Ecobank Group and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate intra-African trade and close the continent’s widening trade finance gap - with a sharp focus on SMEs, women-led businesses, and young entrepreneurs.

The agreement, announced through a press release on Thursday, establishes a strategic framework to support the implementation of the AfCFTA, which aims to create an integrated single market of more than 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of approximately $3.4 trillion.

Building on a $3bn pledge

The MoU builds directly on Ecobank’s recent announcement at the Africa-Forward Summit in Nairobi, where the pan-African lender unveiled a $3 billion trade finance commitment to be deployed over the next three years in partnership with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

Under the new partnership, the AfCFTA Secretariat will help channel that commitment toward businesses that have long been locked out of traditional trade finance - from large corporates to small-scale cross-border traders.

“Access to trade and affordable finance remains critical to unlocking the full potential of the AfCFTA,” said H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat.

“Through this partnership with Ecobank, we are strengthening the support available to African businesses, particularly SMEs, women-led enterprises, and young entrepreneurs, to enable greater participation in intra-African trade and value chains across the continent.”

Catalyst for AfCFTA

For Ecobank, which operates in 34 African markets, the agreement formalizes a decades-long ambition.

“For 40 years, Ecobank has been built on a singular vision: to advance the economic development and financial integration of Africa,” said Michael Larbie, Group Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking at Ecobank.

“With our unmatched presence across 34 African markets and our digital capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to serve as a catalyst for the AfCFTA. This MoU formalises our commitment to connecting African businesses to the markets, finance, and knowledge they need to thrive.”

What the partnership will do

Under the MoU, the two institutions will focus on six priority areas:

• SME capacity building – equipping African businesses with tools and networks to seize AfCFTA opportunities.
• Closing the trade finance gap – joint promotion of Ecobank’s Ellevate Program, which targets women-led businesses in both formal and informal sectors.
• Single Market Trade Hub – positioning Ecobank’s trade platform to reduce information asymmetry among traders across the continent.
• Business referrals – leveraging the AfCFTA Trading Companies database and Ecobank’s network to connect buyers and sellers.
• Policy advocacy – joint engagement with regulators to eliminate non-tariff barriers and cross-border payment friction.
• Thought leadership – co-curating high-level panels and business forums on AfCFTA protocols.

A defining moment

The MoU arrives at a critical juncture. While the AfCFTA became operational in 2021, implementation has been slowed by payment bottlenecks, regulatory mismatches, and limited access to affordable trade finance - particularly for smaller players.

By combining the AfCFTA Secretariat’s mandate with Ecobank’s continental footprint and $3 billion commitment, the partnership is expected to boost participation of African businesses in intra-African trade and accelerate the objectives of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, “The Africa We Want.”

No timeline for the rollout of specific programs under the MoU was immediately disclosed, but both parties said implementation would begin immediately.