As Africa’s premier trade and investment platform – the Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 – kicks off in Algiers, Algeria, here is our exclusive interview with Mrs Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President of Intra-African Trade and Export Development at the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank). In this in-depth conversation, she explores critical issues shaping African trade, highlighting how women are driving transformation across the continent’s trade landscape and flourishing creative industries. Mrs Awani provides compelling insights into how Afreximbank harnesses the transformative power of trade, creativity, and gender equality to build a more inclusive and prosperous Africa. She was featured on the cover of NewAfricanWoman Issue 50 and spoke with our Editor reGina Jane Jere. Below is an excerpt from their conversation – read the full interview in the Digital Edition here.
As EVP – Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank – how would you describe the benefits of intra-African trade for women in terms of empowering them as drivers of Africa’s economic growth?
Across the continent, millions of women are running businesses, both large and small. The continent is estimated to have the highest rate of female entrepreneurial activity in the world. Intra-African trade is not just an economic imperative; it’s a vital pathway to empowering these women, enabling them to become even stronger drivers of Africa’s economic growth because women play a key role in trade development in Africa. Research suggests 70% of informal cross-border trade in Africa is conducted by women.
Given that intra-African trade only makes up around 15% -18% of total African trade, women are a massive untapped resource. Women entrepreneurs are active in diverse sectors, from agriculture to clothing and textiles, yet their full potential is not being realized. We must address the unique challenges and barriers faced by women in trade, including limited knowledge of opportunities in export markets and ways to integrate into regional value chains. Empowering women in intra-African trade and ensuring that the benefits of the AfCFTA are equally distributed is not only a priority but a necessity for inclusive economic growth across the continent.
Organised by Afreximbank in collaboration with the AUC and the AfCFTA Secretariat, Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) creates a valuable space for change, tackling the structural barriers that hold women back, from access to financing to outdated regulations. The IATF provides a unique platform for female entrepreneurs, investors and decision-makers to come together, connect and form lasting partnerships.
That said, what about the perennial issue of systemic barriers to women’s financial inclusion – an important aspect of consolidating their financial and business independence. Is enough being done? And how is the Bank contributing to making this a reality?
Despite women’s demonstrable ability in, and commitment to building successful businesses here in Africa, women are too often excluded from economic and financial decision making and neglected by schemes designed to spur economic development and transformation. From access to credit to securing investment, too often my sisters here in Africa find themselves treated as an afterthought. Is enough being done? No – and I won’t be satisfied until women across this continent, and in the diaspora, enjoy the same social and economic rights as their brothers, sons and husbands.
Afreximbank recognizes, firstly, the moral imperative to correct these historic imbalances and, secondly, the developmental rewards to Africa of empowering women as economic agents. That’s why we’ve devised and implemented a range of schemes targeting women. Prominent among these is our directing of grants to programmes designed to train young African – and, more often than not, female – entrepreneurs, like the Grand Africa Initiative (GAIN), which, beginning in March 2024, started training 300 young African entrepreneurs (from across the continent) and equipping them with the skills to expand their businesses beyond individual national borders. From technical guidance to practical training and expert consultation, the programme has played its part in fostering the next generation of African women business leaders.
Training is a consistent theme in Afreximbank’s efforts to address gender inequalities, deriving from our belief that, without knowledge and resources, women’s empowerment is unachievable. This approach is exemplified by Afreximbank’s Export SME Development Programme (ESDP), which has significantly benefited women. More than 3,000 SMEs have benefited from a series of accelerators, incubators, and workshops as part of the programme, which spans 45 countries, including 38 in Africa and seven in the Caribbean. Crucially, when evaluating the intervention through a gender lens, 83% of the programme’s beneficiaries are women-led SMEs.
Women are already leading many of Africa’s businesses –and it is capacity building and training that make all the difference.
In your current role, you are the first ever and only female EVP at Afreximbank. The 2025 theme for International Women’s Day was ‘Accelerate Action’, [for gender equality]. How is the Bank faring in terms of gender balance and accelerating action to achieve it continentally?
Afreximbank is a meritocratic organisation and I have always felt confident that excellence, irrespective of who exhibited it, would always be rewarded and recognised. But it’s a fact that women everywhere, have to work harder than our male counterparts for the same recognition. This has been true in my life and in the lives of women around the world.
Given that women are over 50% of Africa’s population, it’s imperative that they have equitable representation in leadership roles across both the private and public sectors. This is not only a matter of justice but also crucial for driving economic development and decision-making.
African women are asserting themselves in the economic and political life not only in Africa, but also globally. One of the most important posts in global trade is, after all, currently held by an African woman: Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
While this might still be remarkable to my generation of women, I am delighted to say that, for our daughters, female leadership in Africa and globally will be barely worth remarking upon – it will be so normalised!
Read the full interview in our ISSUE 50 Digital Edition
