GTR West Africa 2026: Where trade finance meets execution
From importing essential inputs, expanding into new export markets, managing supplier payment terms, or financing inventory and logistics, trade disruptions and tighter liquidity can quickly turn growth plans into operational strain. Many businesses are asking the same question: how do we protect cash flow, reduce payment risk, and finance trade confidently despite volatility?
That’s why the Global Trade Review (GTR) West Africa 2026 is a useful touchpoint for the region’s trade ecosystem, bringing together banks, corporates, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Export Credit Agency (ECAs), insurers and solution providers to discuss what is changing, what is working, and what execution looks like on the ground. Stanbic IBTC Bank is the Platinum sponsor of this year’s conference, taking place at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos on 22 and 23 April.
Across the two days, discussions will focus on practical levers businesses can use now – from export diversification and supply chain finance to structured commodity finance; energy market shifts, digital trade, and blended infrastructure funding. Below are six themes that matter for clients, and how Stanbic IBTC is approaching each one.
What is on the agenda?
The conference will cover a range of critical topics to equip trade and finance professionals with the tools and insights needed to navigate the evolving landscape. Key agenda highlights include:
- Deploying specialised finance for export diversification
- Boosting infrastructure bankability with blended financing
- Scaling supply chain finance
- The role of trade finance in shifting energy markets
- Democratising digital trade
- Structured trade finance for commodity modernisation
What clients can expect at GTR West Africa 2026 is a focus on execution: how to structure financing around real trade cycles, manage risk across borders, and unlock growth opportunities in a changing macro and geopolitical environment. Rather than focusing on theory, the sessions are geared towards practical tools, especially for businesses navigating new markets, supplier constraints, and evolving regulatory expectations.
Why it matters for businesses
For clients, the value is in the quality of practical insight and counterparties in one place: how peers are structuring transactions, what risk mitigants are being accepted in-market, and where financing appetite is strengthening. For businesses planning the next 12–24 months, these discussions help translate market signals into clearer trade and funding decisions.
Stanbic IBTC will contribute to conversations across the programme, from structured commodity trade and supply chain finance to infrastructure bankability, sharing practical perspectives shaped by client execution in Nigeria and across West Africa. If any of the themes below reflect what your business is navigating, our team will be available to discuss what an appropriate trade finance structure could look like for you.
Featured speakers from Stanbic IBTC
- Stanbic IBTC executive speaker: Seun Ogundolapo, Head of Trade, Transaction Banking; who will be sharing practical perspectives on structuring trade finance to support imports, exports, working capital, and risk management.
- Stanbic IBTC client speaker: Sreenivas Alagonda, Chief Financial Officer, Robust International Commodities Robust, who will be bringing a real economy borrower perspective on commodity trade execution; including what businesses need from banking partners across financing, documentation, and transaction risk control.
A deep dive into Stanbic IBTC’s trade finance priorities
- Deploying specialised finance for export diversification: For businesses across Nigeria and West Africa, improved macroeconomic stability only matters if it translates into predictable access to trade finance, working capital and risk solutions. Stanbic IBTC supports clients to move from stability to sustainable growth by structuring import and export financing aligned to real operating cycles; helping businesses plan inventory; protect margins and execute on expansion.
- Scaling supply chain finance: Supply chain finance can be one of the most practical ways to strengthen trade resilience, especially when anchored on large corporates with strong procurement ecosystems. Stanbic IBTC works with corporates and their suppliers and distributors to structure supply chain finance programmes that improve liquidity, reduce payment bottlenecks and support more stable production and distribution.
- Structured trade finance for commodity modernisation: West Africa’s commodity sectors, including agriculture, energy and emerging minerals, can deliver far greater impact when trade is paired with domestic processing, storage and logistics. Stanbic IBTC supports clients across the commodity value chain with structured trade finance solutions designed to fund inventory, input-processing, equipment, and working capital so businesses can move up the value chain rather than export raw materials alone.
- The role of trade finance in shifting energy markets: Nigeria and West Africa’s energy transition is reshaping trade flows, from refined products and feedstock movements to gas value-chain opportunities such as LNG and CNG. Stanbic IBTC supports clients operating across the energy ecosystem with trade finance structures that help manage performance, payment and supply risks; while enabling smoother cross-border settlement and procurement planning.
- Democratising digital trade: Digital trade is expanding rapidly, powered by Nigeria’s entrepreneurial, mobile-first businesses and platform-led commerce. To close the inclusion gap, Stanbic IBTC continues to support more data-driven underwriting and simplified access to trade finance for eligible SMEs and mid-market businesses; helping them formalise trade activity, improve documentation quality and build stronger credit histories.
- Boosting infrastructure bankability with blended financing: Infrastructure remains a foundational enabler of trade competitiveness. Ports, roads, power, logistics hubs and industrial parks all determine how efficiently businesses can produce and move goods. Stanbic IBTC supports clients and project sponsors by helping structure bankable financing solutions, including blended structures that combine private capital with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Export Credit Agency (ECA) support where relevant, particularly for energy transition and sustainability-aligned projects.
Ultimately, the goal is simple: enable businesses to trade with greater certainty by accessing the right working capital; reducing payment and performance risk; and funding the infrastructure and supply chains that support sustainable growth.
If you are attending GTR West Africa 2026, or simply planning your 2026 trade agenda, Stanbic IBTC’s Trade team is available to discuss practical structures tailored to your needs, whether that is import and export finance, supply chain finance, structured commodity finance, energy-related trade flows, digitisation, or blended project funding.
For more details on GTR West Africa 2026, including the full agenda and registration, please visit the official event page.