At the Celac-Africa High-Level Forum, Trade, Industry and Tourism Minister Diana Marcela Morales highlighted a US$401 million trade surplus with Africa at the end of 2025, a 73% increase from the previous year. Morales stressed the potential of economic ties with the continent and concrete progress in that area.
Diana Marcela Morales, Colombia's Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, spoke at the Celac-Africa High-Level Forum to underscore trade ties with the African continent. She stated that at the end of 2025, Colombia recorded a US$401 million trade surplus with Africa, marking a 73% increase from the prior year. “We are advancing concrete actions to deepen this relationship,” Morales said at the event, which Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi attended by traveling to Colombia for the Celac summit. The mining-energy sector led exports with US$296.5 million, accounting for 46.6% of total shipments to Africa last year. Rising products include coffee, bananas, and machinery. Morales noted that over 160 Colombian companies currently export to the continent, showing tangible economic growth. “This demonstrates that this link goes beyond diplomatic aspirations and solidifies as an expanding economic reality,” she added. Key progress includes negotiations for a memorandum of understanding with Kenya. Since 2022, Colombia has promoted market diversification toward Africa through economic diplomacy and new logistics routes. The minister concluded that the forum marks the start of a new strategic integration phase based on trade, investment, and shared value creation, shaping a complementary economic geography between Latin America and Africa.
