Ghana International Bank (GHIB) CEO, Dean Adansi, has outlined a financing strategy aimed at breaking Africa’s longstanding dependence on raw commodity exports, a model he says is costing the continent billions in lost earnings.
Speaking to the BBC on the sidelines of the GHIB CONVERGE 2025 conference in London, Mr. Adansi warned that without urgent trade finance reforms, Africa’s share of global trade, currently under three percent, will remain stagnant, and opportunities to create jobs, grow revenues, and deepen domestic capital markets will continue to slip away.
“Interest rates are significantly higher than in the West in many African countries, making it very difficult for smaller entities with short-track records to obtain the financing they need to export commodities, or even to industrialize locally,” he said, pointing to a persistent US$80 billion trade finance gap in sub-Saharan Africa. Closing this gap, he argued, could generate an additional US$133 billion in GDP annually.
Mr. Adansi stressed that Africa’s commodity processing ambitions are hampered by structural weaknesses, shallow capital markets, costly working capital, and limited regulatory and infrastructure support.
“Traditional banking products are rarely designed to support multi-year investment cycles in processing,” he noted, emphasizing that processing plants require substantial upfront capital, longer repayment terms, and different risk profiles than standard commodity deals.
GHIB’s own track record underscores the scale of the opportunity. Over the past five years, the London-based, Ghana-owned bank has facilitated more than US$14 billion in trade flows, including US$10.6 billion in documentary trade collections and US$2.7 billion in primary trade finance transactions. In 2024 alone, downstream payments to West Africa exceeded US$8.5 billion.
Yet, financing gaps have already cost Africa lucrative contracts. He cited a US$10 million onion supply deal to Senegal that went to European firms, despite adequate raw production in West Africa. “The reason? African producers could not secure financing for processing capacity,” he said.
The bank’s proposed solution combines specialised commodity finance instruments such as pre-export financing tied to off-take agreements, inventory financing against stored commodities, and equipment leasing with partnerships between commercial banks, development finance institutions, and governments.
According to research presented at the conference, raising Africa’s share of value-added exports from 14 to 25 percent could unlock more than US$50 billion in annual revenues and create millions of industrial jobs. Ghana’s modest but promising gains in cocoa processing, now accounting for roughly 15 percent of output, and investments in gold refining were cited as proof that targeted finance can deliver.
However, Mr. Adansi cautioned that finance alone is not enough. “Processing cannot advance without parallel infrastructure improvements: steady electricity supply, modern transport networks, and skilled technical labour,” he said, noting that in many markets, tax regimes and export licensing rules still favour unprocessed exports.
AfCFTA and Sustainability Opportunities
The GHIB chief described the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a “structural opportunity” to establish regional-scale processing hubs that could serve multiple countries. He also highlighted the role of technology and transparency in boosting competitiveness.
“Digital platforms can link processors directly with buyers, and blockchain can certify and track goods in ways that command premium prices.”
He further argued that environmental finance could accelerate Africa’s transition to value-added production. “Sustainably processed commodities increasingly earn higher prices. With well-regulated carbon markets and environmental finance tools, Africa can attract the capital it needs while meeting global sustainability demands,” he told delegates.
GHIB’s approach, Mr. Adansi emphasised, measures success beyond financial returns. Employment creation, industrial capacity, and technology transfer are key objectives.
“If we can build value chains that keep more of the processing on African soil, the gains will be felt not just in GDP, but in livelihoods,” he said.
The bank plans to launch pilot projects in select commodity sectors to demonstrate the financial and developmental case for scaling up.
