This article was written with support from Afreximbank
Afreximbank plans to build nine such hubs in Africa and the Caribbean. These centres not only provide business information and encourage trade and investment, but also serve as a platform for real-time digital engagement for people from different regions of the continent.
“The Abuja AATC is the first of several AATCs being developed in Africa and the Caribbean,” said Afreximbank president Benedict Oramah, who opened the event in Abuja. “We hope that using these will create a substantial network of AATCs that will serve as lighthouses to guide the interconnections and flows of trade and investment between continental Africa, the African and the Caribbean.”
Invented by Afreximbank in 2018, this aims to help Africans realize the full benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which created the world's largest free trade area.
As African countries seek to overcome colonial boundaries and historical separations, the trade centre represents “a strong physical institutional infrastructure to deepen the exchange of relationships and information between Africans, the Caribbean, and in fact, the broader African diaspora.”
Abuja AATC has facilities for incubating technology startups, small businesses, meeting and exhibition spaces and business hotels, according to details provided by Afreximbank. It also hosts the bank's regional office.
In the first week of June, Afreximbank will open the 500-bed Africa Medical Centre of Excellence, one of many social interventions in Abuja. It is developed at King's College Hospital in London at a cost of $750 million and provides specialized care that is usually required outside of Africa for cancer treatment, cardiology and haematology.
Nigeria is also a beneficiary of Africa's Quality Assurance Centre. Africa's Quality Assurance Centres are made easier by the African Bank, making it easier to verify the export of agricultural goods and quality assurance for value-added foods for Africa and international markets. One of the centres is already functioning in Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria, while the other centres are being developed in IMO state in the southeastern state and Kaduna state in the north.
The coordination of Nigerian Finance and Economy Minister Wele Edon noted the trade between African countries as well as the many innovations of Afreximbank that it provided to promote trade between the continent and the world, as well as the advisory services it provided. “Afreximbank has been extremely considerate in providing solutions to Africa's trade problems,” says Edun.
According to Edun, Nigeria is the bank's largest shareholder after Egypt, receiving more than $49 billion in funding to support the state and private companies.
Under the Orama, leadership has risen to the challenge of providing solutions that will make the dream of a single trade zone in Africa a reality through the AFCFTA. One of these was the introduction of the African Payment and Payment System (PAPSS), which enabled businesses and individuals on the continent to pay within Africa.
PAPSS observed Edun and integrated 41 payment systems across Africa to provide seamless cross-border payments in 16 participating countries with 144 commercial banks involved. PAPSS witnessed more than nine times the volume of transaction growth in 2025.
According to Nigerian Minister of Trade and Investment Jumoke Odworle, the banks have many milestones primarily for oramas organising paths for Africans to unite and “foreigner leaders” combined with their diaspora.
“The launch of this trade center is more than just a new building,” Oduwole says. “It represents a clear step towards Africa's stronger control of trade, both on the continent and on the world.”
