Africa well positioned despite current global uncertainties (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The countries of sub-Saharan Africa are set to become more important as the global economy realigns in the face of wider geopolitical shifts, a new report suggests

South Africa, as one of the so-called BRICS nations, also stands to prosper.

The report, by Boston Consulting Group, suggests that global trade will show some resilience, and could grow 2.5% annually through to 2034 despite rising fragmentation.

According to the report, nations in the so-called ‘Rest of the world’ category — which includes all of sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa — look set to gain overall on the back of strategic neutrality.

“These free agents, however, will become increasingly important in the future, both as markets and suppliers of goods and services,” the report notes.

While there are a wide range of trade scenarios, reflecting current volatility, small non-aligned countries appear to be relatively isolated from any potential negative fallout.

The BRICS+ nations — including South Africa, and countries that joined later, such as Egypt and Ethiopia — will also seek to expand relationships within the Global South.

“BRICS+ countries have been taking steps to collaborate with each other on trade, which they see as a driver of growth,” the report notes. But their approach to trade differs, with some negotiating deals with other groupings and some not.”

BRICS+ nations (excluding China) could see 3% growth with the rest of the world over the period as well as trade growth among themselves, it adds.

“Global trade isn’t retreating, it’s reorganising,” said Marc Gilbert, managing director and senior partner, Global Leader of the Center for Geopolitics, and a co-author of the report.

“Leaders who embed geopolitics in capital and strategic decision-making will be best positioned to navigate the next decade of change to secure resilience as well as growth.”

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AFC, Eaglestone share the Lobito limelight

Afreximbank backs Heirs Energies expansion

Dangote secures landmark US$4bn refinancing deal

AFC signs landmark financing to transform the Lobito Atlantic Railway corridor and unlock regional trade. (Image source: AFC)

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Eaglestone, a financial services platform focused on sub-Saharan Africa, have outlined their role as co-financial advisers on the recent Lobito Atlantic Railway project in Angola

It follows the signing of a US$753mn funding package, consisting of US$553mn from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and US$200mn from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).

Lobito Atlantic Railway S.A. (LAR) is the borrower and concessionaire in the 1,300 km brownfield railway corridor project.

“The signing of the financing agreements for the Lobito Atlantic Railway demonstrates the strength of AFC’s financial advisory expertise in structuring and advancing complex, cross-border infrastructure transactions of strategic significance,” said Samaila Zubairu, AFC’s president and CEO.

“This initiative aligns with AFC’s broader development efforts to deliver a transformational transport corridor linking Angola, the DRC, and the wider southern Africa region, reinforcing the critical role of integrated rail and port infrastructure in unlocking regional trade, industrial growth and supply-chain resilience.”

The Lobito Corridor is also of special importance for Angola, one of AFC’s member countries and shareholders, he added, “reaffirming our long-standing commitment to supporting the country’s infrastructure development and economic priorities.”

This infrastructure scheme is backed by a variety of international project sponsors including Mota-Engil, the Portuguese-based engineering and construction group which has a strong presence across Africa.

Other sponsors include commodities trader, Trafigura, and Vecturis, an international rail operator with experience in freight rail concessions.

The flagship regional infrastructure project will rehabilitate, upgrade and operate the 1,300-km brownfield rail line connecting the Port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border.

The financing package is expected to increase Lobito’s transportation capacity ten-fold to approximately 4.6 million metric tonnes per annum and to reduce the cost of transporting critical minerals by an estimated 30%.

“We are delighted to have advised LAR in this landmark transport infrastructure transaction that is a key milestone to unlock regional trade and boost economic activity along the Lobito Corridor,” said Nuno Gil, founding partner of Eaglestone.

“The Eaglestone team can be proud in once again delivering world-class services within the project finance advisory industry in Southern Africa.”

Manuel Mota, Deputy CEO of Mota-Engil, said his company’s participation underscores its commitment to deliver an infrastructure that supports Angola’s national priorities, economic diversification, and regional connectivity.

“This strategic agreement will expand transport capacity, reduce transit costs, and open access to the mineral-rich regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.”

Richard Holtum, CEO of Trafigura, said the railway “will drive economic development and support the movement of critical metals to global markets.”

