World
Boosting Global Trade Amidst Current Economic Slowdown
Trade is crucial to bridging economic gaps and boosting infrastructural development. Countries with strong international trade portfolios tend to grow faster, innovate more, and provide higher incomes and economic opportunities for their citizens.
Beyond the integration into the global economy through trade and global value chains that help drive economic growth, open trade also benefits low-income households by allowing consumers to access affordable goods and services.
However, the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine has been felt by people far beyond the country’s borders, due in part to its effects on trade-in – and the prices of – foodstuff and energy commodities. One year since the war began, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) published a report assessing the conflict’s impact on trade and development. Cereal exportation to Africa, which is germane to food security in the region, declined by almost 15% in 2022, with prices of commodities like wheat increasing by almost 17%.
This trade disruption led the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to readjust its 2023 trade growth projection downwards from 3.4% to 1%, given the continuing reduced global trade demand, general inflation, and geopolitical tensions. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) agreed, lowering their projections for 2023 in their latest Global Trade Update, published in December. Furthermore, Export Development Canada (EDC) published their annual year-end Trade Confidence Index, reporting that trade confidence has declined sharply for Canadian businesses over the past year and continues to decrease among concerns over rising interest rates and a looming global recession.
In Nigeria, a similar slow-down trend in Trade is expected for 2023, considering that the global geopolitical tension and inflation hike will trickle down to the micro-economy as well as the FX illiquidity issues we have been experiencing locally for about 2 years due to revenue drop will further slowdown trade for 2023.
However, amid the challenges militating the flow of international trade in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa could be viable trading partners for the rest of the world in supplying cereals, fertilizer, energy, and manufactured goods, thereby having a thriving trade business for 2023 and beyond.
The Global Trade Review is an annual event where global experts in the trade and commerce industries come together to discuss global trade as it affects the economies of each continent and country and seek solutions to manoeuvre challenges that may be presented. This year’s event, themed “A new dawn: plotting a course for West African trade”, plans to bring together stakeholders and global experts to discuss how Africa as a whole and West Africa as a region can maximize the Trade opportunities that this challenging time has thrown up.
On the African continental stage, Stanbic IBTC Bank’s unique intra-African trade products enabled settlements of international transactions while preventing payment risks associated with the international trade business. This was in addition to providing regional solutions such as the issuance of payment guarantees to exporters without the need for a letter of credit and its related costs to the importer.
As global trade weathers the current challenges, the need for providing cross-border payments remains imperative. Africa is a major trade partner with Europe, China, and other Asian countries; thus, the significance of Stanbic IBTC’s Africa China Agent Proposition (ACAP), a product tailored to providing world-class financial solutions to African importers who transact with China exporters. The payment system makes available exclusive access to approved trade agents responsible for linking African businesses to numerous suppliers and manufacturers across China. The appointed agent provides access to over 10,000 Chinese suppliers and assesses suppliers to ensure that their products meet global standards.
ACAP offers a broad ecosystem of services, solutions, and support, which equips African businesses to leverage trade as well as growth opportunities and ultimately drive Africa’s economic growth. The ecosystem services afford importers from Africa sufficient lead time to place orders for their goods before payment is made. It also helps to ease the cash flow of African importers by providing access to financing while also empowering importers to have end-to-end visibility of the entire importation and logistic process.
Inter-dependencies with other countries at different levels of trade are necessary as no country is self-sufficient in the global economy. Integration into the global economy has proven to be a powerful tool for countries to promote economic growth, development and reduce poverty. Stanbic IBTC also engaged in strategic partnerships with other multilateral and regional organizations such as the African Development Bank, African Export– Bank, ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) in the facilitation and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) agreement to the benefits of its clients. Furthermore, it has continued to provide financial guarantees and solutions to small and medium-scale enterprises in the continent, which account for more than 80 per cent of the continent’s economic space.
Similarly, through Stanbic IBTC’s Trade Club solution, there is access to unlimited opportunities for business owners to meet and trade with suppliers anywhere in the world. The Stanbic IBTC Trade Club solution provides financing solutions for domestic or cross-border trade activities. It also provides good exposure for business owners to trade with manufacturers and suppliers worldwide, giving them the necessary exposure for their businesses to thrive. The solution identifies businesses, empowering them with the required trade tools and expertise while linking them with new global trade partnerships they can trust while nurturing their growth through good human relationships.
The Stanbic IBTC Trade Club, using its trade resources, provides relevant tips and the right tools to build your business. It also provides useful information regarding business models, accounting, marketing, and legal aspects that enable businesses to achieve set goals.
