Import - Intelpoint

Africa exported a record $86.2bn worth of goods to China in 2025.
China received about 12.5% of Africa’s total merchandise exports.
Annual exports remained below $10bn until 2004, before accelerating sharply.
Export values have remained relatively high since 2021 despite earlier downturns.
The trade relationship remains heavily commodity-led, with limited manufactured exports.

Only 3 of 52 African economies met the export-market diversification test in 2025.
Nigeria recorded the largest and most sustained shift, with its top-buyer share falling from 43.1% to 9.9%.
Madagascar’s top-market share dropped from 40.0% to 14.9% and has remained below 20% since 2021.
Libya narrowly qualified at 19.5%, after remaining above the threshold in 2024.
The test measures reduced dependence on one export destination, not greater product diversification.

Africa imported merchandise worth $788.9 billion in 2025, representing about 3% of global merchandise imports.
South Africa was Africa’s largest merchandise importer, with imports valued at $128.1 billion.
Egypt ranked second at $97.5 billion, followed by Morocco at $87.4 billion.
The three largest importers accounted for $313 billion, or 39.7% of Africa’s total merchandise imports.
South Africa alone accounted for about 16.2% of the continental total.
The five largest importers, including Algeria and Nigeria, were responsible for $404.6 billion, or 51.3% of Africa’s imports.
Nigeria ranked fifth, with merchandise imports valued at $41.5 billion.

Only 16.9% of Africa’s merchandise exports were sold to other African countries in 2024.
Africa had the second-lowest intra-continental export share, ahead only of Oceania’s 4.8%.
Europe recorded the highest share at 65.6%, followed by Asia at 58.4% and the Americas at 54.0%.
Europe’s intra-continental export share was nearly four times Africa’s.
Africa’s share increased from 12.1% in 1995 to 16.9% in 2024, a rise of 4.8 percentage points.
Despite this long-term improvement, Africa remained below its 2015 peak of 18.8%.
Africa has not crossed the 20% mark at any point in the three decades covered.

Nigeria recorded a ₦21.03 trillion trade surplus in 2025, the highest in the period shown.
The trade surplus remained strong at ₦7.55 trillion in Q1 2026.
The latest performance marks a sharp recovery from the deficits recorded in 2020 and 2021.
Nigeria’s trade balance moved from near zero in 2023 to large surpluses in 2024 and 2025.

Asia is Nigeria’s top import source in 2025.
The highest import value from Asia was recorded in Q1 at ₦8.7 trillion.
Imports from Europe surged to ₦8.6 trillion in Q2 but declined to ₦6.6 trillion by Q4.
Imports from America showed continuous growth, rising from ₦2.9 trillion in Q1 to ₦6.6 trillion in Q4.
Imports from Africa remained below ₦1 trillion across most quarters.

Crude oil dominated Nigeria’s exports in all quarters of 2025
Q1 recorded the highest oil dependency at 81.5%.
Non-oil exports peaked in Q2 at 24.2%, representing the strongest diversification point in 2025.
The oil share dropped to its lowest in Q2 (75.8%), but still remained dominant.

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