Africa must reposition its trade infrastructure to capture greater value from global economic shifts, with industrialisation, stronger intra-African trade and improved access to finance identified as key priorities in the African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank’s) latest African trade report.
The report highlights that rising geopolitical tensions, shifting global alliances and trade fragmentation are reshaping the global economic landscape, presenting both challenges and opportunities for the continent.
Titled ‘Leveraging Geopolitics for Trade and Industrialisation in Global Africa’, the report notes that the global economy has remained resilient, with the global GDP having expanded by 3.4% in 2025, although growth is expected to slow modestly to 3.1% this year.
However, it cautions that the global outlook remains fragile amid intensified geopolitical tension, worsening economic fragmentation, renewed trade disputes, market volatility, rising public debt concerns and declining institutional credibility.
The Afreximbank report also notes that Africa finds itself at a crossroads, with changing global supply chains, evolving trade routes and shifting geopolitical alliances creating a need for a more nuanced strategic approach to trade and industrial development.