With Stanbic IBTC’s unique financial offerings, Africa remains on the part of an economic resurgence that will eventually enable the continent to compete with other economies of the world.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
One year after launching a continental initiative designed to make excellence in public governance the foundation of a new drive to transform Africa, LEAD, the Africa CEO Forum’s pan-African leadership programme, takes stock of its first cohort and announces the launch of its second class. Built around a community of senior public decision-makers committed to modernising the state and to the continent’s digital transformation, this new cohort gathers for three days, from 28 to 30 August 2026, on the campus of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco.
A second cohort that confirms the programme’s durability
For its second class, LEAD brings together 50 fellows, senior public decision-makers engaged in the design and implementation of the continent’s economic and social policies. Over three days, participants take part in collective and collaborative working sessions, peer exchanges and meetings with figures from the public, business and academic spheres, in order to compare their practices and build shared responses to the major challenges of governance.
Speakers include Mehdi Jomaa, former Head of Government of Tunisia, Donald Kaberuka, Managing Partner & Founder, SouthBridge Group, and former President of the African Development Bank, Serge Ekue, President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Sanjay Jain, co-creator of India Stack and Director of Digital Public Infrastructure, Gates Foundation, and Mauricio Cardenas, Professor of Professional Practice in Global Leadership, Columbia SIPA, and former Finance Minister of Colombia (2012-2018).
They share their reform experience, their public policy trade-offs and their view of continental priorities. Throughout the programme, the cohort benefits from the dedicated support of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Asafo & Co, BOAD, BCG and the African Development Bank, LEAD partners that have chosen to invest in the transformation of African public action.
LEAD, a pan-African community serving public action
Created by the AFRICA CEO FORUM, LEAD is a leadership programme whose ambition is to reposition Africa’s administrative elite as a driver of reform, of performance and of dialogue with all the continent’s stakeholders.
Designed for senior African public decision-makers, LEAD sets out to build a lasting community of public officials able to share their experience, compare their practices and build common solutions to the major economic, technological and institutional transformations under way in Africa. That community is structured around three pillars: modernizing the state, improving public services, and strengthening cooperation between governments, development institutions and private-sector players.
From fellows to alumni: a long-term initiative
Made up of 36 fellows drawn from a range of administrations and institutions and representing 24 countries across the continent, LEAD’s first cohort demonstrated the quality and the potential of this community from its very first year. In less than twelve months, six of its members have taken a significant step forward: two have been appointed ministers, two have moved into strategic positions at the highest level of the state and two have been promoted to chief executive roles. These moves, which account for 16.7% of the first class, show the role LEAD plays as an accelerator of impact within African administrations.
By bringing together a new cohort of fellows every year, each of them joining the LEAD alumni community, the initiative follows a long-term trajectory: in time, to unite several hundred African public decision-makers around a shared culture of transparency, performance and regional cooperation.
A first year devoted to public service and digital public infrastructure
Throughout the year, the fellows devoted their work to strengthening African public action, to make excellence in public governance a central lever of transformation. An awareness campaign, run as part of Africa Public Service Day, brought to light those who, within the continent’s administrations and institutions, are concretely transforming public policy and improving the services offered to citizens.
Members of the cohort also took part in a special round table held in Kigali during the ACF 2026, in order to carry their thinking to a wider community of public and private leaders. That forum reinforced LEAD’s role as a platform for dialogue between the administrative elite and the continent’s economic players. Digital public infrastructure (DPI) formed the main thread of this first year of work.
Discussions covered issues at the heart of the digital sovereignty of African states: digital identity, payments, secure data exchange, interoperability, governance and the protection of citizens. This work examined the conditions under which African states are developing, in some cases, and can develop, in others, shared, open infrastructure robust enough to improve the quality of public services while supporting local innovation and preserving the capacity of public authorities to set the rules of the game.
A white paper to move from consuming technology to creating value
This year of work concludes with the publication, in collaboration with BCG, LEAD’s Knowledge Partner, of a white paper on Africa’s place in the digital economy and in artificial intelligence. With the digital economy still accounting for around 5% of African GDP, against close to 15% worldwide, the paper calls on the continent to shift from a logic of technology consumption to one of value creation.
The white paper identifies three structuring priorities for African public actors:
- Building shared digital infrastructure that serves as the backbone of public services and private innovation.
- Pooling investment in order to reach critical mass and avoid the fragmentation of efforts across the continent.
- Favouring open and interoperable architectures, with trust and governance built in by design, so as to protect citizens while stimulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The white paper is available here to all public decision-makers, technical partners and institutions concerned.
“LEAD’s first cohort confirms a simple conviction: Africa already has the women and men capable of profoundly transforming public action. Our responsibility, either with our partners, is to give them, at pan-African level, a space in which to compare experience, build common solutions and bring forward a new generation of public policy. With this second cohort, we want to accelerate the move from ambition to execution, in particular on digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence, two decisive issues for sovereignty, for the effectiveness of the state and for value creation across the continent,” says Amir Ben Yahmed, President of the Africa CEO Forum.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Africa is set to make history as it hosts the World Public Summit for the first time, with Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, welcoming global leaders and changemakers from July 29–30, 2026, for the landmark gathering under the theme “New World: Africa in Shaping a Shared Future.”
