Intra-African trade poised to double in next five years- AfCFTA Secretary General

Intra-African trade, still beyond potential, is poised to grow two-fold in the upcoming five years, secretary general of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Wamkele Mene, said.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the world’s largest free trade agreement by number of countries, territory, and population, encompassing 54 African Union member states.

Covering a market of 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion, it aims to boost economic growth, intra-African trade, and investment. However, implementation has been slow since its establishment in February 2020.

“I think we can double intra-Africa trade in the next five years, provided we introduce the tools that are required,” Mene said in an interview with CNN.

“More needs to be done to enable the continent of Africa to have the infrastructure that we need so that these goods can transit through borders seamlessly, efficiently, based on the rules that we have agreed to. So, we look forward to the operationalization of the Lobito corridor (a railway project that links Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo),” he said.

This week, leaders from Africa’s private and public sectors are meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, for the second AfCFTA Business Forum to address these issues.

The AfCFTA Secretary General highlighted the difficulties of integrating a fragmented market with 47 state parties, 42 currencies, and varying economic conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated the initial implementation phase.

Mene emphasized the importance of the private sector in driving market integration and acknowledged the slow but steady progress in overcoming market fragmentation. He also addressed the significant barriers to intra-African trade, such as the need for multiple visas, which hinder cross-border business activities.