Africa’s Intra-Continental Trade Hampered by Structural Deficiencies, Says Rewane

Economist and financial expert Bismarck Rewane has raised the alarm over Africa’s persistent failure to develop the internal structures necessary for effective intra-continental trade, warning that the continent’s economic potential will remain underutilized unless bold steps are taken to modernize trade infrastructure and policy frameworks.

Rewane, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, stated that intra-African trade currently accounts for just about 16% of total trade activity across the continent far below the levels seen in Europe and Asia.

He attributed this poor performance to outdated infrastructure, regulatory bottlenecks, and a lack of harmonized trade systems among African nations.

“Africa is still trading more easily with Europe, China, and the United States than it does with itself,” he said. “We’re using colonial trade patterns that export raw materials and import finished goods, and we’ve failed to build the transport networks, customs systems, and legal frameworks that could make trade across borders seamless.”

Rewane emphasized that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) a landmark agreement signed by 54 African countries to create a single market holds great promise but remains hamstrung by uneven implementation and insufficient structural reforms.

While the agreement aims to remove tariffs and promote free movement of goods and services, many countries are yet to align their domestic policies with its objectives or invest in the infrastructure needed to support it.

“Removing tariffs is one part of it,” Rewane explained. “But if the roads don’t connect, if rail systems are inefficient, and if ports are congested and managed by external actors, then trade cannot happen at scale. We are exporting jobs and importing poverty.”

He also noted that Africa’s failure to develop strong regional supply chains means that most intra-African trade is still limited to raw materials rather than value-added goods.

Without manufacturing capacity and industrial complementarity, he warned, the benefits of a free trade area would remain theoretical.

Rewane called on African leaders to demonstrate the political will required to break down the artificial barriers that divide the continent and to prioritize regional economic integration as a central development strategy.

“Africa must stop looking outward for trade,” he concluded. “The opportunity to build a sustainable, self-sufficient economy lies within.

But it won’t happen without deliberate investment in the systems that connect us to each other.”