By Eve Muthoni

On 1 May, China will remove tariffs on goods from 53 African countries. This will be real market access and a genuine opportunity for African exporters to scale their exports into one of the world’s largest markets.

According to China’s General Administration of Customs 2025 report, trade between China and Africa has grown rapidly, but it remains heavily imbalanced. Between January and August 2025, bilateral trade reached $222.05 billion, up 15.4% year-on- year. Chinese exports to Africa surged 24.7% to $140.79 billion, while imports from
Africa rose just 2.3% to $81.25 billion. Africa’s trade deficit with China widened to $59.55 billion in the first eight months of 2025.

This imbalance reflects a long-standing pattern of trade between the continent and the world’s second-largest economy. Africa continues to export largely raw materials, such as crude oil, copper, cobalt, and iron ore, while it imports higher-value manufactured goods. China’s tariff decision thus signals intent to rebalance this relationship.

However, tariffs falling to zero will not automatically translate into significant export growth. Structural barriers remain. Harmonisation of standards and compliance challenges, logistics gaps, infrastructure deficits, and financing constraints continue to affect the growth of exports.

The question, therefore, is: which countries will invest in the systems that convert tariff- free access into sustained trade?

At Trade Catalyst Africa, we focus on addressing these structural barriers, i.e., financing trade infrastructure, strengthening digital trade systems, and expanding access to trade finance for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Learn more about our work and current initiatives at www.tradecatalystafrica.com