Nigeria: Afreximbank to launch currency trading platform to close $50bn Intra-Africa trade gap

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has unveiled intentions to introduce its currency trading platform, aiming to address the Intra-African trade financing shortfall, estimated at more than $50 billion per year.

The President and Chairman of Board of Directors, Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah disclosed this at the 8th Goddy Jidenma Foundation (GJF) biennial public lecture tagged, “The trade route to poverty reduction in Africa in a de-globalizing world.”

He mentioned that preparations are underway to launch the platform in May 2024, emphasizing the pressing necessity to actively address the intra-African trade deficit.

Afreximbank, he said, operates an intra-African Trade Division that has disbursed over $40 billion since 2016, with an amount of about $11 billion outstanding, equivalent to about 28 per cent of Afreximbank’s loan portfolio.

According to him, “The Currency Trading Platform will also be launched under the auspices of Pan-African payment and settlement system (PAPSS). It is now becoming possible for a small farmer in Malawi to use his cell phone to purchase a Nollywood streaming movie and pay in the Malawian Kwacha while the seller in Nigeria receives Naira. We are nearing the stage when an Egyptian can buy shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange paying in Egyptian Pounds.”

The Afreximbank boss said access to trade and investment information is key, “as lack of access is perhaps the greatest impediment to intra-regional trade.”

To tackle this issue, he highlighted Afreximbank’s provision of an Artificial Intelligence-powered Trade Information Platform called Tradar Intelligence.

“It is for the same reason that Afreximbank collaborates with the African Union Commission (AUC), the AfCFTA Secretariat, and others to host a biennial intra-African trade Fair. The three editions so far held since 2018 attracted an aggregate of over 70,000 visitors, 4,000 exhibitors and about 120 billion US dollars in deals,” he said.

On the status of implementation, he said the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) Secretariat is operational in Accra, Ghana where 54 countries have signed the Agreement, and 47 have ratified it.