Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Senegal could earn up to $26 billion from lowering costs and increasing the availability of trade finance, a new report released by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The report, Trade Finance in West Africa examined the major barriers to trade finance in the four largest economies in the region. The four countries face a trade finance shortage of up to $14 billion every year despite seeing increased trade flows over the years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.