Africa Is Now Its Own Third-Largest Trading Partner - and the Real Figure Is Higher
A new report from Afreximbank identifies Africa as its own third-largest trading partner, suggesting that intra-continental trade is significantly higher than official statistics indicate. Unrecorded cross-border commerce may account for up to 60% of actual trade flows.
Why it matters
Understanding the true scale of intra-African trade is crucial for the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and regional economic integration.
email facebook linkedin twitter Whatsapp Afreximbank's African Trade Heatmaps 2026 ranks Africa as its own third-biggest trading partner in 2025, behind Asia and the European Union It dents the cliché that Africa barely trades with itself — official data miss up to 60% of cross-border flows, and such trade is a slim slice of a ~$1.47 trillion total Winning share in Asia and Europe hinges on reviving underused industrial zones and building the roads, ports, and customs that the AfCFTA still lacks Africa traded more with itself in 2025 than with any partner bloc except Asia and the European Union, according to the African Trade Heatmaps 2026, published in mid-June by Afreximbank, the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank. The continent ranked as its own third-largest trading partner, ahead of the Americas, the Middle East and the Gulf — a result that chips away at the familiar claim that African economies do little business with one another.
The article relies on economic data and institutional reports to challenge common perceptions.
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