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3 African countries account for a third of the continent's total trade

 

 

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has published the "African Trade Report 2026: Leveraging Geopolitics for Trade and Industrialisation in Global Africa."

 

According to Afreximbank, intra-African trade increased by 5.5% to $213.8 billion in 2025, thanks to the Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), enhanced trade policy and improved transport links.

 

South Africa, the DRC, and Côte d'Ivoire were the largest intra-African traders, collectively accounting for 30.81% of goods sold on the continent.

 

South Africa remains the African trade leader with a share of 19.2%. In 2025, South Africa imported goods from other African countries worth $10.04 billion, and its exports to the continent reached $31.1 billion.

 

South Africa's imports from other African countries included crude oil, coal and precious metals, as well as electricity, textiles, clothing and foodstuffs. South Africa exported fuel, machinery, electrical equipment, plastics, iron, steel and grain crops.

 

The DRC took the second place among the largest intra-African traders with a share of 6.74% of the total turnover on the continent. The country's high performance is largely due to its huge size, population of over 100 million people, and strategic geographical location.

 

Côte d'Ivoire ranked third in intra-African trade with a share of 4.83%. The country has become a major trading hub in West Africa due to its close integration into the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

 

Although Côte d'Ivoire remains a major global exporter of commodities such as cocoa, cashew nuts, rubber and palm oil, it is increasingly processing cocoa and cashew nuts domestically rather than exporting them raw. This shift strengthens Côte d'Ivoire's position as an agro-industrial hub in West Africa.

 

The top 10 also includes Uganda (4.48%), Morocco (4.46%), Egypt (4.35%), Zambia (4.33%), Nigeria (4.22%) Zimbabwe (3.64%) and Namibia (3.46%). Collectively, the 10 largest countries accounted for 59.75% of intra-African trade.

 

The countries that accounted for the smallest share of intra-African trade in 2025 were Libya (0%), Eritrea (0.01%), Comoros (0.01%), Cape Verde (0.03%), Guinea-Bissau (0.06%), Sao Tome and Principe (0.09%), Seychelles Islands (0.10%) and Sierra Leone (0.11%).

 

The total volume of intraregional and non-regional trade in Africa in 2025 amounted to about 1.5 trillion dollars, which is 6.1% more than in 2024, despite the difficult global economic situation.

 

Exports of goods from Africa increased by 6.2% in 2025 to $685.2 billion, while imports increased by 6% to $781.5 billion. As a result, the continent's trade deficit increased from $91.9 billion in 2024 to $96.3 billion in 2025.

 

AFREXIMBANK