AFRICA · TRADE
Key Facts
—The headline: Africa’s total merchandise trade rose 6.1% to about $1.5 trillion in 2025, a new Afreximbank report says.
—Trade within Africa: Intra-African trade grew 5.5% to about $213.8 billion.
—Faster than the world: Africa’s economy grew 4.5% in 2025, up from 3.4%, beating the global rate.
—Nigeria’s role: Nigeria’s share of intra-African trade rose to about $9.02 billion.
—Why it matters: It reframes Africa as a market gaining ground, just as global trade fragments.
—The caveat: Inflation stays high, near 10%, and geopolitical shocks remain a risk.
Africa’s trade climbed to about $1.5 trillion in 2025 and its economy grew faster than the world’s, according to a new African trade report from Afreximbank. For outside investors, it is a case that the continent is gaining ground even as global commerce splinters.
Why this matters
For outsiders used to hearing about Africa’s risks, the report flips the frame. The continent’s economies grew 4.5% in 2025, faster than the global average.
Its total trade reached roughly $1.5 trillion, up 6.1% on the year. That is a large, often-overlooked market moving in the right direction.
The timing matters. As the United States, China and Europe rewire supply chains, Africa is pitching itself as a place to source and produce.
Africa is home to about 1.4 billion people and some of the world’s fastest-growing populations. A market that size, expanding steadily, is hard for global investors to ignore.
What the African trade report found
The findings come from Afreximbank, the African Export-Import Bank, in its 2026 African Trade Report. The bank is the continent’s main trade financier.
Beyond the headline $1.5 trillion, trade between African countries rose 5.5% to about $213.8 billion. That intra-African figure is the one to watch.
Africa still trades more with the rest of the world than within itself. Lifting internal trade is the central goal of the continent’s economic project.
Afreximbank uses the report to press for more African-led financing of African trade. The bank has spent years building the tools to do exactly that.
The push to trade with itself
For decades, African countries have traded mostly with Europe, China and the United States, and surprisingly little with each other. Poor transport links and trade barriers are the reasons.
The African Continental Free Trade Area is meant to change that by creating a single market. Rising intra-African trade is the first sign it may be working.
Nigeria is a case in point. Its share of intra-African trade rose to about $9 billion, as Africa’s biggest economy looks closer to home.
Trade within Africa also tends to be higher-value. It involves more manufactured goods and services, not just raw commodities shipped abroad.
Why it matters for investors
Faster growth and rising trade make a simple pitch: a young, expanding market at a moment when others are slowing. That is the bull case for Africa.
Companies seeking alternatives to a few crowded manufacturing hubs are eyeing the continent. Resilient supply chains need new places to make things.
For our readers, the report is a reminder to weigh Africa as opportunity, not only as risk. The numbers are moving the right way.
Frontier and emerging-market funds have started to look harder at the continent. The open question is whether the growth is broad enough to invest behind.
The bigger picture
The findings sit inside the story we track daily: a continent building its own institutions, trade links and financing. Afreximbank itself is part of that machinery.
It also connects to the South-South thread that ties Africa to Latin America and the wider developing world. These economies increasingly grow by trading with each other.
For a publication rooted in Latin America, the parallel is clear. Both regions are trying to trade more with the wider developing world, not only with the old powers.
None of it happens in a vacuum. The same great-power contest shaping minerals and energy is shaping who finances and profits from African trade.
The caveats
The picture is not uniformly bright. Inflation across Africa is expected to stay high, near 10%, squeezing households and budgets.
Many governments carry heavy debt, and currencies remain volatile. Growth on paper does not always reach ordinary people.
Geopolitical shocks, from wars to trade disputes, could still knock the continent off course. The report’s optimism is conditional.
What to watch next
The number to follow is intra-African trade. If it keeps rising, the free-trade project is real; if it stalls, the headlines outran the reality.
Watch too whether new factories and supply chains actually land in Africa. Investment, not just trade data, will prove the case.
Either way, the direction is set. Africa is trying to trade more with itself and the world at once, and the next reports will show if it can.
Frequently asked questions
What did the African trade report find?
Afreximbank’s 2026 report found Africa’s total trade rose 6.1% to about $1.5 trillion in 2025, with intra-African trade up 5.5% to about $213.8 billion. Africa’s economy grew 4.5%, faster than the global rate.
Why does intra-African trade matter?
African countries have long traded more with Europe, China and the United States than with each other. Rising internal trade is the main goal of the African free-trade area.
Why does the report matter to investors?
It shows a fast-growing market just as others slow, and a continent pitching itself as a resilient place to source and produce. It reframes Africa as opportunity, not only risk.
What are the risks?
Inflation is expected to stay near 10%, debt is high and currencies are volatile. Geopolitical shocks could still knock growth off course.
Connected Coverage
See our Africa coverage for more, including how Africa is building its own bank for oil and gas and how Morocco and Egypt are joining forces as a factory bloc.
Part of our ongoing coverage
Africa: The New Scramble — the great-power contest over the continent.
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