Inside the meeting where Africa decides its future
Afreximbank’s 2025 Annual Meetings show a continent determined to take ownership of its own development.
A clear message to the world
This year, Afreximbank’s Annual Meetings (AAM) were held in Abuja, Nigeria, and have been distinguished as the most ambitious and successful yet. Bringing together more than 7,000 delegates, including heads of state, senior business leaders and development experts, the event saw deal signings expected to unlock US $1 billion worth of investments.
Built around the theme “Building the Future on Decades of Resilience,” the 32nd AAM cemented Afreximbank’s position as a key driver of African economic independence, industrialization and cross border trade.
This was felt keenly at the meetings held in Abuja, including at the recently commissioned Afreximbank African Trade Centre (AATC), one of the first seven planned continental hubs for cross-border economic development. Through the sessions, presidents, prime ministers, entrepreneurs and policymakers stood arm in arm to send a message to the watching world: Africa is charting its course to prosperity.
Building hard won momentum
Africa enters the second half of the decade with hard-won momentum, in the face of significant global headwinds.
Afreximbank’s latest African Trade Report found that the continent’s merchandise trade rebounded in 2024, climbing 13.9% to US $1.5 trillion after a dip the previous year. Intra-African trade also rose by 12.4%, reaching US $220.3 billion and confirming the positive impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Now ratified by 49 ratified members, with 24 countries actively trading, AfCFTA is seen as fundamental to harnessing frictionless trade and economic opportunity on the continent.
But challenges remain. Africa faces a US $100 billion trade finance gap and a US $331 billion shortfall for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). That’s why, at AAM, Afreximbank re-committed to funding mechanisms that will strengthen domestic business and its export activity across the continent.
One such announcement was between Afreximbank and NBS Bank Plc (NBS), Malawi, who committed US $300 million to support priority public and private sector investors with financing to de-risk key projects.
This is alongside the bank’s 2024 commitment to disburse US $17.5 billion in trade finance and double intra-African trade finance to US $40 billion by 2026. The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) closes the loop on this integrated approach, working to close investment gaps across sectors and connect the dots to drive mutually beneficial growth.
Democratizing impact
Alongside economic pledges, AAM was also a culmination of major infrastructure initiatives whose impact will ripple across the continent.
“As we look to the future, I see Afreximbank as a force for industrializing Africa and for re-gaining the dignity of Africans wherever they are.”
Dr George Elombi Incoming Afreximbank President
The recently opened African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) in Abuja is a US $300 million facility developed in partnership with King’s College Hospital London. The center provides world-class care that aims to stem Nigeria’s US $1 billion medical tourism outflow.
“Today, we are making a bold, collective statement,” said Nigerian Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima. “We will no longer accept medical vulnerability as destiny.”
Another breakthrough came with the launch of PAPSSCARD, the continent’s first Pan-African payment scheme. Developed by Afreximbank alongside Mercury Payment Services, the card will act as a secure, cross border payment system that will be processed regionally. As most African payments are currently routed globally, leading to increased fees and loss of data control, PAPSSCARD hopes to keep value on the continent.
“For too long, Africa’s reliance on external payment systems has impeded trade,” said Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank. “PAPSSCARD changes that. It empowers us to move money swiftly, securely, and affordably across our borders.”
As the event came to a close, Dr George Elombi was announced as Afreximbank’s incoming President. His appointment was welcomed as a signal of continuity and commitment: “As we look to the future, I see Afreximbank as a force for industrializing Africa and for re-gaining the dignity of Africans wherever they are.”
That dignity, increasingly, is found in ownership. Of trade, of capital, of systems, and of solutions. And as this year’s meetings made clear, Afreximbank is making sure that dignity is something built by Africa, brick by brick, deal by deal.
