Africa’s Trade Finance Gap Can Exceed $100bn Again — AfDB Report
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has warned that Africa’s trade finance gap could exceed 100 billion dollars again if rising geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global trade and supply chains persist.
The warning is contained in the bank’s fifth Trade Finance Report presented on the sidelines of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the AfDB in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
According to the report, Africa’s unmet demand for trade finance ranged from 74 billion to 92 billion dollars in 2024, representing about 5.4 per cent of the continent’s total merchandise trade value.
The report acknowledged that African financial institutions had continued to support trade activities despite global economic shocks, renewed geopolitical tensions, and higher oil and fertiliser prices.
It, however, said that weaker currencies and tighter correspondent banking conditions could widen the trade finance gap to between 86.6 billion dollars and 102.6 billion dollars by 2027.
It stated that commercial banks intermediated only 23 per cent of Africa’s total trade between 2020 and 2024. The report said this was down from 40 per cent recorded between 2011 and 2019, showing that African trade remained underserved by commercial lenders.
The AfDB, however, said Africa had made significant progress in bank-intermediated intra-African trade. According to the report, this accounted for 34 per cent of total bank-supported trade between 2020 and 2024, compared with 18 per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report identified foreign exchange liquidity shortages as the biggest obstacle to trade finance growth, with 36 per cent of surveyed banks citing limited access to foreign currency as their major constraint.
The AfDB also highlighted low adoption of digital trade finance solutions across the continent.
It said that only 28 per cent of surveyed banks had adopted digital platforms for trade finance operations due to high implementation costs and weak technological infrastructure.
The report said that development finance institutions, including the AfDB, played a major role in narrowing Africa’s trade finance gap by facilitating about 32 billion dollars in trade finance annually between 2020 and 2024.
According to the report, African regional commercial banks are also increasingly playing stronger roles as correspondent and confirming banks, helping to sustain trade flows during periods of crisis.
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