‘Accelerating AfCFTA implementation key to Africa’s growth’
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday September 15, 2025 10:35
The fourth edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) wraps up this week with the continent’s leaders discussing the way forward in using trade to power growth in Africa.
The goal is to build resilience, safeguard collective interests, and unlock Africa’s full economic potential, delegates said.
The AfCFTA is already showing results. Intra-African trade punched in strongly in 2024, reaching $220.3 billion, a 12.4% increase from 2023, according to Afreximbank’s African Trade Report 2025.
This recovery, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said, reflects growing confidence in Africa’s integration model under the AfCFTA.
“Beyond the headline figures, the data shows a gradual shift in the continent’s trade composition. Whilst primary commodities still dominate, there is a clear growth in machinery, motor vehicles, food products, chemicals, and electronics,” Mene told delegates at the IATF.
He explained that the shift signals Africa’s transition from raw commodity dependence toward industrial diversification, a transformation that can only be sustained through stronger logistics and manufacturing value chains.
Mene said through the adoption of the eight protocols, as well as operating instruments such as rules of origin, the e-Certificate of Origin, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, Private Sector Engagement Strategy and the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, Africa is laying the foundations of a single continental market.
'The Digital Trade Protocol in particular opens new avenues for e-commerce, fintech, and ICT-enabled services. If harnessed fully, it can generate millions of jobs for Africa’s young people and ensure that the continent is not left behind in the global digital economy, ' he said.
Further, he called for the acceleration of the Single African Air Transport Market, adding that the opening of Africa’s skies will lower costs, expand passenger and cargo services, and bring economies and people closer together.
At the same time, Mene stressed the need for investment in trade corridors, logistics hubs, and digital infrastructure to ensure that agreed rules translate into tangible opportunities on the ground.
Mene said the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund is vital, designed to cushion short-term revenue losses and help the private sector adapt. The fund will provide the support that makes integration inclusive.
“I am pleased to note that this fund will be officially launched here at IATF2025 in Algiers; a strong signal that integration is not only about ambition, but also about solidarity and practical support for those who need it most,' he said.
He further called for the mobilisation of African resources, noting that domestic investors and the African diaspora represent powerful engines of growth. He suggested that diaspora remittances and capital should be channelled into priority value chains, from agro-processing and automotive to pharmaceuticals and digital industries, explaining that this can create the investment momentum that transforms economies from within.
'Africa’s transformation must be green. The AfCFTA is not just about more trade, but about better trade; trade that supports renewable energy, sustainable industrialisation, and climate resilience. “By embedding green industrialisation into our value chains today, we ensure that Africa’s growth story is also a sustainability story,' he said.
Mene urged participants to use the IATF as a platform for action and concrete commitments, to sign MoUs and business deals, to launch ventures, to mobilise investments, and to build stronger regional value chains.
'Through our collective efforts here, let us send a clear message to the world: Africa’s market is open for business, our future is in our own hands, and the AfCFTA is the vehicle that will drive us towards a new era of inclusive, sustainable prosperity,' he said.