"The five largest African economies, namely Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa, contributed significantly to the growth of the region's exports, accounting for over 56.6 percent of the continent's total exports in 2024," reads the report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), released in Abuja on the sidelines of the entity's Annual Meetings.
In the report, Afreximbank also says that "the exceptional growth in exports from the major oil-producing countries, namely Angola (130.3 percent) and Nigeria (113 percent), was a key driver of the continent's impressive export performance" last year.
Exports rose 21 percent to $758 billion, according to the data in this report.
Trade between African countries, after falling by almost 6 percent in 2023, increased by 12.4 percent last year to $220 billion, and also grew with the rest of the world, after contracting the previous year, according to the Afreximbank report released.
South Africa, the most industrialized economy in sub-Saharan Africa, "maintained its position as the leading intra-African trading nation" last year, recording trade worth $42.1 billion, up $7.5 billion from 2023, driven mainly by "strong ties within the Southern African Customs Union and the Southern African Development Community."
Afreximbank argues that "intra-African trade has shown remarkable resilience, supported by the recovery of major economies such as South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco."
African countries' trade with the rest of the world increased by 13.9 percent in 2024, to $1.5 trillion, after a contraction of 5.4 percent in 2023.
