Seen Here: Standard Bank Group Corporate and Investment Banking Chief Executive Luvuyo Masinda is calling for Africa to move beyond exporting raw materials and focus on building industries, strengthening regional value chains and creating sustainable jobs through its growing trade partnerships with Asia. Photo Credit: Supplied
Africa must leverage its expanding trade and investment relationships with Asia to build domestic industries, strengthen regional value chains and create sustainable employment, rather than remain dependent on exporting raw materials, Standard Bank Group’s Corporate and Investment Banking chief executive Luvuyo Masinda has warned.
Speaking at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Annual Membership Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on 16 October 2025, Masinda called for a strategic shift in how African countries approach international trade, investment and financing.
Participating in a panel examining Asia’s evolving trade relationships, capital flows and economic connectivity, he said Africa had an opportunity to move beyond supplying commodities and become a more active creator of value within global supply chains.
“Africa has an opportunity to expand trade with Asia while extending regional and domestic processing capabilities, manufacturing and financial value,” Masinda said.
His message comes as African economies seek to translate growing international commercial relationships into tangible development outcomes, including industrialisation, job creation, skills development and stronger local businesses.
From exporting resources to building industries
Africa’s trade relationship with Asia presents significant opportunities, but the continent’s reliance on primary commodities continues to limit the economic value it captures from its natural resources.
According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), primary goods accounted for 76.7% of Africa’s merchandise exports in 2025. The figure underscores the challenge facing African economies as they seek to expand manufacturing, processing and higher-value production.
While China remains Africa’s largest Asian trading partner, relationships across the continent are broadening, with India emerging as an increasingly important economic partner. These connections offer opportunities to expand beyond traditional commodity exports into infrastructure investment, industrial development and manufacturing.
For Masinda, however, stronger trade relationships alone will not be enough. African countries must ensure that international investment supports the development of productive capacity within their economies.
This means encouraging investors to establish manufacturing operations, develop local suppliers, transfer technical skills and support businesses that can participate in regional and international supply chains.
The objective is to ensure that more of the value generated from Africa’s resources and markets remains within the continent, supporting economic growth and creating opportunities for local communities.
AfCFTA offers a platform for regional value chains
Masinda argued that African countries need to negotiate collectively to attract investment that builds industries instead of simply increasing the extraction of natural resources.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers a potential framework for achieving this by enabling countries to develop regional value chains, with different stages of production taking place across multiple African economies.
Rather than each country attempting to develop every component of an industry independently, regional cooperation could allow economies to specialise, share productive capacity and benefit from access to a larger integrated market.
“African countries should negotiate at scale,” Masinda said.
The approach could help improve the continent’s attractiveness to investors seeking access to broader markets while supporting the development of local manufacturing ecosystems.
For businesses, stronger regional integration could create opportunities to expand operations, access new customers, establish cross-border partnerships and participate in production networks that extend beyond national borders.
Realising these opportunities, however, will depend on effective implementation, coordinated industrial policies, reliable infrastructure and financing arrangements that support businesses throughout the production process.
Automotive investment demonstrates the potential
An example highlighted by Masinda is Standard Bank’s support for Toyota Tsusho’s R1.1 billion automotive component manufacturing investment in KwaZulu-Natal.
The project is localising the production of more than 100 vehicle components that were previously imported and is expected to create more than 200 direct jobs. It has also facilitated skills transfer through the involvement of engineers from Japan and Thailand.
The investment illustrates how international partnerships can contribute to local industrial capacity when capital is directed towards manufacturing, technical expertise and employment.
Localising component production can also create opportunities for suppliers and other businesses to participate in the automotive value chain, although the broader benefits will depend on the extent of local procurement, skills development and continued investment.
For South Africa, such projects demonstrate the potential to use international trade relationships to strengthen domestic manufacturing and develop industrial capabilities that serve both local and export markets.
The wider challenge for African economies is to attract more investments that deliver similar productive outcomes across sectors, including agriculture, mineral beneficiation, energy, infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
Trade finance remains a critical constraint
Access to appropriate financing remains a major factor determining whether African businesses can take advantage of international trade opportunities.
Masinda pointed to the continent’s persistent trade finance gap, with the African Development Bank’s referenced trade finance report estimating the shortfall at between US$74 billion and US$92 billion in 2024.
This financing constraint can make it difficult for businesses to fund imports, fulfil export orders, purchase equipment, maintain working capital and expand into new markets.
Small and medium-sized enterprises can be particularly affected when they lack the collateral, credit history or financial capacity required to secure conventional financing.
Closing the gap will require a broader range of funding sources, including increased mobilisation of private capital and closer cooperation between commercial banks and development finance institutions.
Masinda outlined Standard Bank’s initiatives in this area, including scaling its direct trade volumes to the equivalent of more than US$1.2 billion and concluding a US$500 million Asia-focused sustainability-linked syndicated loan.
These initiatives reflect the role financial institutions can play in connecting markets, facilitating trade and mobilising capital for businesses operating across borders.
However, the broader development challenge extends beyond financing transactions. Investment must also support the infrastructure, productive enterprises and local suppliers that enable African economies to participate more meaningfully in global supply chains.
“We must move from financing flows of goods across our respective continents to financing productive value chains,” Masinda said.
Infrastructure and local enterprise must remain central
Turning trade growth into industrial development requires investment in the systems that allow businesses to produce, transport and distribute goods efficiently.
Reliable transport networks, energy infrastructure, logistics facilities, digital connectivity and access to finance all influence the ability of businesses to compete in regional and international markets.
Equally important is the development of local enterprises capable of supplying larger manufacturers, providing specialised services and creating employment throughout the value chain.
A strategy focused on productive investment could help African economies strengthen domestic supply networks, improve technical capabilities and reduce excessive dependence on imported finished goods.
It could also create opportunities for entrepreneurs and smaller businesses to participate in industries that have traditionally been dominated by large international companies.
For these benefits to materialise, investment strategies must be accompanied by policies that support skills development, local supplier participation, business growth and access to regional markets.
Measuring success through jobs and inclusive growth
Masinda stressed that the success of Africa’s expanding economic relationships with Asia should ultimately be measured by their impact on people’s lives.
Trade and investment partnerships may improve capital flows and strengthen commercial connections, but their long-term value depends on whether they generate meaningful employment, support entrepreneurship and contribute to more sustainable livelihoods.
“While these trade and investment partnerships need to ensure capital moves more efficiently between regions, the real measure of their success will be how well they connect people across those regions to opportunity through meaningful jobs, entrepreneurship, economic inclusion and sustainable livelihoods,” he said.
The message places inclusive economic development at the centre of Africa’s trade agenda. It also highlights the importance of ensuring that the benefits of international investment extend beyond large companies and major infrastructure projects to workers, entrepreneurs and communities.
For African governments, the challenge is to negotiate trade and investment arrangements that support domestic production and long-term industrial development. For financial institutions, it is to mobilise capital that supports productive economic activity. For businesses, it is to build the capabilities required to compete in increasingly connected markets.
Africa’s growing trade ties with Asia offer an important platform for economic expansion. Converting that opportunity into lasting prosperity, however, will require a deliberate shift from exporting resources towards building industries, strengthening regional value chains and creating opportunities for people across the continent.
For Africa, the next phase of trade growth must be measured not only by the volume of goods exchanged, but by the industrial capacity, businesses, jobs and livelihoods that trade helps create.
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