‘For decades, efforts to promote African trade have targeted individual constraints, including credit lines, export incentives, and customs reforms, without addressing how these frictions compound. Even when one bottleneck eases, others remain, keeping transaction costs high and uncertainty endemic.’
Siaka MOMOH
Africa’s trade paradox is familiar but no less damaging for its familiarity. The continent is resource-rich, demographically young, and strategically positioned between major global markets, yet remains marginal in world trade and weakly integrated with itself. Intra-African trade still accounts for less than one-fifth of total exports, while African firms face some of the highest trade finance costs and settlement frictions globally.
This is not for lack of ambition or policy intent. It reflects a deeper structural problem, namely that Africa’s trade ecosystem evolved in fragments. Finance, payments, logistics, information, and risk management operate in silos, often intermediated externally and priced in ways that systematically disadvantage African firms, especially small and mid-sized ones.
For decades, efforts to promote African trade have targeted individual constraints, including credit lines, export incentives, and customs reforms, without addressing how these frictions compound. Even when one bottleneck eases, others remain, keeping transaction costs high and uncertainty endemic. The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)’s Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) platform represents a deliberate shift away from this piecemeal approach. By integrating trade finance, guarantees, digital payments, and settlement through the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), ATG reduces costs cumulatively rather than incrementally. For firms, particularly SMEs and mid-sized manufacturers, this integration matters less for its novelty than for its predictability, because trade becomes viable when financing, payment, and delivery risks are aligned and reliable.
It is within this context that Afreximbank’s Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) should be assessed as an attempt to change the system itself.
ATG is best understood as an exercise in trade architecture. It does not simply offer tools; it seeks to reconfigure how African trade is financed and settled. Historically, African trade has been invoiced in foreign currencies, cleared through offshore banks, and insured externally, leaving African firms exposed to exchange-rate volatility, correspondent banking risks, and rising compliance costs.
By internalising key trade functions, including payments, guarantees, and risk mitigation, within a continental framework, ATG begins to rebalance that structure. The potential macroeconomic effects are significant, including reduced pressure on foreign reserves, lower transaction costs, and greater scope for export diversification into manufactured and semi-processed goods.
ATG as a Connected Ecosystem
Trade does not happen in isolation. For a business to export or import successfully, it needs multiple elements working together: access to markets, trusted partners, market intelligence, financing, logistics, and secure payments. ATG connects all these elements within a single platform, allowing businesses to complete transactions from end to end without switching systems or intermediaries.
The platform is structured around six core capabilities:
a. MANSA – Trust and Due Diligence: MANSA is a centralised due diligence platform that verifies businesses/companies and provides credible business information.
In practical terms, it:
- Confirms whether a company is legitimate
- Reduces fraud and counterparty risk
- Helps businesses and banks assess partners before deals
- Builds TRUST – trade with confidence
b. Tradar Club – Market Intelligence: Tradar Club provides trade data, market intelligence, and regulatory insights to support informed decision-making.
In effect, it:
- Shows trade trends and market opportunities
- Provides access to trade regulations/information
- Helps businesses understand demand, pricing, and competition
- Delivers INSIGHT – staying ahead of the business
c. ATG Connect – Matchmaking and Partnerships: ATG Connect is a business matchmaking and networking tool that links companies with relevant partners.
In concrete terms, it:
- Matches businesses with investors and financiers
- Connects firms to logistics and freight providers
- Provides access to tenders and contract opportunities
- Enables CONNECTION – meeting the right partners
d. Afreximbank TradeLink – Trade & Supply Chain Finance: TradeLink provides financing solutions to support trade transactions and supply chains.
It means, it:
- Offers trade finance products
- Supports receivables and payables financing
- Improves cash flow for exporters and manufacturers
- Powers FINANCING – funding trade and production
e. PAPSS: It enables fast, secure cross-border payments in local currencies.
In other words, it:
- Eliminates reliance on foreign currencies
- Reduces transaction costs
- Speeds up payment settlements
- Ensures PAYMENTS – seamless completion of trade
Why the Timing Suddenly Matters
The launch of the Africa Trade Gateway coincides with three overlapping shifts. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has created a continental rulebook, but many of the operational instruments needed to translate rules into daily trade are still evolving. Also, global trade is becoming more fragmented and politicised, exposing the risks of external dependence. And, lastly, Africa’s industrial ambitions increasingly hinge on reliable access to markets and trade.
In this context, ATG is less a convenience than a strategic response. Rules without infrastructure do not trade. Industrial policy without finance does not scale. Likewise, trade dependence without autonomy is a vulnerability.
Can ATG Become Sustained Infrastructure? Scaling ATG & the Role of Afreximbank
The Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) has already made significant strides in connecting African businesses to a fully integrated trade ecosystem. With features like MANSA for due diligence and KYC, TRADAR for market intelligence, ATG Connect for partner matchmaking, TradeLink for finance, and PAPSS for secure payments, the platform addresses many of the longstanding frictions that have historically constrained African trade and industrial expansion. The ATG innovations have already simplified access to verified partners, market insights, financing, and payment solutions, particularly for SMIs and mid-tier firms that are yet to expand into other African countries and beyond.
At the same time, there remain opportunities to enhance adoption, deepen impact, and expand functionality. Simplifying onboarding further, such as introducing tiered verification for smaller firms or more guided KYC paths, could accelerate participation without compromising compliance. Transparent, predictable pricing across services remains critical to ensure businesses can plan transactions and manage cash flow confidently. Early-adopter incentives for banks, associations (aggregators like Manufacturers Associations), and pioneering enterprises could build momentum, embedding ATG into the routines of African commerce.
Beyond access and incentives, deepening awareness and engagement campaigns remain pivotal. While initial campaigns have introduced the platform to several stakeholders, PAMA strongly recommends sector-specific roadshows, interactive webinars, and digital engagement initiatives to demonstrate end-to-end trade workflows and encourage habitual use. Embedding feedback loops and user analytics will also allow the platform to evolve in response to real-world challenges and opportunities.
From a technical standpoint, ATG’s existing capabilities are strong, yet there is room to expand in ways that directly benefit SMIs and mid-tier firms, including:
- Automated trade compliance verification integrated with regulatory databases.
- Real-time shipment tracking and logistics visibility across borders.
- Platform-based credit scoring and risk assessment for SMEs/SMIs leveraging transaction history.
- API integrations with regional banks and fintechs to expand access to financing and payment solutions.
- Data dashboards for actionable insights on trade flows, demand patterns, and market opportunities.
Taken together, these measures represent PAMA’s forward-looking roadmap for ATG optimisation. By combining simplified onboarding, transparent pricing, early-adopter incentives, deeper awareness campaigns, and technical enhancements, ATG can evolve from a powerful platform into systemic trade infrastructure, unlocking efficiency, predictability, and scale for African businesses.
Source: Pan-African Manufacturers Association (PAMA) News Bulletin
