Realising the full potential of AfCFTA begins with collective action and fighting corruption

North American trade tensions challenge regional commerce as US-Canada trade tensions reshape payments, resilience and banking across the region.

Yesterday, 25 August, Canada announced tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of imports from the US. This came in retaliation for the new 50% tariffs being imposed on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods - in what Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne describes as a “dollar-for-dollar, rate-for-rate” strategy.

When US-Israeli airstrikes killed Iran’s supreme leader in February 2026, sparking an Iranian retaliation on US allies in the Middle East, many assumed this would be yet another flash in the pan in the increasingly volatile region.  Six months on, conflict endures, proving more resilient and disruptive than anyone had bargained for, rerouting shipping routes and heightening concerns about the security of the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint in oil transport. With global attention for conflict gravitating towards the Middle East, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is being considered in global commodity flows less and less. Nonetheless, recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian ports in the Black Sea, just a few thousand miles away, significantly exacerbate the global energy crisis.

African markets are among the fastest-growing for receivables finance, but the solution remains virtually unknown in many parts of the continent.  Yet as a financing model, receivables finance, also known as factoring,  lets businesses unlock cash tied up in unpaid invoices instead of waiting 30, 60, or even 90 days for payments. Through receivables finance, the supplier sells outstanding invoices to a third party - a factor - and the factor advances the majority of the invoice value, with financing linked to the underlying receivables and the creditworthiness of the debtor. The cash provided by the factor can then fund payroll, inventory, and essentially keep the wheels rolling before the buyer has completed payment.

Any conference, interview, or conversation on the future of trade will inevitably discuss the inefficiencies which need to be addressed before that future arrives.  Although artificial intelligence (AI) is, by now, ubiquitous, a redefinition of value, risk, and information transmission can be solved by tokenisation. But what do digital assets actually offer in the current context of global trade? And how ready is the present regulatory and cultural climate? For the final episode of Trade Finance Global (TFG) and Standard Chartered’s five-episode podcast series, Future of Trade, TFG’s Mark Abrams was joined by Standard Chartered’s Kevin Chang, Head of Trade and Working Capital for Hong Kong and GCNA  and Group Head of Trade Digital Assets, and Emily Chan, Director, Trade Product Manager, Digital Assets, to discuss the future of digital assets in trade.

In an increasingly complex and fast-paced global economy, trade finance is undergoing a fundamental transformation, with digitalisation moving from a theoretical goal to an operational necessity.  As digital technologies become a defining feature of the field, industry leaders are increasingly reassessing what success looks like - a shift driven by a rapidly evolving landscape where traditional benchmarks seem to no longer be sufficient.  The discussion, hosted by Trade Finance Global (TFG), was convened by Souleïma Baddi, CEO of Komgo, Gregory Lambillon, CEO & Country Manager of ING Switzerland, and Jean-Marc Thijs, COO of ING Switzerland, to reflect on how this transformation is unfolding in practical terms.  

At the BAFT’s (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade) Global Annual Meeting, held in Orlando, Florida, in May 2026, these themes were front and centre. BAFT’s flagship conference brought together transaction bankers from across the trade and payments industry in a ‘mini-SIBOS’ where attendees combined bilateral business meetings with sessions exploring the sector’s latest developments. For the second episode of Trade Finance Global (TFG) and BAFT’s podcast series, Banking on the Future, Mahika Ravi Shankar, Deputy Editor at TFG, spoke with Tod Burwell, BAFT’s President and CEO, to get an insider view on the conference and delve into its hottest topics.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) forms a single market of over 1.4 billion people, making up the largest free trade zone in the world. Rooted in the philosophy of pan-Africanism, the AfCFTA unites the African Union member states as a means to build regional value chains and bolster the continent’s industrial development. 

End-user needs are driving innovation in transaction banking, with banks focusing on integrated workflows rather than standalone financial products. Digitalisation, AI and high-quality data are helping businesses improve liquidity management, automate treasury processes, and enhance operational efficiency. Banks must embed services into clients' existing systems and workflows to provide flexible, data-driven solutions that adapt to changing market conditions.