The Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), His Excellency Wamkele Mene, has expressed concern about the continent’s stagnant participation in global trade.
He made the remarks at the Ghana High-Level Roadshow of the 2025 Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Accra on Tuesday, June 10.
According to him, despite the growing momentum behind intra-African trade, Africa’s contribution to global trade has remained marginal for far too long.
“For too long, our share of world trade with the continent is stagnated,” Mr. Mene lamented.
He added that although estimates place intra-African trade between 15 to 18 percent, the actual figure could be higher due to the dominance of informal cross-border trade and the role of smallholder farmers and SMEs, which are often unaccounted for in official statistics.
He explained that while other regions trade extensively among themselves, with intra-EU trade at over 70% and intra-Asia trade around 60%, Africa continues to lag behind.
Mr. Mene noted that reversing this trend requires more than just diplomatic agreements.
“If the trade barriers exist — the trade tariff, the non-tariff barriers, and other forms of prohibitions of trade between and amongst African countries — the investment… will not yield the results that all of us would expect,” he said.
He emphasised that the success of the AfCFTA hinges heavily on the commitment of governments, development finance institutions, and the private sector to work together and prioritise trade-enabling infrastructure and policies.
The Secretary-General also highlighted the upcoming 2025 edition of the IATF, scheduled to take place next September in Algeria, as a crucial platform for Africa’s private sector, especially SMEs and young entrepreneurs, to connect, scale, and compete.
Mr. Mene reiterated the AfCFTA Secretariat’s readiness to implement initiatives such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System and the Africa Trade Gateway to support African businesses and increase the continent’s share in global trade.
