More than five years after the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), African businesses continue to face tough barriers when moving goods across borders, a reality that undermines the continent’s vision of creating a single, unified market. Despite AfCFTA’s promise to boost trade among African nations by reducing tariffs and harmonizing trade rules, non tariff barriers such as inefficient customs procedures, poor logistics, and weak cross border payment systems continue to frustrate the movement of goods and services.
In Ghana and its neighboring countries, traders still encounter long delays at border posts, inconsistent documentation requirements, and high transport costs, all of which add to the cost of doing business and reduce competitiveness. These persistent challenges are preventing the continent from fully realizing the economic potential of what is now the world’s largest free trade area covering 1.4 billion people and a combined gross domestic product of 3.4 trillion dollars.
A major challenge to smooth intra African trade is the lack of integrated payment systems. Many businesses still rely on US dollars or euros to settle transactions between African countries, increasing costs and complicating cross border trade. While initiatives such as the Pan African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), backed by the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank), aim to enable instant transactions in local currencies, adoption has been slow since its official launch in Accra, Ghana, in January 2022.
Trade analysts note that banks and small traders alike are hesitant to embrace PAPSS fully due to limited awareness, poor connectivity, and concerns over exchange rate stability. As of 2024, PAPSS has successfully onboarded 13 central banks including those from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Egypt, Tunisia, and Malawi. Major commercial banks such as Ecobank, Zenith Bank, Standard Chartered, GCB, ABSA, Stanbic, UBA, Access Bank, and CalBank have been integrated into the system.
However, for most Ghanaian exporters sending goods to countries like Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, or Burkina Faso, cross border payments remain slow, expensive, and uncertain. The reliance on correspondent banks outside Africa to settle payments in third currencies continues to drive up transaction costs, with estimates suggesting that African businesses could save up to five billion dollars annually once PAPSS achieves full continental adoption.
Another persistent bottleneck is customs clearance. Although AfCFTA envisions streamlined trade facilitation across borders, inconsistent regulations between member states have made implementation difficult. Truck drivers and exporters often face multiple checkpoints and manual inspections at borders like Aflao and Paga in Ghana, leading to delays that can stretch into several days. In some cases, traders report unofficial fees and differing interpretations of trade rules between customs officers in neighboring countries.
Experts argue that digitalizing customs systems and harmonizing documentation could significantly ease these challenges. Average customs dwell time across Africa stands at 126 hours, and logistics costs are nearly double the global average. A Ghanaian freight forwarder in Tema stated that trucks carrying goods spend hours or days waiting at a single border, and until systems are aligned and customs processes automated, AfCFTA’s benefits will remain limited.
Beyond customs, logistics and infrastructure constraints continue to hold back trade. Poor road networks, inadequate warehousing, and limited rail connectivity make the transportation of goods between Ghana and nearby markets expensive and inefficient. Traders transporting goods from Accra to Lagos or Abidjan must navigate rough terrain and congested borders, often facing unexpected delays.
Transport operators note that while tariffs have been reduced under AfCFTA, transport costs remain among the highest in the world, eating into profit margins and discouraging regional trade. The absence of harmonized vehicle standards and logistics protocols across African borders adds another layer of complexity. Even regional blocs such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has frameworks for free movement and trade, have struggled with enforcement, leaving traders to contend with bureaucracy and multiple inspections.
These barriers have direct implications for Ghana’s trade performance within West Africa. Although the country exports products like cement, processed foods, textiles, and manufactured goods to its neighbors, such trade still accounts for less than 20 percent of its total exports. Local manufacturers say that transport costs and payment difficulties make it easier to export to Europe or Asia than to nearby African markets. One Ghanaian exporter lamented that it is faster to send goods from Accra to London than from Accra to Lagos.
Research from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the World Bank estimates that full implementation of AfCFTA will result in significant developmental gains, including boosting intra African export and import, increasing gross domestic product, creating jobs, and reducing poverty. Preliminary estimates show that intra African exports would increase by 109 percent, led by manufactured goods, especially if implementation is accompanied by robust trade facilitation measures.
However, the economic restrictiveness of non tariff measures is equivalent to an import tariff of 18 percent, making these barriers just as costly for trade and endogenous growth as market fragmentation. Studies indicate that intra African trade grew from 69 billion dollars in 2019 to 81 billion dollars 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.
The AfCFTA Secretariat has developed an online mechanism for reporting, monitoring, and eliminating non tariff barriers, which is available to the private sector. Any company, including micro, small, and medium sized enterprises, can register and report barriers they face in day to day operations. Yet, from the perspective of small and medium sized enterprises, these barriers include insufficient trade information and guidance on how to export and import, along with limited capacity to meet regulatory standards such as product health and safety certificates.
Experts and policymakers agree that for AfCFTA to deliver on its promise, African governments must move beyond rhetoric and prioritize practical steps toward integration. This includes harmonizing customs procedures, investing in border infrastructure, and ensuring financial interoperability among central banks. Recommendations include establishing one stop border posts, implementing digital permits, harmonizing food quality and safety standards across borders, and developing robust regional value chains in key sectors such as agro processing, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy.
As Ghana continues to position itself as a trade hub under AfCFTA, analysts argue that addressing these bottlenecks is crucial not only for national growth but also for realizing Africa’s broader dream of a single, connected continental market. Ghana’s strategic location, coupled with hosting the AfCFTA Secretariat headquarters in Accra, gives the country unique opportunities to lead by example in implementing trade facilitation measures.
One trade economist noted that AfCFTA has created the framework, but it is now up to African states to make the framework work by removing the invisible borders that still divide the continent. The next phase requires coordinated action on infrastructure development through public private partnerships, capacity building and information dissemination for businesses, and leveraging digital trade and e commerce to enhance market access and support the participation of women and youth entrepreneurs in regional trade.
