As global financial headwinds continue to squeeze emerging markets, Africa’s trade finance gap, estimated at up to $100 billion annually, will once again come under the spotlight.

To help close this gap, Afreximbank will host the 25th edition of its flagship Trade Finance Seminar (ATFS2025) in Abidjan from 4–6 November 2025. The discussions will explore innovative financing structures designed to unlock new business opportunities, with a particular focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up over 90% of the continent’s enterprises but remain underserved by traditional banks. A one-day Factoring Workshop will follow on 7 November 2025.

ATFS2025 will convene leading African and international trade finance specialists, banking professionals, corporates, regulators.

Ms. Gwen Mwaba, Afreximbank’s Managing Director of Trade Finance & Correspondent Banking, said: “Structured trade finance is Africa’s ticket to turning unbankable deals into viable trade. This seminar equips financial leaders with the tools to unlock growth at scale, especially in challenging conditions.”

She added: “As global regulations tighten and international lenders scale back, Africa must strengthen its own capacity to deploy structured trade finance. Hosting this training in Africa allows hundreds of African professionals to build critical expertise at a fraction of the cost of similar programmes in the main global financial centres such as London, Singapore, or New York.”

The seminar programme will feature keynote addresses, interactive workshops, and high-level panel discussions, including:

• Unlocking Africa’s Trade Finance Potential: Expanding Supply While Reducing Costs presented by Marc Auboin, World Trade Organization (WTO)
• Africa’s Emerging Role in Global Energy Finance presented by Sylvia Macri, S&P Global Commodity Insights
• A workshop on understanding Reserve-Based Lending by Dr. Lekan Aluko, Petrovision Energy Services and Peter Olowononi, Afreximbank

Other highlights include a workshop on syndications and agency covering Key Finance Documents and Africa’s Lending Landscape, and a session on Eliminating the Trade Finance Gap: The Role of Development Banks, The New Trade Finance World Order, and The Trade Finance Conference of Parties.

The full programme and registration details can be accessed through this link: https://ATFS2025.AfreximbankEvents.com