mandate of boosting African trade with itself and the world at large are holding up. About the same time as the Korean deal, the Bank signed a $50 million “cooperation” facility with the National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) for Foreign Economic Activity, which envisages cooperation on trade financing as well as credit lines for financing export of goods and services between Egypt and other African countries to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Mr. Denya’s conviction is that the resounding success achieved by some countries in Asia, in particular, China and Korea, began with the critical role played by intra-regional trade in their development. He believes their experience presents Africa with valuable lessons for positioning intra-African trade as a key pillar for economic growth and sustainable development. According to him, “connecting the host of small and disconnected markets through the deepening of intra-African trade and economic integration would create an environment where firms gained access to hitherto non-existent larger markets.”

An advocate of people power and popular participation, Denya is on a self-imposed task of educating African shareholders of their powers to ensure corporate governance in firms in which they own interests, using his home country of Zimbabwe as a case study.

“The apathy of Zimbabwean shareholders and those in most other countries across the African continent is at odds with developments in the rest of the world, especially in advanced economies, where activist shareholders are increasingly using their power as company owners to examine financial reports, monitor executive remuneration, enforce good corporate governance and push for increased sustainability and transparency,” he laments.

He is certain that the survival of corporate and sovereign entities, which contribute to aggregate output expansion and therefore economic growth at the national level, depends on the quality of corporate governance. Some of his thoughts were laid out in a moving address he gave on August 8, 2018, in Dubai at a roundtable session on the theme “How to Attract Investment in Africa,” organized as part of the Winter University Conference of the Institute of Expert-Accountants of Zimbabwe.

Mr. Denya’s sterling leadership qualities have been largely shaped by his academic-cum-professional background. He holds Bachelor of Accountancy and MBA degrees from the University of Zimbabwe. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe and of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

Before joining Afreximbank in 2010, Mr. Denya worked with Flexible Packaging Zimbabwe Limited as Group Finance Manager and TA Holdings as Financial Executive/Company Secretary. He moved to First Merchant Bank of Zimbabwe as Relationship Manager where he rose to be Finance Director and Managing Director. He was at Nedbank Limited as Divisional Managing Director in charge of five Southern African countries from 2006 until April 2010.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Over $40 billion in Trade Deals, Participants From 55 Countries Expected at Intra African Trade Fair 2020 in Kigali

July 11, 2019

Organizers of the Second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2020) have promised that it will surpass the achievements of the inaugural trade fair held in Cairo in 2018 by attracting 10,000 participants and generating intra-African trade and investment deals worth more than $40 billion. This was made known by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

Prof. Oramah was speaking at the formal launch of IATF2020 during the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Business Forum 2019 held on the sidelines of the 12th Extraordinary Summit of African Union (AU) Heads of State in Niamey, Niger.

He told guests that the trade fair, scheduled for Kigali from 1 to 7 September 2020, would attract more than 1,100 exhibitors from over 55 countries.

“Working with our esteemed partners, we will exceed the achievements of 2018,” he said, describing IATF2018 as a resounding success, not in the colourful displays exhibited, but in the showcasing of diversity of tradable goods by about 1,100 exhibitors from 45 countries and in the execution of deals worth about $32 billion.

That trade fair resulted in a Nigerian technology company winning a $100-million contract to provide technology-based solutions to the South Sudanese government; an Egyptian company winning contracts in many African countries to supply and install energy generation and distribution equipment worth close to $1 billion; Egyptian and Tunisian companies signing a $50-million partnership deal to create a joint venture for assembling home appliances; and the signing of a $3-billion energy generation project between an Egyptian company and an African government, the largest-ever intra-African project executed exclusively by African entities, including financial institutions, he noted.

“The momentum created by the maiden IATF and the historic launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will sustain the growth of cross-border trade and investments,” he affirmed.

Also speaking, Amb. Albert Muchanga, the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, said that the IATF was one of a set of activities planned by the African Union Commission to support the implementation of the AfCFTA. The others included the African Trade Observatory, a portal for real-time information on business opportunities.

Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Minister of Trade and Industry of Rwanda, said that it was important for the African private sector to take advantage of IATF2020 to present and exchange their products and for entrepreneurs to use it to boost their visibility.

The Second Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF2020), which will take place in Kigali from 1-7 September 2020, is expected to attract more than 1,100 exhibitors from 55 countries and to provide a platform for sharing trade, investment and market information. It will enable buyers and sellers, investors and countries to meet, discuss and conclude business deals as well as provide an opportunity for exhibitors to showcase their goods and services and to engage in business-to-business exchanges.

The key features include an IATF2020 Conference, a Creative Africa initiative, which will showcase Africa’s creative economy, Country Days dedicated to specific African countries, and an interactive online Virtual Trade Fair.

