Absa Bank has called for accelerated digitisation, stronger interoperability and greater ecosystem collaboration to reduce the cost of trade finance and unlock Africa’s next phase of economic growth.
Speaking during the GTR Conference in Nairobi, Lydia Wangari-Karanja, Director of Transactional Banking at Absa Bank Kenya, said digitisation is becoming increasingly critical in improving efficiency, reducing friction and strengthening trust across Africa’s trade ecosystem, noting that trade finance across many African markets remains heavily paper-intensive, creating inefficiencies that slow trade flows and increase operational costs.
“Trade by nature remains highly paper intensive, particularly in markets like Kenya where MSMEs form the backbone of economic activity. Across the trade lifecycle, there are multiple manual handoffs with limited visibility for both banks and clients, and these inefficiencies ultimately make trade more expensive,” said Ms. Wangari-Karanja.
In an increasingly evolving trade environment that demands faster processes, improved turnaround times, transparenct and reduced operational friction across trade systems, digitisation is proving to be a significant opportunity both for banks and businesses.
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“For clients, digitisation means faster access to financing and trade processing, reduced supply chain cycle times, lower demurrage costs and improved transaction visibility. Ultimately, time is money, and digitisation helps businesses move goods and access financing more efficiently,” she said.
Importantly, the future of trade finance lies not simply in converting paper processes into digital formats, but in building interoperable ecosystems that seamlessly connect financial institutions, regulators, customs authorities, ports, development finance institutions and corporates.
As a Pan-African bank operating across 12 African markets with representative offices in Beijing, London, New York and Dubai, Absa said it remains focused on enabling trade flows that support economic growth, resilience and regional integration.
“At Absa Bank, we believe that East Africa remains strategically positioned to become one of the continent’s leading industrial and trade hubs, supported by growing regional integration, infrastructure development and digital transformation.”
