Nigeria’s Intra‑African Trade Share Reaches $9.02 bn in 2025, Afreximbank Reports

Dike Onwuamaeze

The African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) reports that Nigeria’s trade with the African continent rose from $7.47 billion to $9.02 billion in 2025.

Afreximbank attributes the increase to higher exports of refined petroleum products to regional markets such as Cameroon, Ghana and Togo, a rise enabled by the Dangote Refinery operating near full capacity.

These figures appear in Afreximbank’s “African Trade Report 2026: Leveraging Geopolitics for Trade and Industrialisation in Global Africa.”

The report highlights the growing resilience of African economies, noting that real GDP growth accelerated from 3.4 percent in 2024 to 4.5 percent in 2025, outpacing global growth and underscoring the continent’s strength and adaptability.

It also states that aggregate inflation fell sharply from 21.6 percent to 13.1 percent, with some countries recording inflation as low as 3.0 percent. Merchandise trade expanded by 6.1 percent to about $1.5 trillion, while intra‑African trade grew by 5.5 percent to roughly $213.8 billion.

“These outcomes reflect improving macroeconomic management, strengthening institutions, expanding regional cooperation, increasing cross‑border investments, and the determination of African countries to sustain growth despite a complex global environment,” the report says.

According to the report, crude oil dominated Nigeria’s exports to Africa, but the country also exported non‑oil manufactured goods such as chemicals, plastics and rubber products, processed agricultural goods and foodstuffs, urea and cement.

It notes that “Nigeria intensified its focus on trade with other African countries, leveraging the AfCFTA to expand market access and lower trade costs for domestic exporters.”

Key milestones for Nigeria in 2025 included the gazetting of the country’s Provisional Schedule of Tariff Concessions in April, which allowed Nigerian goods to qualify for preferential tariffs across AfCFTA member states while granting reciprocal access for African imports.

The report also cites new logistics initiatives, such as a dedicated air cargo corridor to East and Southern Africa, as reducing transportation costs for Nigerian intra‑African trade.

It estimates that West Africa’s unrealised intra‑African export potential remained substantial in 2025, at just over $7 billion out of a total export potential of approximately $13 billion.

Ten key product categories accounted for a combined unrealised potential of about $3.1 billion, including processed food products ($0.7 billion), fish and shellfish ($0.5 billion), vegetable oils and fats ($0.4 billion), and precious metals and mineral products (each at $0.3 billion).

“Collectively, these sectors highlight the region’s comparative advantage in agro‑processing and semi‑industrial production, alongside a gradual shift toward more value‑added trade,” the report states.

Despite this potential, the report points out that significant gaps still exist between export capacity and actual trade performance, particularly in the processed foods and fisheries sector, where constraints in cold‑chain infrastructure, packaging, quality standards and logistics continue to limit scale.

The President of Afreximbank, Mr. George Elombi, recommends the report to policymakers, business leaders, investors, researchers, development practitioners and all stakeholders committed to Africa’s transformation.

Elombi said: “The years ahead hold immense promise. With visionary leadership, an appropriate mindset shift—particularly within the civil service and public sector—focused on execution, strategic partnerships and collective resolve, Africa can turn the pressures of a turbulent global era into the foundations of a more integrated, industrialised, prosperous and globally competitive future.”