Ghana’s Chief of Staff Julius Debrah has called on governments, business associations, and development partners to tackle the structural barriers that continue to limit intra-African trade, warning that inadequate logistics infrastructure, fragmented standards, and restricted access to finance remain serious obstacles despite the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He made the remarks at the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI) Summit held in Accra, organised by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) under the theme: “Unlocking West Africa’s Economic Potential through Trade, Investment, Logistics, and Youth Development.”
Debrah said the summit’s focus aligned directly with the government’s policy priorities, particularly programmes being led by the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry and the 24-hour economy initiative. He said the Export Expansion Programme was already supporting Ghanaian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access markets under both AfCFTA and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), while investments in value addition were strengthening the country’s export capacity.
On regulatory reform, the Chief of Staff pointed to a one-stop-shop system for business registration and the Apprenticeship-to-Entrepreneur Programme, run in partnership with the Ghana Enterprise Agency, as concrete steps to build youth enterprise. He said the Ghana Economic Transformation Project had provided training and financial support to thousands of SMEs, underscoring government’s commitment to a resilient private sector.
Studies indicate that intra-African trade grew from US$69 billion in 2019 to US$81 billion in 2023, but this still represents only 16 percent of Africa’s total trade, compared to 59 percent in Asia and 68 percent in Europe, a gap that regional forums like the FEWACCI Summit are directly designed to address.
Debrah urged the Association of Ghana Industries and the GNCCI to intensify advocacy and investment mobilisation efforts, and called for the summit’s outcomes to translate into stronger trade facilitation through harmonised standards and coordinated private sector action across the sub-region.
