African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the East African Business Council (EABC) have signed the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG) Agency Agreement, a step meant to connect the region’s businesses, including SMEs and major exporters, to digital trade.
The agreement was signed at the inaugural East Africa CEO & Investment Forum in Nairobi, and it gives those businesses a route to the 300 million strong East African Community Common Market and the wider African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market of 1.3 billion consumers.
EABC has been promoting the digital ecosystem to its members and supporting their onboarding. The partnership combines the council’s regional business network with the platform’s digital trade services so that businesses can find verified buyers and suppliers across Africa and beyond, find information on trading partners and connect with finance and payment solutions. It also makes EABC part of a growing group of trade supporting institutions across Africa that work together to link businesses with opportunities outside their home markets.
ATG is Afreximbank’s flagship digital trade ecosystem. Through one platform, businesses can find trusted trading partners and also arrange trade finance, payments, compliance checks, logistics and market intelligence without going to separate providers.
Launched in June 2023, ATG now operates in more than 45 African countries and connects 45 trade supporting institutions, 110 commercial banks and 25,000 verified companies. Afreximbank puts the opportunity pipeline on the platform at $4.5 billion, spread across commodities, minerals, oil and gas, FMCG and other African made products.
Haytham El Maayergi, Executive Vice President of Global Trade Bank at Afreximbank, said many businesses find it hard to identify trusted partners and reach the right services, that the platform is designed to close that gap, and that the network grows stronger as more businesses connect and trade.
“Trade is built on connections, but for many businesses, identifying trusted partners and accessing the right services to trade across borders can be a significant challenge. The Africa Trade Gateway is designed to bridge that gap by connecting businesses with trusted buyers, suppliers, financial institutions and the services they need to turn opportunities into real transactions. Our collaboration with EABC is helping more businesses within East African access new markets with greater confidence. By leveraging the trusted networks and digital services available through the Africa Trade Gateway, businesses can build meaningful connections, unlock new opportunities and participate more actively in Africa’s growing digital economy. As more businesses successfully connect and trade, the network becomes stronger, creating a virtuous cycle of opportunity and growth across the continent,” El Maayergi said.
Ahmed Farah, CEO of the East African Business Council, said the council equips East African enterprises with knowledge of AfCFTA opportunities, rules of origin, tariffs, customs procedures and export requirements, and that its role as a trade corridor partner is to connect them to the platform.
“EABC is empowering East African enterprises with knowledge on AfCFTA market opportunities, Rules of Origin, tariff concessions, customs procedures and export requirements, complemented by tailored advisory support on market entry and export readiness. As a trade corridor partner for the Afreximbank Africa Trade Gateway (ATG), EABC is connecting enterprises to the ecosystem, enabling access to business-to-business matchmaking and trade finance solutions that can facilitate intra-African trade under the AfCFTA,” Farah said.
For small exporters, finding a buyer they can trust is often harder than finding finance, and a platform that verifies counterparties and sits alongside advice on export rules could shorten that search. For Afreximbank, working through a regional business body gives the platform a way to reach companies that banks and trade institutions may not meet directly, though neither organisation has said how many EABC members they expect to onboard.
Digital Trade Outlook’s View: Africa Trade Gateway
What stands out is the choice of a business council as the onboarding agent. Afreximbank’s platform already counts 110 commercial banks and 25,000 verified companies, but EABC speaks for private sector associations and corporates across the eight East African Community partner states, and it already advises its members on rules of origin, tariffs and export readiness. That could bring in firms that a bank on its own would struggle to reach and prepare them to trade before they ever meet a buyer.
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