Africa still trades far more with the world than with itself.: Share of each region's trade that stays within the region.

Africa still trades far more with the world than with itself.. Share of each region's trade that stays within the region. Source: UNCTAD; Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024.

Africa still trades far more with the world than with itself.: The share is climbing, year by year.

14.9%. The share is climbing, year by year. Source: Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024.

Africa still trades far more with the world than with itself.: Share of Africa's trade that is intra-continental, 2023.

Fewer than one in six African trade dollars stays on the continent.. Share of Africa's trade that is intra-continental, 2023. Source: Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024.

capsrow / Africa

Invisible Giant

Africa still trades far more with the world than with itself.

Africa's largest trading partner is not a country - it is the rest of the world.

By capsrow · Updated July 2026

Africa still trades far more with the world than with itself.Share of each region's trade that stays within the region.Source: UNCTAD; Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024.
14.9%The share is climbing, year by year.Source: Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024.
Fewer than one in six African trade dollars stays on the continent.Share of Africa's trade that is intra-continental, 2023.Source: Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024.

Africa's largest trading partner is not a country - it is the rest of the world.

Roughly fifteen in every hundred units of African trade stay on the continent. In Europe that figure is two in three, in Asia close to three in five. The gap is not a verdict, it is a runway: the African Continental Free Trade Area, live since 2021, exists to route more of that trade through African ports, African payment rails, and African corridors.

The share has already begun to climb.

This is the continent building the market it trades into.

Sources. Source: UNCTAD; Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024. Source: Afreximbank African Trade Report, 2024.