African countries can significantly expand trade in agricultural products by investing simultaneously in transport infrastructure and border reforms, according to new research from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which says physical infrastructure alone will not deliver the continent’s food security and trade ambitions.
The study, published in Afreximbank’s Policy Research Working Paper Series, found that improvements in both “hard” infrastructure, including roads, ports and airports, and “soft” infrastructure such as customs efficiency, digitalization and regulatory quality, have a statistically significant positive effect on intra-African agri-food trade. The findings are based on data from 41 African countries covering 2007 to 2020.
The research concludes that the biggest gains come when governments improve both types of infrastructure together, reinforcing efforts to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and strengthen food security across the continent.
Using a structural gravity model estimated through the Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood method, the authors found that a one-point improvement in the quality of roads, ports and airports in exporting countries increases Africa’s agri-food trade by about 49%, while a one-point improvement in information and communications technology raises trade by about 34%. Simplifying border procedures also boosts trade by roughly 13%, underscoring the importance of reducing customs delays and documentation requirements.
The study also found that trade facilitation measures adopted by both exporting and importing countries matter, with stronger infrastructure, ICT adoption and better business environments on both sides of a trade corridor contributing to higher intra-African agricultural trade.
Researchers said physical infrastructure delivers even greater benefits when combined with efficient border management and stronger regulatory systems. Positive interactions between infrastructure, ICT, business environment and border efficiency suggest African governments should pursue coordinated reforms rather than isolated investments.
The findings compliment efforts seeking to deepen regional trade under the AfCFTA while addressing persistent food insecurity exacerbated by climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global supply chains. The paper notes that intra-African agri-food trade still accounts for only about one-fifth of the continent’s agricultural exports and about 15% of imports, despite agriculture’s central role in African economies. It also notes that Africa remains home to the world’s highest proportion of undernourished people.
According to the study, trade procedures in Africa remain significantly slower than in other regions, with import and export processes taking three to four days in many cases, compared with about one day in Latin America and the Caribbean and roughly 11 hours in Europe and Central Asia. The researchers argue that reducing these frictions would lower trade costs and improve the movement of food across borders.
The paper however recommends that policymakers prioritize investments in transport corridors linking African countries while harmonizing customs procedures and removing non-tariff barriers. It also calls for faster implementation of the AfCFTA’s Boosting Intra-African Trade framework, saying coordinated improvements in infrastructure and trade facilitation would strengthen regional integration, expand agricultural commerce and improve food security across the continent.
