China’s exports to Africa surpassed the $100 billion mark in the first half of 2025, underscoring the continent’s growing importance as a destination for manufactured goods, machinery, vehicles and electronics. Latest trade data shows shipments to Africa rose by about 21.6% year on year, driven by infrastructure expansion, industrialisation and rising consumer demand across key markets.
Africa’s largest economies—Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt—remain the continent’s biggest absorbers of Chinese exports, collectively accounting for roughly one-third of China’s shipments to Africa during the first seven months of 2025.
Big markets lead, smaller economies accelerate
Beyond the top three, other major destinations for Chinese goods include Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Morocco, reflecting a mix of large consumer bases, infrastructure pipelines and expanding industrial activity.
At the same time, some smaller and less developed economies are recording the fastest growth rates. Countries such as Malawi, Mali, Eritrea and Guinea have seen import growth exceeding 60% year on year, highlighting a gradual diversification of Africa–China trade flows beyond the continent’s largest economies.
Between January and May 2025 alone, Africa’s imports from China increased by about $12 billion. Nigeria accounted for roughly $2.4 billion of that increase, followed by Guinea ($1.1 billion), Angola ($1.0 billion) and Côte d’Ivoire ($800 million).
What Africa is buying from China
Machinery and equipment dominate Africa’s imports from China. In 2025, African countries imported an estimated $13 billion worth of machinery and appliances, alongside about $11.6 billion in electrical and electronic equipment. Chinese shipments of construction machinery surged by 63%, while passenger vehicle exports more than doubled, reflecting Africa’s expanding infrastructure build-out and consumer markets.
These products remain highly price-competitive, reinforcing China’s position as a preferred supplier for African economies seeking affordable inputs for development and industrial growth.
Policy shifts and competing trade blocs
China’s decision in mid-2025 to remove tariffs on imports from African countries with diplomatic ties has opened new opportunities for African exporters, alongside approvals for agricultural imports from countries including Ethiopia, Congo, Gambia and Malawi.
Meanwhile, the United States is recalibrating its own trade engagement with Africa. The recent reactivation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), after its expiry in September 2025, restores preferential access for eligible African countries to US markets—offering exporters additional avenues to diversify trade relationships amid global uncertainty.
However, institutions such as Afreximbank have cautioned that structural constraints—including limited trade finance, fragmented regulations and exchange-rate volatility—could limit Africa’s ability to fully capitalise on both Chinese and Western market access.
Looking ahead
Despite these challenges, the sharp rise in Chinese exports to Africa highlights the continent’s increasing weight in global trade and supply chains. As Africa heads into 2026, the countries absorbing the most Chinese goods are likely to play an outsized role in shaping investment flows, industrial development and the geopolitics of global trade.