Ecobank Group and the AfCFTA Secretariat have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at accelerating intra-African trade and helping close the continent’s trade finance gap, particularly for SMEs, women-led businesses, and young entrepreneurs.

The agreement, announced in a press release on Thursday, establishes a framework to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to create a single African market of more than 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of about $3.4 trillion.

The partnership builds on Ecobank’s recent $3 billion trade finance commitment announced at the Africa-Forward Summit in Nairobi. The funding is expected to be deployed over the next three years in collaboration with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

Under the MoU, the AfCFTA Secretariat will support efforts to direct the financing toward businesses that have traditionally struggled to access trade finance, including small-scale cross-border traders.

“Access to trade and affordable finance remains critical to unlocking the full potential of the AfCFTA,” said Wamkele Mene.

“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,” he added.

Ecobank said the agreement aligns with its long-term objective of supporting African economic integration across the 34 African markets where it operates.

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

“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,” he stated.

The partnership will focus on six key areas, including SME capacity building, trade finance support, business referrals, policy advocacy, and the promotion of Ecobank’s Ellevate Program, which targets women-led businesses.

The two institutions also plan to strengthen the use of Ecobank’s Single Market Trade Hub to reduce information gaps among traders across the continent.

The MoU comes at a time when implementation of the AfCFTA continues to face challenges such as payment bottlenecks, regulatory differences, and limited access to affordable trade finance, especially for smaller businesses.

Both parties said implementation of the agreement will begin immediately, although no timeline was provided for the rollout of specific programmes.