CB Bank PLC (GCB) has said it will leverage new partnerships with strategic logistics providers operating along key African trade corridors to cut costs, shorten delivery times, and improve the efficiency of cross-border trade for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
GCB’s Head of SOE and Afro-Asia Unit, Aurelia Baaba Ofori Odame, said it would help Ghanaian exporters overcome one of the biggest obstacles to intra-African trade, high logistics costs and unreliable delivery networks after its high-profile participation in the just-ended Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 in Algiers, Algeria.
“The initiative forms part of a three-pronged strategy to translate the momentum from the record-breaking IATF into tangible value for Ghanaian businesses,” she added at a media debrief in Accra.
Ms Ofori Odame said more than 132 countries participated in the Algiers fair, where deals worth an estimated US$48.3 billion were concluded, underscoring Africa’s growing trade ambitions under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Strategy
Beyond logistics, GCB announced plans to deepen collaboration with fintech companies to broaden access to affordable trade financing.
Ms Ofori Odame explained that the move aligned with Afreximbank’s continent-wide push for financial inclusion, ensuring that smaller firms, often locked out of mainstream banking, gain secure and seamless support for cross-border transactions.
Through integration with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) and other digital innovations, she indicated that the bank intended to empower exporters to receive and make payments in local currencies across African markets, removing the cost and delay of third-party settlement.
She said the bank would also tap into Afreximbank’s digital platforms to give Ghanaian exporters direct visibility to buyers across Africa and beyond.
By using the bank’s online trade-promotion tools, SMEs and corporate exporters can showcase their products and services to new markets, opening fresh opportunities for growth and positioning Ghana as a competitive player in AfCFTA’s vast marketplace.
Significance
The bank’s Head of SOE and Afro-Asia Unit said the outcomes of the Algiers trade fair highlighted the critical role African banks must play in creating not just financial, but holistic trade solutions.
“At Algiers, Africa showed what is possible. Our responsibility now is to turn those opportunities into tangible outcomes for Ghanaian exporters, helping them access finance, logistics, and markets to compete successfully,” she stated.
With its new post-IATF strategy, GCB, she said, was committed to ensuring that Ghanaian businesses were not just participants but “winners” in Africa’s emerging continental trade era, backing its long-standing brand promise: Your Bank for Life.