IATF2020 is being organized by Afreximbank, in collaboration with the African Union, and is hosted by the Government of Rwanda. The event partners are the African Development Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa represented by the Africa Trade Policy Centre; Afrochampions Initiative; Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry; World Trade Centre Miami; Export Development Authority of Egypt; and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

AfCFTA: Free Trade and Matters Arising

July 6, 2019

With rising trade and economic nationalism, buoyed mostly by President Donald Trump’s rationalization of his philosophy of “America First” foreign and economic policy stance, the world is experiencing an avalanche of changes. The US leader then goes on to slam – or threaten to slam – punitive tariffs on the goods from countries he thinks are not playing fair in the trade game with the world’s largest and richest economy.

After China, more and more countries are coming under President Trump’s tough rhetoric and protectionist hammer: Canada, Mexico, Japan, Russia, India, Iran and even the continent of Africa, which once enjoyed a preferential trade pact with the US.

The author of The Art of the Deal has jettisoned multilateralism on which global trade has rested since the end of World War II for bilateral deals with the country, picking and insisting on terms that favour his country, effectively pulling the brakes on globalization and fanning the embers of nationalism worldwide.

This unsettling disruption to the established world order is what the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is examined at its just concluded 2019 Annual Meetings in Moscow, Russian. Prof. Ha-Joon Chang, Korean-born Professor of Economics, Institute for Public Policy Research, Cambridge University and author of Bad Samaritans, Chief speaker at the main seminar Prospects for Multilateralism in the Era of Protectionism, lampooned the notion of the level playing field, and argued that the developing world must ignore it if it hopes to grow as the rich world did over time.

“The idea only makes sense when the players are equally matched,” he reasoned” and no one can say that such poor countries as Guinea Bissau or Namibia stand a chance against the mighty United States whose currency, the dollar, rules the world!

The Cambridge don drew a burst of laughter from the packed auditorium when he employed the analogy of boxing in which contests are only deemed fair only when contestants are in the same weighed bracket. The US and other rich world countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and Japan, he contended, are heavyweights angling to square off with lightweights.

The hypocrisy rankles all the more when the economic history of the world indicates that all rich world countries did the same things developing countries are today accused of in the 18th and 19th and early 20th centuries, viz: intellectual property theft, counterfeiting, tariffs, and quotas.

What then can developing countries do to cope with the growing retreat into nationalism in the developed economies? Prof. Ha-Joon counsels that they must deal with the biased system in “pragmatic ways”, building infrastructure, integrating for bigger markets where the countries stimulate and learn from one another since political and economic interests naturally go together.

Veronika Nikishina, Minister in Charge of trade, Eurasian Economic Commission, a distinguished panelist at the session, regrets that “multilateral trade is cracking’ and being replaced by “selfish protectionism”. The commission, she says, remains committed to free trade, and is currently negotiating with Iran, Serbia, Singapore and some African countries, including Egypt. Waxing philosophical, Nikishina calls on all countries to each “light a candle so we can make the image we want”.

Interestingly, the only African panelist, Albert Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union, is not as optimistic that the current descent into nationalism in the developed world would slow down or abate. The “playing field is going to be increasingly ‘unlevel’”, he laments. His reasons are cogent: Artificial Intelligence and robotics are, regrettably, impediments, because they eliminate the low-skill and repetitive jobs that most African workers do. Moreover, export-led development which Asian countries grew on is closing up, so Africa needs its own home-grown model.

The solution? Predictably, Muchanga sells the African Union’s pitch: African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), which is integrating the continent for a large market that does not depend on the whims of developed countries. Fortunately, plans are about concluded on all the details of the protocols and processes needed for take-off.

Afreximbank’s choice of Moscow as the venue of this year’s annual meetings demonstrates the new thinking in Africa. According to Prof. Irina Abramova, Director, Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, institutions in Russia are talking about the growing role of Africa in global business because of its important mineral resources and large population and market.

Her observation and claim are corroborated by none less than Afreximbank’s President, Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah. He disclosed that Africa – Russia trade has blossomed 70% in the past two years since the Bank started dealing with the Russian Federation, valued at over $5 billion. This year’s Russia –Africa Events simply mark the beginning of the type of diversification and expansion Africa must embark on to climb on to the global trade arena in spite of the challenges posed by the growing trend in protectionism sweeping the world.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Afreximbank Included in SEM-10 Index in Mauritius

The Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) has announced the inclusion of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in the SEM-10 index. An announcement by SEM listed Afreximbank among the SEM-10 Constituents for the third quarter starting 3 July 2019.

