Africa is losing an estimated $74.5 billion in additional debt-service costs due to exaggerated risk perceptions and biased credit ratings.
This is according to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which also noted that only 16 per cent of the continent’s exports are traded within Africa.
The two developments, disclosed at the 2026 Invest Nigeria Conference and Expo in Lagos, have renewed calls for lower borrowing costs, stronger regional integration and measures to unlock greater investment and intra-African trade.
Director, Regional Operations, Afreximbank, Kudawashe Matereke, said Africa was paying significantly more for credit despite having lower infrastructure loan default rates than several other emerging regions.
Matereke said a recent study by Moody’s Analytics showed that the default rate for infrastructure loans in Africa averaged above 1.9 per cent, compared with 4.6 per cent in Asia, 10 per cent in Latin America and 12.4 per cent in Eastern Europe.
“Africa loses an estimated $74.5 billion in additional debt-service costs due to exaggerated risk perceptions and biased credit ratings,” he said, adding that subjective credit ratings and financial frameworks were pushing up the cost of credit.
According to him, Africa could save substantially if borrowing costs were reduced. He said if borrowing costs were lowered by two percentage points over three years across an $18.6 billion portfolio, Africa could save about $1.12 billion.
“We pay more for credit even though our default rate is lower,” Matereke said, noting that the next comparable figure cited was 4.6 per cent.
He identified the high cost of credit as one of the realities confronting African economies, alongside disruptions from geopolitical conflicts, rising commodity prices, inflation, and tighter financial conditions.
Matereke said Afreximbank had approved a $10 billion Gulf crisis response programme in March 2026 to support African and Caribbean economies, financial institutions and businesses heavily dependent on imported fuel, food, liquefied natural gas and fertiliser.
He explained that the programme provides short-term foreign exchange and liquidity support to keep vital supply chains open, as well as longer-term funding for regional energy, logistics and port projects.
He added that Afreximbank was also using guarantees to de-risk transactions, unlock capital and attract international financing into Africa.
On industrialisation, Matereke said the bank’s agenda covered logistics networks, railways, ports, highways, energy grids, financing, quality standards and regulatory frameworks, with greater emphasis on African-owned businesses, patents, brands, technology and logistics.
He said the bank had established African Quality Assurance Centres to provide testing, inspection and certification services for goods produced across the continent, with two facilities already located in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Division Director, West Africa, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Olivier Buyoya, said only about 16 per cent of Africa’s exports were destined for other African countries at the end of 2025.
He contrasted this with Europe, where 67 per cent of exports remain within the region, and Asia, where the figure stands at 63 per cent.
Buyoya said the figures demonstrated the enormous opportunity presented by deeper African economic integration. According to him, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gives the continent the scale investors have long sought.
Still, the challenge is to translate that scale into connected markets, competitive value chains and investment opportunities.
He said regional integration would enable African countries to form connected value chains by leveraging their different strengths, with one country producing, another processing, and others providing logistics, technology or services.
Buyoya said the opportunity was particularly important for Nigeria because its large domestic market could give businesses a base from which to expand across Africa.
He said Nigerian companies were already expanding across the continent in financial services, telecommunications, consumer goods and technology. Deeper integration, he added, could help more Nigerian companies become regional champions while positioning Nigeria as a platform for international investors seeking access to wider African markets.
He said IFC was supporting supply-chain finance platforms in Nigeria that enable smaller suppliers to receive early payment on approved invoices, giving them liquidity to fulfil larger orders and participate more effectively in regional value chains.
He said Africa’s ambition should extend beyond simply trading more to capturing greater value from the agricultural, mineral and energy resources produced on the continent.
According to him, the World Bank Group works with governments on policies, institutions and reforms. At the same time, IFC supports private-sector investment and advisory services, while the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency provides guarantees against political and other non-commercial risks.
Buyoya said IFC provided an average of $4.1 billion annually in long- and short-term finance in Nigeria over the past four years.
