Confirming banks and trade finance in Africa

Access to trade finance remains a significant challenge for African firms. Recent estimates from the AfDB and Afreximbank (2020) shows that the estimated value of unmet demand for trade finance in Africa was US$ 81.80 billion in 2019 and has averaged USD 91 billion over the past decade. Indeed, this is reflected by the low percentage (40%) of African trade that is bank intermediated compared to 80% globally.