By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
The
Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
Secretariat, H.E. Wamkele Mene, has renewed calls for accelerated market
integration across Africa, warning that persistent structural barriers continue
to constrain the continent’s economic growth and global competitiveness.
Speaking
on the margins of the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings in Davos, Mene
participated in a high-level panel discussion themed “How Can Africa Prosper in
the New Economy?”, alongside H.E. Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone,
and other global leaders.
H.E
Mene outlined long-standing structural challenges that have limited Africa’s
economic transformation, including decades of fragmented markets, the existence
of more than 42 national currencies, high infrastructure, transport and
logistics costs, and continued restrictions on the movement of people across
borders. He noted that without decisive action to address these constraints,
Africa risks remaining a continent of unrealised economic potential.
He
emphasized that a central pillar of Africa’s response to current global
economic and geopolitical shifts must be the rapid reduction and elimination of
intra-African barriers to trade and investment. According to Mene, the AfCFTA
is now firmly moving from the negotiation phase into implementation, with a
strong focus on lowering the cost of trade and enabling the free flow of goods,
services and investment across the continent.
Describing
the current period as a defining moment, Mene stressed the importance of
building a strong domestic African market capable of driving inclusive growth,
industrialisation and resilience. He underscored that accelerated market
integration under the AfCFTA framework is essential to unlocking Africa’s full
economic potential and positioning the continent to compete effectively in the
emerging global economy.
