Pakistan and several African countries have reaffirmed their shared commitment to raising bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2030, while seeking to diversify economic relations and unlock investment opportunities that have long sat untapped on both sides. The pledge was renewed in Islamabad at the inaugural ceremony of the Pakistan-Africa Economic Council (PAEC), a new body positioning itself as the missing institutional link between two regions that trade far less with each other than their combined size would suggest.

The launch brought together ambassadors, high commissioners, and consuls general from African nations including Rwanda, Mauritius, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Discussions centred on mutual investment, stronger commercial engagement, and long-term planning to exploit resources on both sides — with a recurring theme of bringing private sectors and chambers of commerce from Pakistan and Africa into closer, more direct contact.

Speakers repeatedly returned to Africa’s demographic weight — a continent of roughly 1.5 to 1.59 billion people — as a scale of consumer and commercial potential that Pakistani businesses have barely begun to engage with. Sectors singled out for expansion included agriculture, textiles, pharmaceuticals, information technology, minerals and mining, technology, food, education, and infrastructure.

A “slumbering giant” awakens

Federal Minister for Defence Production Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj described the new forum as a milestone that would play a significant role in deepening economic and trade ties between Pakistan and African countries, underscoring the importance of the private sector in scaling the relationship up from where it currently stands.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi struck a similar note, arguing that a rising Africa and an emerging Pakistan together offered substantial potential for mutual growth, and urged Pakistani businessmen to move into Africa’s emerging markets and untapped resources — a council, he said, that could help convert Pakistan’s geography and resources into sustainable economic strength.

“Africa is a slumbering giant that is awakening, and it is set to play a major role in the global economy. Current bilateral trade remains far below its true potential — reaching $15 billion is an urgent necessity, not an aspiration.” Ambassador (Retd) Hamid Asgher Khan, PAEC Patron-in-Chief

Khan, who spent seven years serving in the African region as Additional Secretary (Africa) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pointed specifically to Pakistan’s IT sector, currently valued at roughly $2.7 billion, as an area that could double in size with stronger digital and commercial connectivity to African markets.

Sectors in focus

Officials framed the council’s early work around a specific set of industries where Pakistani capacity and African demand appear most complementary:

The initial geographic focus will fall on East Africa — including Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Djibouti — before expanding further across the continent. The council has already outlined a schedule of business delegations and opportunity missions for the coming months.

Built for the long term, not a single conference

Beyond the launch event itself, PAEC is presenting itself as a standing platform rather than a one-off gathering. It is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under Section 42 of the Companies Act 2017 as a non-profit public limited company — Pakistan’s first SECP-authorised, Africa-focused entrepreneurship platform — with a mandate to connect Pakistani businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors with project-specific partners across the continent.

Who is building it

The council’s leadership pairs decades of diplomatic experience with private-sector operating background.

What it means going forward

Reaching $15 billion will require substantially more than a single council or a single conference — it will demand improved market access, joint ventures, and sustained private-sector partnerships on both sides. But officials and business leaders at the launch were unambiguous in their optimism, describing PAEC as an effective institutional bridge for turning years of shared potential into tangible commercial outcomes, and a practical engine behind Pakistan’s broader “Look Africa” and “Engage Africa” policy objectives.