Other companies on the list are MCB Group Limited; IBL Ltd; SBM Holdings Ltd; Grit Real Estate Income Group Limited; ENL Limited (Ordinary A Shares); CIEL Limited; New Mauritius Hotels Limited; Rogers & Company Limited; and Lux Island Resorts Ltd.

The index tracks the performance of the 10 largest stocks on the SEM in terms of market capitalization and the 10 most liquid stocks in terms of average value traded and trading frequency during the preceding three months.

Being part of the SEM-10 index is expected to enhance Afreximbank’s visibility with local and international investors and, potentially, encourage institutional investors that track the index to include the Bank’s Depositary Receipts in their investment portfolios.

Ninety percent of foreign investors’ transactions on SEM-listed stocks is targeted towards companies that are included in the SEM-10 index. Moreover, some of the larger companies in the index are tracked closely by global data vendors like Bloomberg, Factset, and Refinitiv, as well as by global Index providers, such as S&P, Dow Jones, MSCI and FTSE.

The SEM-10 Index is subject to quarterly reviews and to remain in the index, companies need to ensure regular trading of their securities.

Afreximbank currently ranks as the SEM’s third best-performing stock on a year-to-date basis in 2019, with a performance of 26.5 percent.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Afreximbank, JBIC sign $300m Export Credit Line deal

July 5, 2019

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have signed a general agreement for a $300-million export credit line, which can be availed in US dollars and euros, to support projects in Africa.

The credit line will enable Afreximbank to provide funds for the import of machinery and equipment from Japanese companies and their overseas affiliates to support projects in the Bank’s 51 member-countries in Africa.

Demand for machinery and equipment, which are needed for economic development, is expected to continue to expand in Africa and the credit line will support the efforts of Japanese companies and their overseas affiliates to expand exports to the Africa region. It will also help to further strengthen the economic relationship between Japan and Africa.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Africa’s Output Grew by 3.4% in 2018, Afreximbank’s Africa Trade Report 2019 Shows

July 1, 2019

Africa’s output grew by 3.4 percent between 2017 and 2018 despite the slowdown in global growth during that period, a new report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has shown.

The African Trade Report 2019: African Trade in a Digital World, launched today in Moscow during the 26th Afreximbank Annual Meetings, states that Africa’s total merchandise trade in 2018 had a value of over $997.9 billion, noting that the continent remained one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
World Trade Organisation estimates show that the volume of global merchandise trade grew by 3 percent in 2018, down from 4.6 percent in 2017.

According to The African Trade Report 2019, the findings highlight the resilience of Africa’s economies to global volatility at a time of rising uncertainty, escalating trade wars and tariffs between the United States, China, and others. The resilience reflects the diversification of Africa’s trading partners in the context of South-South trade, growing fixed investment and public and private consumption, boosted by expanding urban populations and softening inflation. These factors reduce Africa’s exposure to the business cycles associated with individual countries and regions.

The report noted that while the European Union remained Africa’s main continental trading partner in 2018 – accounting for 29.8 percent of total trade – African trade with the South grew significantly over the last decade to account for more than 35 percent of the continent’s total trade in 2018. China and India further consolidated their positions as Africa’s first and second single largest trading partners, accounting for over 21 percent of total African trade in 2018.

Intra-African trade also increased steadily in 2018, growing by 17 percent to reach $159 billion.
The report highlights that Africa has the potential to do more, noting that its contribution to global trade remains marginal at 2.6 percent, up from 2.4 percent in 2017, and that, while intra-African trade rose to 16 percent in 2018 from 5 percent in 1980, it remains low compared to intra-regional trade in Europe and Asia.

The report states that ongoing digitalization is paving the way for a new African economy, with e-commerce platforms and internet penetration expediting transactions, reducing costs and leading to a new generation of transnational digital consumers.

The report urges African governments to further capitalize on the opportunities associated with digitalization, by bolstering regulatory environments and supporting the development of digital ecosystems.
Digitalization, the reports states, can unlock Africa’s potential in driving economic development and the integration of African countries into the world economy. It can also reduce the region’s dependency on raw commodities and natural resources by helping economies diversify into more value-added products that can enhance extra-and intra-African trade.

According to Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, “It is vital that Africa grasps the economic growth opportunities flowing from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, growing domestic demand and population, and our ever-closer investment and trading links with emerging partners in the South. We must exert concerted action to ensure that we develop, industrialize and diversify our industries and supporting infrastructure to foster regional integration and participate fully in regional and global value chains.”
In the words of the Chief Economist and author of the report, Dr. Hippolyte Fofack: “Intra-African trade, which grew by 17 percent in 2018, more than three times the rate of growth of extra-African trade, was the major driver of Africa’s total merchandise trade in 2018.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.