AfDB’s 2025 Trade Finance Report highlights resilient African financial institutions while warning the financing gap could exceed $100 billion.
African financial institutions have demonstrated resilience in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic, although significant challenges remain, according to the African Development Bank’s 2025 Trade Finance Report.
Released during the Bank Group’s 2026 Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, the report assesses Africa’s trade finance landscape between 2020 and 2024. It examines the situation from a bank-intermediation perspective while introducing new areas of analysis, including digitalisation, environmental sustainability and the role of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).
The full report can be read here.
Trade Finance Gap Narrows
Presenting the report, Anthony Simpasa, Director of the Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department at the African Development Bank, said unmet demand for trade finance declined by nearly 10% between 2019 and 2024.
According to the report, Africa’s the finance gap ranged between $74 billion and $92 billion in 2024, with the lower estimate representing 5.4% of the continent’s total merchandise trade value.
Simpasa noted that interventions from multilateral development banks, governments, export credit agencies and global banks helped sustain trade flows during the period.
“Renewed geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global supply chains and trade flows could reverse post-pandemic progress in narrowing the trade finance gap. For instance, tighter correspondent risk appetite could widen the gap to $86.6-$102.6 billion by 2027 under a moderate to severe scenario. This is at least 17.7 % above the 2024 level, potentially erasing a decade of gains,” Simpasa cautioned.
Intra-African Trade Shows Strong Growth
The report found that commercial banks intermediated an average of 23% of Africa’s total trade between 2020 and 2024, down from 40% during the 2011–2019 period.
At the same time, intra-African trade accounted for 34% of total bank-intermediated trade, representing an 89% increase compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Foreign exchange liquidity shortages emerged as the leading constraint to trade finance growth, with 36% of surveyed banks identifying limited access to foreign currency as their primary challenge.
Digital Adoption Remains Limited
Despite growing interest in trade finance innovation, adoption remains relatively low. Only 28% of surveyed banks reported using digital tools or platforms in their operations, with high implementation costs and limited technological infrastructure cited as key barriers.
During a panel discussion following the report launch, industry leaders highlighted opportunities to expand access to financing across the continent.
“New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD) gives us, for the first time, a coherent continental framework to close the trade finance gap — not project by project, but systemically. That is the shift that changes everything for African SMEs,” said Didier Acouetey, Senior Advisor to African Development Bank President Sidi Ould Tah for the Private Sector.
DFIs Continue to Play a Critical Role
The report highlights the importance of Development Finance Institutions in supporting African trade. DFIs facilitated approximately $32 billion in trade finance annually between 2020 and 2024, accounting for around 3% of Africa’s total merchandise trade on average during the period.
Admassu Tadesse, Group President and Managing Director of Trade and Development Bank, said innovation and collaboration will be key to closing the financing gap. “This should be advanced further by new systemic initiatives such as NAFAD and related thrusts such as derisking and smart partnerships that should multiply the impact of African capital and unlock more global capital,” he said.
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