The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will combine its annual trade finance seminar and compliance forum for the first time as it seeks to strengthen financing frameworks, regulatory cooperation and economic integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The joint 2026 Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar and Compliance Forum will take place from Nov. 16 to 18 at the Gaborone International Convention Centre in Botswana, in partnership with the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre.
A factoring workshop scheduled for Nov. 19 will extend the programme’s focus to alternative trade finance solutions and improving businesses’ access to funding.
The events will bring together financial institutions, regulators, policymakers and trade-sector professionals to examine how stronger financing and compliance systems can support intra-African trade, industrialisation and regional value chains.
“ATFS2026 comes at a critical time for African trade,” Haytham El Maayergi, Executive Vice President of Global Trade Bank at Afreximbank, said.
“The AfCFTA is creating a larger and more integrated market, but its success will depend on our ability to finance the trade, value chains and infrastructure that connect African economies.”
Trade Finance at Centre of AfCFTA Agenda
The Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar 2026, held under the theme “Trade Financing in the AfCFTA Era: Resilient Value Chains, Infrastructure and Market Integration,” will examine mechanisms for financing trade-enabling infrastructure and strengthening regional production networks.
The programme will focus on converting the opportunities created by AfCFTA into bankable transactions and increased intra-African trade, Afreximbank said.
The bank’s compliance forum will run under the theme “Better Compliance, Better Trade: Leveraging Compliance to Promote African Regulations that Advance Intra-African Economic and Trade Integration.”
Idrissa Diop, Compliance Director at Afreximbank, said compliance should be treated as a tool for facilitating trade rather than solely as a regulatory requirement.
“Compliance must be recognised not simply as a regulatory obligation, but as an essential enabler of trusted, resilient and sustainable trade,” Diop said.
He said the forum would bring together institutions involved in Africa’s financial and trade architecture to explore ways of aligning compliance standards, managing emerging risks and reducing barriers to trade and business expansion.
Botswana Positions Itself as a Regional Trade Hub
The Botswana Investment and Trade Centre said hosting the combined programme would provide an opportunity to showcase the country’s role in regional trade and investment.
Keletsositse Olebile, Chief Executive Officer of BITC, said the partnership would support continental cooperation while welcoming participants from across Africa and beyond.
“Botswana is proud to partner with Afreximbank to host the Compliance Forum, Trade Finance Seminar and Factoring Workshop,” Olebile said.
“These events will highlight Botswana’s growing role as a regional trade and investment hub, as well as its commitment to advancing economic development and continental cooperation.”
The programme is expected to connect discussions on trade finance, regulatory compliance and factoring, reflecting the need for integrated financial and institutional systems to support AfCFTA implementation.
