The Embassy of Ukraine in Ghana has engaged the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on a proposed strategy to deepen Ukraine’s economic and trade cooperation with African countries, as Kyiv seeks to expand its commercial presence on the continent.
The engagement brought together the Ukrainian delegation, led by Lyubov Abravitova, Director of the Department of Africa and Regional African Organizations at Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and officials of the AfCFTA Secretariat to examine areas of mutual economic interest, trade opportunities and prospects for stronger cooperation between Ukraine and African markets.
The discussions come as Ukraine intensifies its diplomatic and economic engagement with Africa amid growing geopolitical competition for partnerships on the continent.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has identified Africa as a strategic priority and aims to move beyond conventional trade towards joint value chains and the export of innovative technologies, while deepening cooperation in sectors including agriculture, education and digitalisation.
The economic potential is significant. African countries accounted for about 7% of Ukraine’s merchandise exports in 2024, with Ukraine recording a trade surplus of approximately $1.9 billion with the continent.
Ukraine’s leading exports to Africa included cereals, particularly wheat, maize and barley, oilseeds, vegetable oils, ferrous metals, sugar and confectionery products. Egypt was Ukraine’s largest African export market, followed by Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Morocco.
Agriculture and food security remain at the centre of the relationship. Ukraine remains an important supplier of grains and agricultural products to African markets, while its “Grain from Ukraine” initiative has delivered food assistance to several African countries.
Ukraine has also highlighted its agricultural technologies, expertise and production models as areas through which it hopes to establish longer-term economic partnerships with the Global South.
The potential, however, extends beyond agricultural commodities. Ukraine has expressed interest in expanding cooperation with African countries in digital technologies, education, science, agriculture and cyber and hybrid-threat resilience. Its new Africa strategy seeks to develop economic relationships that include joint production and value chains rather than limiting the relationship to the exchange of finished goods.
The engagement with the AfCFTA Secretariat therefore offers an opportunity to connect Ukraine’s economic ambitions with Africa’s own continental integration agenda. The AfCFTA is designed to create a single African market and facilitate greater intra-African and international trade, potentially giving Ukrainian businesses a broader platform for engaging African markets.
According to the Ukrainian Embassy, the discussions were “open, deep and practical”, focusing on common interests, economic potential and areas of mutual growth.
The parties agreed to organise a joint roundtable involving Ukrainian and African businesses to identify specific trade and economic initiatives and explore logistical solutions that could facilitate stronger commercial links.
“An open, deep, and practical discussion took place on common interests, economic potential, and areas of mutual growth. The parties agreed to hold a joint roundtable soon with the participation of Ukrainian and African business to develop specific trade-economic initiatives and logistical solutions” the Embassy stated.
The proposed engagement comes against the backdrop of a broader effort by Kyiv to strengthen its presence in Africa. Ukraine has increasingly sought to position itself not only as a supplier of agricultural commodities but also as a potential partner in technology, education, digital transformation and investment.
For Africa, the emerging relationship presents an opportunity to diversify trading partners and attract expertise, technology and investment from a country with substantial experience in agriculture, food production, digitalisation and industrial sectors. For Ukraine, deeper access to Africa offers new markets and the prospect of building economic partnerships at a time when the war has disrupted traditional trade routes and markets.
The proposed business roundtable could therefore mark a shift from diplomatic engagement towards more concrete commercial cooperation, with the implementation of the AfCFTA potentially providing a framework through which Ukrainian and African businesses can identify opportunities for trade, investment and joint production.
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