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South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria have appeared in the top three positions because African exports rose to $ 682 billion while imports also jumped to $ 719 billion in 2024 despite slower growth among most trading partners.
This development was announced by Africa Exports and Bank Imports (Afreximbank) in the economic prospects and trade of Africa 2025, with the theme “African Resilience in Changes in the World Order.
Multilateral banks revealed that as a result, Africa narrowed the trade deficit to S $ 37 billion in 2024, down from $ 80 billion in 2023.
“Leading players in African trade, South Africa contributed around 15% of the total continental trade. In the third quarter of 2024, South African exports reached $ 82.3 billion and imported $ 79.6 billion, with an estimate of US $ 108 billion in exports and US $ 106 billion imports at the end of the year.
“Egypt was ranked second, with a total trade reaching $ 88 billion; the first three quarters showed US $ 66 billion, up from $ 74 billion in 2023.
“In third place, Nigeria displays balanced trade with $ 70 billion exports and $ 60 billion imports,” the report said.
Afreximbank said the expansion of African exports in 2024 was supported by stabilizing commodity prices, marking significant changes of the volatility seen in previous years.
“After rebounding from the lowest position experienced during Pandemi, African goods trading reached the highest record in 2022, with a total trade (export and import) of US $ 1,407 billion,” Afriximbank said.
“However, in 2023, due to tightening monetary policy in the midst of an uncertain international environment, African trade loses steam, decreased by around 6%. In 2024, African trade gathered momentum, grew by 5.8% and returned to 2022.
“Although the slower growth in most trading partners, especially exports of Chinese and European-African goods, increased by around 10%, reaching US $ 682 billion. Exports rose 9.8%while imports grew by around 2.4%, with a total of US $ 719 billion. As a result, Africa narrowed the trade deficit of US $ 37 billion.
“The expansion of African exports in 2024 is supported by stabilizing commodity prices, marking the significant changes of the volatility seen in previous years.”
Afreximbank added that oil exporting countries, including Algeria, Angola, and Nigeria, significantly benefited the relative stability of global crude oil prices in 2024.
“Following the price surge in 2022 driven by the Russian-Ukraine War and price moderation in 2023 due to the slowdown of the global economy, 2024 marked a balanced oil market period,” the report said.
The bank says price stability allows oil-producing countries to maintain strong export income while avoiding severe price fluctuations.
Afreximbank said West Africa experienced the highest improvement in the continent in 2024.
The financial institution said that since 2020, inflation in Africa has exceeded two digits due to supply chain congestion, rising oil prices, geopolitical tensions, and monetary policy of expansion.
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“The dynamics of inflation throughout Africa have shown significant regional differences. West Africa has experienced the highest improvement in inflation, from 20.6% in 2023 to 21.4% in 2024,” the Bank said.
“Likewise, North Africa saw a more moderate increase in inflation, with an increase of only about 0.7 points percentage, carrying tariffs to 18.5% in 2024, up from 17.8% in the previous year.
“However, the trend of disinflation emerged in the central, eastern, and southern regions of 2024. South Africa witnessed a substantial decline in inflation, plummeted from 38.9% in 2023 to 20.1% in 2024.
“This decline was caused by effective inflation control mesures applied in Zimbabwe. In Central Africa, inflation decreased 2.1 points percentage, down from 10.5% in 2023 to 8.4% in 2024.
“Meanwhile, East Africa experienced a slightly declaration of 0.3 percentage points, with inflation decreased from 21.2% in 2023 to 20.9% in 2024.”
The report links high inflation in several regions with the ongoing African currency depreciation against the United States dollar.
Furthermore Afreximbank noted that extreme weather events have worsened the situation by disrupting agricultural production and raising prices throughout the continent.
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