South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have emerged in the top three positions as Africa’s exports rose to $682 billion while imports also surged to $719 billion in 2024 despite slower growth amongst most trading partners.
This development was announced by the Africa Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) in its African Economic and Trade Outlook 2025, themed “African Resilience in a Changing World Order.
The multilateral bank disclosed that as a result, Africa narrowed its goods trade deficit to S$37 billion in 2024, down from $80 billion in 2023.
“The leading player in African trade, South Africa accounts for about 15% of the continent’s total trade. By the third quarter of 2024, South Africa’s exports totaled $82.3 billion and imports $79.6 billion, with estimates pointing to US$108 billion in exports and US$106 billion in imports by year-end.
“Egypt ranks second, with total trade reaching $88 billion; its first three quarters showed US$66 billion, up from $74 billion in 2023.
“In third place, Nigeria showcases balanced trade with $70 billion in exports and $60 billion in imports” the report noted.
Afreximbank said the expansion in Africa’s exports in 2024 was supported by stabilising commodity prices, marking a significant shift from the volatility seen in previous years.
“After rebounding from the lows experienced during the pandemic, Africa’s goods trade reached record highs in 2022, with total trade (exports and imports) amounting to US$1,407 billion,” Afriximbank said.
“However, in 2023, due to tightening monetary policies amid a highly uncertain international environment, African trade lost steam, declining by about 6%. In 2024, Africa’s trade gathered momentum, growing by 5.8% and returning to 2022 levels.
“Despite slower growth in most trading partners—especially China and Europe-Africa’s goods exports increased by approximately 10%, reaching US$682 billion. Exports rose by 9.8% while imports grew by about 2.4%, totaling US$719 billion. As a result, Africa narrowed its goods trade deficit to US$37 billion in 2024, down from US$80 billion in 2023.
“This expansion in Africa’s exports in 2024 was supported by stabilizing commodity prices, marking a significant shift from the volatility seen in previous years.“
Afreximbank added that oil-exporting nations, including Algeria, Angola, and Nigeria, significantly benefited from the relative stability of global crude oil prices in 2024.
“Following the price surges in 2022 driven by the Russia-Ukraine war and the price moderation in 2023 due to a global economic slowdown, 2024 marked a period of balanced oil markets,” the report said.
The bank said the price stability enabled oil-producing countries to maintain strong export earnings while avoiding severe price fluctuations.
Afreximbank said West Africa experienced the highest inflation increase on the continent in 2024.
The financial institution said that since 2020, inflation in Africa has exceeded double digits due to supply chain bottlenecks, rising oil prices, geopolitical tensions, and expansionary monetary policies.
“Inflation dynamics across Africa have shown significant regional differences. Western Africa experienced the highest inflation increase, from 20.6% in 2023 to 21.4% in 2024,” the bank said.
“Likewise, Northern Africa saw a more moderate inflation rise, with an increase of just about 0.7 percentage points, bringing the rate to 18.5% in 2024, up from 17.8% the previous year.
“However, disinflationary trends emerged in the Central, Eastern, and Southern regions in 2024. Southern Africa witnessed a substantial decrease in inflation, plummeting from 38.9% in 2023 to 20.1% in 2024.
“This drop is attributed to effective inflation control mesures implemented in Zimbabwe. In Central Africa, inflation declined by 2.1 percentage points, falling from 10.5% in 2023 to 8.4% in 2024.
“Meanwhile, Eastern Africa experienced a slight disinflation of 0.3 percentage points, with inflation decreasing from 21.2% in 2023 to 20.9% in 2024.”
The report attributed the continued high inflation in several regions to the ongoing depreciation of African currencies against the United States dollar.
Afreximbank further noted that extreme weather events have worsened the situation by disrupting agricultural production and driving up prices across the continent.
Source: Ripples Nigeria
