The African continent marked its annual African Union (AU) Day anniversary with pomp and pride. This year’s festivities mark the 62nd anniversary of the AU. Events were held at the AU headquarters as well as in other African countries to celebrate the day.
Amid this celebration lingers a continental dream which is trailing at a very slow pace. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched in 2018, was hailed as a historic game-changer for African economic unity and independence. But seven years after implementation, the trade agreement is struggling to live up to its lofty promises.
As the continent marks the 62nd Anniversary of the AU, an economist at the Pentecost University, Dr. Paul Appiah Konadu, assesses this flagship initiative of the AU, painting the true picture of AfCFTA as against its intended objectives.
Growth and Poverty Reduction Visions Delayed
The trade agreement, Dr. Appiah Konadu indicates, was estimated to grow Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035. However, with the pace of AfCFTA, the economist says it does not inspire hope that this target could be achieved.
Moreover, on its potential of poverty reduction, the trade agreement is expected to lift about 80 million people from poverty. Seven (7) years on, the economist says the pace of implementation does not give any hope that this target will be achieved in the near future.
“It was expected that AFCFTA would help to increase Africa’s income by up to 450 billion. By 2035, looking at the pace at which we are moving, there is no sign that that will be achieved. AfCFTA has the potential to help reduce poverty and lift about 80 million Africans out of extreme poverty. But the pace at which it is being implemented does not give hope that we will be able to lift that number of people, 30 million, out of poverty,” Dr. Appiah Konadu recounted to The High Street Journal.
Intra-African Trade Still Below Expectations
The economist further observes that much has not been achieved in the area of boosting intra-African trade. Prior to the implementation of AfCFTA, intra-African trade was hovering around just 13%. However, despite the promise to remove trade barriers, foster investment, and create millions of jobs by facilitating the free movement of goods, services, and people across Africa, intra-African trade has seen very little progress. It has only increased by just 5 percentage points, reaching just 18% in 2025.
Compared to other continents, while Europe, North America, and Asia boast intra-regional trade rates well above 30%, Africa is just lingering around 15–18%. This, he says, signals structural bottlenecks which haven’t been properly addressed.
He told The High Street Journal that, “as we speak now, intra-African trade is just around 18%. When AfCFTA was adopted, it was around 13%. The increase has not been significant. We are already in 2025, which means AfCFTA has not led to the fullest purpose of boosting intra-African trade.”
Crossing an African Border Still a Major Headache
One significant condition to propel the AfCFTA agenda is the free flow of human and goods and services across the borders. However, Dr. Appiah Konadu observes that crossing an African border is as difficult as a “camel passing through the eye of a needle.”
He laments that African borders remain clogged with bureaucracy. Goods that should move freely are tied up in red tape, trucks line up at checkpoints for hours, and travellers navigate complex visa processes amid high tariffs despite calls for reduced/free tariffs.
“In this day and age, it is unacceptable that to cross an African border, you spend no less than 2 hours, sometimes even more. How can we promote trade when we have such of situation? In Europe, you can just cross borders without even realising that you are crossing the border. But in Africa, it is always a problem crossing borders,” he said.
Investment Flows Still Dominated by the West
Another critical promise of AfCFTA was to boost intra-African investment. However, Dr. Konadu points out that foreign direct investment (FDI) on the continent still flows predominantly from outside the continent. Inflows into the continent is still dominated by Europe, America, China, and increasingly Asia.
“If you look at FDI flows to Africa, a lot of it is coming from the West, America and Europe, and recently China and other parts of Asia. Very little flows from one African country to another. We need to look at building the investment value chain across Africa to make sure that countries that have surplus funds or that are doing a bit okay are supporting less endowed countries in terms of investments so we can build ourselves up together,” he advised.
Beyond the Anthems and Flag Hoisting
Dr. Appiah Konadu maintains that as the continent plays anthems and hoists flags to commemorate the AU Day, AfCFTA should be a major priority. To him, trading among ourselves as Africans is a matter of necessity and not a luxury.
The economist says lessons must be taken from the impact of the COVID pandemic a few years ago, that we cannot continue to depend on the West. “If nothing at all, COVID taught us a lesson that we cannot continue to depend on the West. It is about time we begin to think of African solutions for African people,” he stressed.
He maintains that AfCFTA still has a huge potential to transform Africa, but it requires bold and drastic commitment from African leaders to quicken the pace of implementation.