The inaugural African edition of the World Public Summit marks a significant milestone in the continent’s growing role in shaping international dialogue on governance, sustainable development, human-centred leadership and global cooperation.
Hosted by the World Peoples Assembly in partnership with African and international organisations, the summit will convene government officials, diplomats, business leaders, academics, journalists, youth representatives, civil society organisations and cultural leaders from across Africa and around the world.
According to Andrey Belyaninov, General Secretary of the World Peoples Assembly, “the Summit is not just a meeting—it is a space for unity. A space where the ‘values that unite us’ come to life: respect for people, openness to the world, responsibility for the future, and a commitment to creation.
“Today, we understand more clearly than ever: the future cannot be built alone. It is born in dialogue, in trust, in the ability to listen to one another and to act together.”
The programme begins on July 29 with a series of high-level roundtables and expert discussions covering Pan-African economic integration, civil society, education, scientific cooperation, cultural diplomacy and humanitarian partnerships.
The opening plenary, “Values, Development and Partnership as the Basis of a Sustainable and Just World,” will explore how African values—including Ubuntu—can help shape a more inclusive and sustainable global future. Discussions will also focus on youth leadership, innovation, civil society, ethical AI, public initiatives and international partnerships.
The summit will also showcase Africa’s creativity and innovation through the “Innovations for the Future” exhibition, the contemporary African art exhibition “Unity,” and the international exhibition “The World Paints Happiness.”
Another featured initiative is “The Zambezi River: Economy, Society, Soul,” an international interdisciplinary project exploring the river’s socioeconomic importance across Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, highlighting the shared heritage and development potential of one of Africa’s most important waterways.
The event will conclude with the adoption of the African Communiqué, reflecting the summit’s shared vision for stronger international cooperation, sustainable development and people-centred leadership.
Tsegaye Chama, General Secretary of the Global Black Centre, promised that, “The Summit will be delivered with exceptional distinction, reflecting the magnitude and spirit of the World Peoples Assembly. It embodies a unity that is not transactional, but purposeful and conscious, a unity that shapes new contours for a world that works for all peoples of the World.”
As delegates prepare to arrive in Addis Ababa, anticipation continues to build for what promises to be one of Africa’s most significant international gatherings of 2026—one that will place the continent firmly at the centre of global conversations about the future.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria regained its position as Africa’s leading destination for equity startup investment in the first half of 2026, raising $214 million in equity financing and a total of $254 million across equity and debt, according to the latest Africa: The Big Deal report.
The report, titled H1 2026: Mapping the Money, showed that Nigeria ranked second on the continent in total funding, behind Egypt, which attracted $327 million, while Kenya and South Africa followed with $126 million and $83 million, respectively.
However, the report noted that Egypt’s top position was largely driven by a single fundraising by electric mobility company Spiro, which secured $327 million, including $270 million in equity and $57 million in debt. Excluding debt financing, Nigeria emerged as Africa’s largest equity funding market in the first six months of the year.
According to the breakdown by Africa: The Big Deal, Nigeria’s equity funding of $214 million was higher than Egypt’s $183 million, while South Africa and Kenya attracted $66 million and $46 million, respectively.
Beyond funding value, Nigeria also led the continent in the number of startups that raised at least $100,000 during the review period, reclaiming the top spot after what the report described as an “underwhelming” second half of 2025.
The publication observed that Nigeria’s fundraising performance has remained relatively stable over the past few years and exceeded the $250 million mark for the first time since 2022, pointing to renewed investor confidence in the country’s startup ecosystem.
It also found that while the Big Four startup markets—Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa—continued to dominate Africa’s investment landscape, their combined share of total funding stood at 58 per cent in the first half of 2026.
“Zooming back on the Big Four (110 out of 190 $100k+ deals, i.e. 58%), Nigeria is head and shoulders above its peers, with Egypt and Kenya almost tying, and South Africa in fourth position again,” the report noted.
The report highlighted contrasting performances among the continent’s largest startup ecosystems. While Nigeria and Egypt maintained strong funding momentum, Kenya recorded its weakest funding performance since early 2021 after a strong second half of 2025, and South Africa failed to attract $100 million in funding during the period despite leading the continent a year earlier.
Africa: The Big Deal also noted a broader shift in investor behaviour, with funding increasingly concentrated in larger transactions while early-stage investments continued to decline. According to the publication, the drop in smaller funding rounds reflects growing concerns about limited capital available for early-stage startups across Africa.
