Afreximbank Urges Acceleration of Implementation of the Single Continental Market With AfCFTA Adjustment Fund

19 March 2026
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African Export-Import Bank (Cairo)
By Vincent Musumba

On 10 March, the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Corporation organised a stakeholders' engagement event in Lagos to introduce the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund to Nigerian institutional investors as a catalytic instrument supporting the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Discussions highlighted the role of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund in supporting African countries and businesses to manage short-term adjustment costs associated with the implementation of the AfCFTA while positioning them to benefit from opportunities presented by the single continental market.

Participants noted that while trade liberalisation under agreements such as the AfCFTA is expected to deliver significant long-term economic benefits, it may also present short-term challenges, including tariff revenue losses, increased competition and supply chain disruptions.

The event was chaired by Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria's Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, and forms part of a broader continental engagement series aimed at positioning the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund as a strategic asset class for African institutional investors.

Other notable attendees included Chief Executive Officers and Chief Investment Officers of Nigerian Pension Funds Administrators; stakeholders from across Nigeria's financial and investment community; Mrs Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank's Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development; Mr. Jean Louis Ekra, a former President of Afreximbank and Chairman of the Board of the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Corporation; and Mr Emmanuel Assiak, Acting CEO, Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), among others.

The AfCFTA Adjustment Fund is an initiative established following a mandate from the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government to Afreximbank and AfCFTA Secretariat to create an adjustment mechanism to support the implementation of the AfCFTA. It is designed to help bridge adjustment gaps by supporting countries to achieve fiscal stabilization, while enabling industries to retool and modernise, improve productivity and strengthen competitiveness of African enterprises as the continent advances towards a fully operational single market.

The initiative is being operationalised through the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund Corporation, a joint venture between Afreximbank and the AfCFTA Secretariat, with Afreximbank serving as the Fund manager, operationalised through its impact investment subsidiary, Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA). As part of the Fund's operationalisation, Afreximbank has committed US$1 billion to support its financing interventions for the private sector across Africa and US$10 million in grant funding to support State Parties in strengthening their readiness for AfCFTA implementation.

Read the original article on Afreximbank.

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