Trade finance — credit facilities used by importers and exporters to transact business — is routinely provided by banks to importers and exporters in advanced economies but developing countries face chronic shortages. This publication focuses specifically on the situation in the four largest economies in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), namely Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal.

 The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the WTO conducted a survey of banks providing trade finance in the four countries to assess the obstacles faced by borrowers and lenders. The results were then used along with other data to estimate the size of trade finance shortfalls in the four countries and the potential boost to trade that would come from closing those gaps.

Read the full report here.