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Angola's Lobito Atlantic Railway financial close

South Africa's largest private freight rail investment

South Africa secures World Bank loan for infrastructure revival

Afreximbank, Heirs Energies secure US$750m financing deal. (Image source: Afreximbank)

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Heirs Energies Limited have unveiled a US$750mn financing arrangement aimed at strengthening Heirs Energies’ capital structure and releasing liquidity to meet its working capital needs as it advances an extensive field development programme

The funding is expected to play a key role in boosting Nigeria’s domestic energy supply at a time of rising demand.

The agreement was signed in Abuja by Dr George Elombi, president and chairman of the board of directors of Afreximbank, and Tony O Elumelu CFR, chairman of Heirs Energies Limited. Structured as a dual-tranche, senior secured reserve-based lending facility, the financing is intended to support Heirs Energies’ next phase of expansion as the company seeks to increase and sustain oil and gas production.

Under the transaction, Afreximbank served as Mandated Lead Arranger, Facility Agent, and Security Agent. The deal is viewed as a significant step in the strategic relationship between Afreximbank and Heirs Energies, reflecting deeper collaboration between the two organisations.

Speaking after the signing, Dr Elombi described the partnership as evidence of Afreximbank’s focus on value creation and backing African entrepreneurs.

“Without investments, such as the one being provided to Heirs Energies, many fossil fuel-dependent African economies would face dire economic challenges,” said Dr Elombi. “Our aim, among others, is to empower the African entrepreneur. Our core strength is in the value of the partnerships we continue to forge.”

He also acknowledged Mr. Elumelu’s continued support for Afreximbank, noting that such collaborations have helped position the institution as a key driver of Africa’s economic transformation and broader development objectives.

Dr Elombi reiterated Afreximbank’s commitment to advancing the African Energy Bank initiative, stating, “we should get to higher strides and get the Energy Bank so we can move most of the energy portfolio there. We will put tremendous capital in it to be as bold and as innovative as Afreximbank”.

He further indicated that Afreximbank is open to working with Heirs Holdings and its affiliated businesses as they expand into other West African markets, including Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as across the wider continent. “Our aim is to spread and support the domination of the African brand across Africa.”

Tony O Elumelu, CFR, chairman of Heirs Energies Limited, said, “This transaction is a powerful affirmation of what African enterprise can achieve when backed by disciplined execution and long-term African capital. It reflects the successful journey Heirs Energies has taken – from turnaround to growth – and reinforces our belief in African capital working for African businesses. This is Africa financing Africa’s future.”

Heirs Energies occupies a central position in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, where crude oil continues to hold major national and international significance.

The relationship between Afreximbank and Heirs Energies dates back to 2021, when the company, then operating as Heirs Oil and Gas, completed the acquisition of a 45% participating interest in the OML 17 Joint Venture. The US$1.1bn transaction was financed by a consortium of international and local banks led by Afreximbank and represented one of the largest indigenous energy acquisitions in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Afreximbank contributed up to US$250mn to that financing, highlighting its commitment to developing Africa’s energy sector and supporting intra-African trade and African-owned businesses.

Following the acquisition, crude oil output increased from around 25,000 barrels per day to an average of 50,000 barrels per day, alongside growth in associated and non-associated gas production. Heirs Energies also achieved first gas from the Agbada Non-Associated Gas Plant on 21 November 2021, only months after assuming control of an asset that had remained under construction for more than a decade under the previous operator.

Today, Heirs Energies is the leading gas supplier within the Eastern Domestic Network and provides gas to three major power plants, together accounting for roughly 15% of Nigeria’s installed electricity generation capacity.

Arrel introduces modular DAPL APIs letting remittance operators scale corridors liquidity and settlement on demand

Arrel has introduced a new suite of DAPL (Digital Asset Platform) APIs aimed at remittance operators, offering a modular approach to building and scaling cross-border payment infrastructure

The APIs enable operators to activate individual infrastructure modules, deploy them as needed, and scale capacity in line with transaction volumes rather than committing to fixed, bundled platforms.

The offering is targeted at regulated or regulation-ready remittance startups, as well as established operators looking to open new corridors, improve existing flows, or modernise cross-border payment systems without locking into inflexible, enterprise-style infrastructure solutions.

Remittance services typically depend on a mix of liquidity access, compliance frameworks, treasury management, and settlement mechanisms. As transaction volumes grow and new corridors are added, each of these elements introduces additional operational complexity and cost. DAPL has been designed to support operators that require multiple infrastructure components operating across currencies, jurisdictions, and volumes.

