The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat have joined forces to roll out the Africa Trade Gateway (ATG), a digital trade platform aiming to help Rwandan businesses identify partners, access financing, complete cross-border payments, and expand into new markets.

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The platform connects buyers, sellers, financial institutions and logistics providers across Africa. By offering a centralised digital infrastructure, it is intended to help businesses expand trade, strengthen intra-African commerce, and support economic integration and job creation.

Broadly, the platform aims to facilitate the practical implementation of the AfCFTA.

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The Rwandan government, a key partner in the platform’s local implementation, encouraged private sector actors to adopt the trade portal, with officials describing it as a huge leap in trade liberalisation that will achieve the promise of the AfCFTA.

The launch event, held last week, brought together senior government officials, representatives from the Private Sector Federation (PSF), Rwanda Bankers Association (RBA), banking executives, diplomats, importers and exporters, entrepreneurs, business associations, Real Sources Africa (the AfCFTA trading company), and Afreximbank officials.

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Alexis Kabayiza, Chief Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said that the Africa Trade Gateway is a technological solution that reflects Africa’s readiness to shape its own digital trade landscape.

"As we deepen our integration under the AfCFTA, let us ensure that digital trade becomes a cornerstone of industrialisation, inclusion, and resilience. Rwanda stands ready to play its part as a committed partner, a digital innovator, and a champion of continental cooperation,” he remarked.

Speaking at the event, Emeka Onyia, the Director of Digital Banking at Afreximbank, said intra-African trade currently accounts for less than 15 per cent of the continent’s total trade, highlighting the need to increase local commerce.

"The Africa Trade Gateway provides a platform to move from concept to action and from fragmented trade to more integrated networks,” he added.

"The ATG represents far more than a platform; it is the gateway to Africa’s next economic era. Africa’s trade future is digital, integration is achievable, and the Africa Trade Gateway is the highway that will get us there," stated Felix Kabara Chege, the Chief Executive Officer of Real Sources Africa.