Intra-African trade gets a boost as Afreximbank renews partnership with ITC
Signed on the sidelines of IATF2025, the agreement highlights Afreximbank’s pivotal role in strengthening intra-African trade and supporting the growth and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the recently concluded Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) by Benedict Oramah, president and chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank and Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of ITC.
Under the renewed MoU, Afreximbank and ITC will promote SME competitiveness, capacity building related to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), sustainable livelihoods through the creative industries, strengthening of Africa’s trade partnerships with the Caribbean and Arab regions, and increased access to finance for businesses, including small businesses.
Commenting on the signing, Oramah said that the renewed MoU would help to expand Africa’s creative industries, deepen South-South co-operation with the Caribbean, and strengthen AfCFTA’s private-sector impact.
He noted that the partnership between Afreximbank and ITC positioned them as joint leaders in ensuring that Africa’s SMEs and creative entrepreneurs gain global visibility and market access, adding that they were scaling up their collaboration to empower the SMEs and creative industries, foster Africa-Caribbean linkages, and advance AfCFTA implementation.
Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of ITC, said, “Our long-term partnership with Afreximbank is one built on strengthening the way Africa engages with the rest of the world in terms of trade.
"With our expanded partnership, we will continue to work together to make trade easier, more accessible and less costly across the continent, for all African businesses, including the smallest and those led by women and youth.”
Attended by more than 112,000 visitors from 132 countries, IATF2025, which took place from Thursday, 4 September to Wednesday, 10 September 2025, ended on a remarkably high note with $48.3bn in trade and investment deals signed over the seven days of the continental exposition.
It welcomed 2,148 exhibitors.