The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat is stepping up efforts to bring Burundi deeper into the continent’s single market, as trade between African countries rose 12.4% to $220 billion in 2024 and officials seek to address persistent barriers to regional commerce.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene began a mission to Burundi with high-level talks involving the country’s minister responsible for commerce and industry, customs and tax officials, and representatives of the Burundian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, underscoring the role of governments and businesses in implementing the trade pact.
“A trade agreement only becomes real when those who make the rules, those who enforce them at the borders and those who trade work together,” officials said during the meeting.
Mene identified the high cost of trade, weak connectivity and infrastructure shortages as some of the key obstacles preventing African countries from fully benefiting from the agreement.
To address those constraints, the AfCFTA Secretariat highlighted two key initiatives aimed at lowering transaction costs and supporting economies adapting to the single market.
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), allows companies to settle transactions in local currencies without relying on third currencies such as the dollar or euro, reducing foreign-exchange costs and payment delays.
Officials also presented the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, which is designed to help governments and businesses manage the transition costs associated with market liberalization, including industrial modernization and measures to maintain competitiveness.
The secretary-general urged Burundi to identify financing priorities and submit proposals to access resources from the fund.
Burundi, which is already a member of both the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community, could use its experience in regional integration to expand its participation in continental trade, according to officials.
The country’s commerce minister reaffirmed Burundi’s commitment to implementing the free-trade agreement and said the country intends to leverage its presidency of the African Union to accelerate the process.
The government identified logistics, transportation, energy and mining as priority sectors, while officials also emphasized the need to diversify export markets for Burundi’s tea and coffee industries by harmonizing standards and trade procedures.
As a next step, technical teams from the AfCFTA Secretariat, the government and the private sector will prepare a country profile and an implementation roadmap aimed at integrating Burundi more fully into the continental market.
The initiative reflects the AfCFTA’s broader strategy of combining policy reforms with practical tools to boost intra-African commerce as countries seek to turn the agreement’s economic potential into tangible trade gains.
