GTR Africa 2025 ended on a grand note on Friday 14th March in Cape Town.. The event brought together trade finance, supply chain finance, and banking leaders to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping Africa’s financial ecosystem..
Key themes emerging from GTR Africa 2025
- The impact of shifting macroeconomics and geopolitics on African trade and investment
- Trade and working capital optimisation strategies
- The role of supply chain finance in achieving strategic goals
- Bridging Africa’s infrastructure gap through financing and innovation
- Digitalisation – The rapidly changing world of trade finance and compliance
I had the opportunity to personally engage with several leaders covering topics from digitalisation in trade to the impact of geopolitical risks on Africa’s trade landscape..
These discussions underscored the transformative changes happening across the industry and the expectations in Africa..
Supply Chain Finance solutions
As per Ahanna Anaba, Head of Sales and Partnerships at Finverity, while “Kenya has been a hotspot for supply chain finance adoption, South Africa is now seeing a shift as banks seek to build their own in-house platforms.”
Anaba mentioned that South Africa’s adoption has been slower because third-party solutions dominate and banks are looking for greater client ownership and a competitive edge.
“Banks in Africa are increasingly recognising the strategic importance of owning their supply chain finance processes rather than relying on third-party platforms” added Anaba..
On the issue of trade wars and how it is impacting business, Anaba said that while trade wars are impacting funding costs, they are also accelerating the need to strengthen local supply chains..
Finverity enables banks to digitise operations, lower costs, and expand access to supply chain finance while mitigating risks like fraud and errors..
Veefin Solutions, touted as the first fully comprehensive working capital platform, covering every aspect of trade finance from onboarding to collections was also present at GTR Africa 2025..
Commenting on their presence and objectives, Ullas Puttambekar, Director – Global Partnerships said “Veefin started as a supply chain finance platform for banks, but now we’ve evolved into a holistic trade finance ecosystem. Our platform integrates onboarding, underwriting, transaction management, reporting, and collections—providing an end-to-end solution for businesses.”
As per Puttambekar, the future of trade finance lies in automation and seamless ecosystem integration—eliminating silos and enhancing access to capital..
Conclusion
GTR Africa has turned out to be not just another industry gathering but has become a critical barometer of where African trade and in particular its financial evolution stands today and where it is headed..
#GTRAfrica2025 highlighted the growing dominance of Supply Chain Finance over traditional trade finance, and the slow adoption of digital trade solutions and showcased the increasing role of compliance and risk mitigation in cross-border trade..
The momentum in African trade is building but only its execution will determine whether Africa’s trade finance ecosystem can truly evolve to meet the demands of the future..
