The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, has declared that rising global protectionism and the erosion of the rules-based international trading system have made accelerating African economic integration not just desirable but essential, as the continent records a 12.5 percent surge in intra-regional trade to $220 billion in 2024.
Speaking at the Biashara Afrika forum in Lomé, Togo on Monday, Mene said a more volatile global environment had strengthened the case for African economies to deepen regional trade links and reduce dependence on external demand. The forum, the third edition of the flagship AfCFTA annual business and investment gathering, runs until May 20 at the Palais des Congrès de Lomé under the theme “Powering Africa’s Economic Transformation through the AfCFTA.”
Mene said 50 African countries have now ratified the AfCFTA agreement and 26 member states are currently trading under preferential rules, with businesses increasingly accessing the continental market. The African Export-Import Bank projects intra-African trade rising further to $230 billion by 2027.
The Secretary-General pointed to concrete progress in the architecture underpinning continental trade. The Guided Trade Initiative, launched in September 2022, has demonstrated that AfCFTA preferences can practically transform cross-border commerce. Rules of origin negotiations have delivered breakthroughs in the automotive manufacturing sector, laying groundwork for regional value chains and industrial development. The growing issuance of certificates of origin and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which allows businesses to trade using local currencies while cutting transaction costs, are also translating the legal framework into operational reality.
“Governments develop the appropriate regulatory environment, but businesses make trade happen,” Mene said, stressing that private sector leadership remains central to the AfCFTA’s success alongside sustained political commitment, stronger institutions, and coordinated investment.
He acknowledged persistent structural obstacles including poor infrastructure, high logistics costs, border bottlenecks, limited productive capacity, and inadequate trade financing, particularly for small and medium enterprises. Despite intra-African trade reaching $220 billion, it still represents less than 20 percent of the continent’s total trade, underscoring the scale of the opportunity remaining.
On the sidelines of the forum, the AfCFTA Secretariat and the International Trade Centre (ITC) renewed a partnership targeting a $22 billion annual increase in intra-African trade by 2029, with small and medium enterprises, women-led businesses, and smallholder farmers at the centre of the implementation agenda.
