Intra-African Trade Soars to KSh 288 Trillion but AfCFTA Rollout Lags, Deepening Integration Challenges

By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter

Kenya, 6 January 2026 - Trade between African countries has reached an estimated KSh 288 trillion (approximately US $220 billion), reflecting significant momentum in intra-continental commerce even as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), one of the landmark regional integration frameworks, continues to face delays in full implementation.

The figures highlight Africa’s growing intra-regional markets while underscoring persistent structural and policy hurdles that slow deeper economic integration.

According to recent continental trade reports, intra-African trade experienced a 12.4 per cent rebound in 2024, contrary to a contraction in 2023, signalling renewed confidence among African economies in trading with one another.

This resurgence was driven by stronger activity in key regional players like South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco, whose diversified industrial outputs and logistics networks position them as central nodes in continental supply chains.

The AfCFTA, launched in 2021 and envisaged as the world’s largest free-trade area covering 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP north of US $3.4 trillion, aims to cut tariffs on roughly 90 per cent of intra-African tradable goods while easing non-tariff barriers and harmonising regulatory standards across member states. Its successful implementation could significantly boost regional trade and economic expansion.

However, despite these ambitions, the actual operational impact of AfCFTA remains modest compared to its potential.

Only a portion of African countries are actively trading under its rules due to challenges such as incomplete ratification of key protocols, inadequate digital and physical infrastructure, and delays in aligning national tariffs and customs procedures with continental frameworks.

Experts note that AfCFTA’s potential boost, including projected increases of intra-African commerce by as much as 45% by 2045, hinges on overcoming these implementation gaps.

At a recent Intra-African Trade Fair roadshow, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene highlighted these frustrations, pointing out that Africa’s intra-regional trade still accounts for only around 15–18 % of total trade, compared with more than 60% in Asia and 70% in Europe, a stark reminder of the distance still to travel.

While trade growth is notable, African markets remain largely dominated by primary commodities such as minerals and agricultural products, with industrial and manufactured exports still developing.

Reports indicate a gradual shift toward value-added goods like machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals and processed food, a shift central to transitioning from raw commodity dependence to diversified economic outputs.

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Infrastructure deficits, from poor road corridors to underdeveloped ports and cross-border logistics networks, also blunt the full force of intra-regional trade.

Efforts by institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), AfCFTA Secretariat and Africa50 aim to bridge these gaps through multimodal transport corridors, hubs and digital platforms, but progress remains uneven across regions.

Another significant challenge is the complex currency landscape across Africa, with roughly 42 national currencies, which has traditionally forced traders to settle transactions in hard currencies like the U.S. dollar or euro, raising costs and complicating intra-continental payments.

Initiatives such as the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS) are designed to allow trade in local currencies and reduce transaction costs, but adoption and interoperability are still evolving.

Despite lingering obstacles, there are promising signs of AfCFTA translation into real trade outcomes. For example, under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, Ethiopia and Kenya began formal cross-border trade transactions in agricultural and manufactured goods, such as meat, coffee and edible oils, marking one of the first instances of operationalised AfCFTA trade beyond pilot frameworks.

Similarly, policy reforms and digital simplification efforts in countries like Nigeria, including advanced border automation and reduced cargo clearance times, have helped boost intra-African exports, surpassing some previous continental projections.

Policy analysts and business leaders generally agree that Africa’s true integration, reflected in a virtual seamless market where goods, services and people move unimpeded, remains a work in progress.

Reported obstacles include slow ratification of key AfCFTA protocols, lingering non-tariff barriers, gaps in customs data harmonisation, and uneven digital adoption across states.

At the 2025 Africa Integration Report launch, AU officials stressed the gap between Africa’s integration ambition and on-ground realities, noting that realising AfCFTA’s full promise would require speeding up protocol ratification, boosting value-chain cooperation, and significantly scaling up infrastructure and digital connectivity.

In sum, while intra-African trade has reached unprecedented scales, strikingly around Sh288 trillion, and there is palpable momentum building behind economic integration, the AfCFTA’s full implementation remains slower than envisioned, pointing to a future where policy execution, infrastructure investment and institutional coordination will be key to unlocking Africa’s complete economic potential.