Within DAPL, remittance infrastructure is broken down into core building blocks that are generally required from the outset of any remittance operation. These include multi-currency liquidity access, connectivity to exchanges and liquidity providers, transaction monitoring and compliance tools, treasury controls, settlement logic, and local payout rails for each corridor. The platform also includes a routing layer capable of executing across multiple liquidity venues through a single integration, without the need for an internal order management system. In addition, remittance operations often rely on pre-funded accounts across currencies and corridors, which ties up working capital and increases exposure to FX and liquidity risk as activity expands.

Traditionally, these components are sourced from multiple providers, each with its own commercial terms, technical integrations, regulatory reviews, and operational processes. In many cases, they are delivered as bundled platforms with fixed pricing, minimum volume thresholds, and long-term contracts that apply regardless of actual transaction activity. Maintaining pre-funded balances across markets further compounds capital allocation challenges.

DAPL addresses this by acting as a digital asset orchestration layer that separates infrastructure components and makes them available through standardised APIs. Arrel, which was established in Mauritius, developed the platform to give remittance operators an alternative to single-stack, bundled infrastructure models.

The APIs are grouped into four main functional areas.

The first focuses on liquidity and currency access. These APIs provide programmatic access to liquidity across multiple exchanges and providers through a single integration. Operators can access settlement currencies including USD, EUR, ZAR, XAF and XOF, along with corridor-specific currencies where available. Stablecoins are supported as a settlement option, supported by reconciliation and reporting tools.

Liquidity and venue integrations include Binance, Bitfinex, Bitstamp, CEX.IO, LMAX, Deribit, Gate.io, HTX, Indodax, Kraken, KuCoin, Luno, OKX, Poloniex, VALR and Xago. Settlement is supported on blockchains such as Arbitrum One, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, Bitcoin, Stellar and Tron. Custody options include Fireblocks and native MPC wallets, while compliance tooling is integrated through Chainalysis for KYT and Sumsub for KYC and KYB.

The second functional area covers compliance and transaction monitoring. These APIs embed compliance checks directly into remittance flows, exposing KYT, AML, and KYC or KYB processes. Screening results, risk signals, and audit records are available programmatically, and compliance rules can be applied at the transaction level across supported corridors.

The third area addresses treasury and settlement orchestration. These APIs allow operators to configure treasury wallets, approval workflows, and settlement rules across connected venues. Capabilities include real-time balance visibility, automated fund movements, FX exposure monitoring, and policy-driven approvals, all managed through a central orchestration layer.

The fourth functional area focuses on local rails and corridor execution. Through integrations with regulated local partners such as Xago, the APIs enable payouts and settlement into domestic banking and payment systems without requiring operators to establish bilateral banking relationships in every corridor. Additional payout integrations can be added while maintaining a consistent orchestration, monitoring, and audit framework.

Looking ahead, Arrel plans to expand the platform to include integrations with telecom operators and mobile money aggregators. This would allow remittance workflows to connect with mobile-based payment systems, particularly in peri-urban and remote regions where traditional banking access is limited.

Alongside individual APIs, Arrel also offers modular infrastructure bundles built on these functional areas. Operators can deploy a Core Remittance Bundle covering liquidity routing, compliance monitoring, and treasury orchestration, and then add Corridor Bundles linked to specific payout rails and local requirements. These bundles are designed for usage-based deployment rather than fixed platform commitments.

Under this approach, expanding into new corridors is handled incrementally. Each new corridor typically requires adding a payout integration and applying local rules, while the underlying liquidity, compliance, and treasury infrastructure remains unchanged.

Arrel is a member of the Circle Alliance, signalling alignment with institutional stablecoin infrastructure standards. Working with regulated partners such as Xago, the APIs are intended to operate within established financial and supervisory frameworks.

By offering modular APIs and configurable infrastructure bundles, Arrel presents an alternative model for deploying cross-border remittance infrastructure. Operators can align infrastructure usage and capital allocation with actual transaction activity, supporting corridor-by-corridor expansion while maintaining a consistent orchestration and monitoring layer. This approach is particularly relevant in African markets, where remittance corridors and payout mechanisms differ widely across countries and regions.