• Nigeria remained France’s leading trade partner in sub-Saharan Africa for the third straight year, with €4.9 billion in trade.

• France’s overall trade with the region fell slightly to €24.1 billion in 2024, down 0.4% from 2023.

• France’s trade deficit with sub-Saharan Africa narrowed to €2.2 billion in 2024 from €2.6 billion in 2023.

Nigeria was France’s top trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, ahead of South Africa and Ivory Coast, according to data published on September 22 by the French Treasury.

Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, retained the position for the third consecutive year with €4.9 billion in trade flows. South Africa followed with €3.1 billion, while Ivory Coast ranked third with €2.6 billion. Angola came next with €2.1 billion, followed by Senegal at €1.2 billion and Cameroon at €1 billion.

Trade between France and sub-Saharan Africa totaled €24.1 billion in 2024, slightly down from €24.3 billion a year earlier, a 0.4% decline.

The most significant growth came from Ethiopia, where trade almost doubled to €800 million in 2024 from €420 million in 2023. Ivory Coast also posted gains, with flows increasing to €2.6 billion from €2.4 billion. Trade with Chad rose to €720 million from €530 million, while Senegal saw an increase to €1.2 billion from €1.1 billion.

France’s trade deficit with sub-Saharan Africa narrowed to €2.2 billion in 2024, compared with €2.6 billion the previous year. The improvement resulted from a 1.7% rise in French exports, which climbed to €11 billion in 2024 from €10.8 billion, combined with a 1.1% drop in imports, which fell to €13.2 billion from €13.4 billion.

The French Treasury said the deficit has persisted since 2022 due mainly to imports of hydrocarbons, basic agricultural products, and minerals.

France has struggled to maintain influence in some of its former colonies in the Sahel, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where successive coups forced the withdrawal of French forces. As a result, Paris has stepped up economic ties with anglophone nations such as Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, which are geographically outside its traditional sphere of influence.

This article was initially published in French by Walid Kéfi

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum