The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a major opportunity for economic transformation. Yet, intra-African trade remains constrained by logistics costs, non-tariff barriers, access to finance, and market fragmentation. According to the African Union’s 2025 Report on African Integration, exports between African countries accounted for only 15% of the continent’s total exports in 2023, compared to more than 60% within the European Union.
Despite its immense potential, the legal framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is not enough on its own. To fully benefit from it, African economies must strengthen their production, competitiveness, and cross-border value chains. The success of this project hinges on four key pillars: financing, access to information, mutual trust, and the harmonization of standards. According to World Bank projections, full implementation of this agreement could boost the continent’s income by 7% by 2035.
“As we gather for this summit at a pivotal moment in Africa’s economic journey, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a remarkable opportunity to transform our trade landscape. However, our success depends not only on the agreements we reach, but also on our collective ability to produce competitively, add value to our products, and facilitate the efficient movement of goods and services across borders.”
Alain Mbongue, Chief of Staff to the President of Afreximbank – Cameroon
Despite the ambitions of the AfCFTA, structural infrastructure gaps make intra-African trade 50% more expensive than the global average. To enable SMEs to capture new markets, it is essential to improve access to credit and simplify customs procedures.
“The African Continental Free Trade Area has the power to transform the lives of millions of people. The framework itself is an excellent document; I don’t believe the framework is the challenge. The real question now is how members of the ecosystem and value chains can begin to drive development. We have discussed three factors that hinder our ability to do this on a continental scale: access to capital and financing, information, and the establishment of trust. I would add a fourth: the fragmented standards and regulations that govern trade across the continent.”
Roosevelt Ogbonna, Group Managing Director, Access Bank – Nigeria
According to data from the 2025 African Integration Report, cited during Biashara Afrika 2026, intra-African exports accounted for just over 15% of total African exports in 2023—compared to more than 60% in the European Union and 38% in Asia. This disparity highlights the persistent fragmentation of African markets and the limited integration of certain regional value chains. Bridging this gap is also an industrial challenge: it requires processing more raw materials locally, developing transport and logistics infrastructure, and fostering the trade of African products between countries.
“Intra-African trade remains a key issue today. A report on African integration in 2025 indicates that, in 2023, intra-African exports accounted for more than 15% of total African exports—compared to over 60% in the European Union and 38% in Asia. This observed weakness stems from structural challenges, such as the fragmentation of African markets, the existence of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and the limited integration of regional value chains.”
Badanam Patoki, Minister of Economy and Strategic Foresight – Togo
The challenge for the AfCFTA, therefore, is no longer just to build a common market on paper, but to make it operational for producers, manufacturers, and consumers. Financing businesses, connecting territories, harmonizing standards, and transforming resources locally—these are all essential levers for turning intra-African trade into a driver of industrialization and economic sovereignty.
