Nigeria’s intra-African trade up 127% to $18.4bn — Afreximbank.
The volume of trade between Nigeria and other African countries surged by 127 percent to $18.4 billion in 2024 from $8.1 billion in 2023, a report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has revealed.
The development may be connected to Nigeria’s full participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement which went into operation two years ago.
According to the report titled “2025 African Trade Report”, which was launched by Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, the top five intra-African exporters in 2024 are South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
“In West Africa, Nigeria emerged as the region’s largest intra-African trading country as trade with the rest of Africa expanded to reach approximately US$18.4 billion in 2024, up from just US$8.1 billion in 2023,” it stated.
The report noted that although crude oil remained the country’s primary export to African markets during the period, there was growing momentum toward refined product exports following the operational launch of the Dangote Refinery.
“The refinery, Africa’s largest with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, began supplying petroleum products directly to Cameroon and other neighbouring markets, which is expected to reduce dependency on intermediaries and foster regional energy integration.
Source: Vanguardngr
