The President of the Council of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, has called on African countries to take bold and urgent steps to unlock the full potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), describing it as a strategic instrument for Africa’s economic sovereignty.
Speaking at the opening of the third edition of the Biashara Afrika Forum in Lomé under the theme “Accelerating Africa’s Economic Transformation through ZLECAf,” he stressed the need to dismantle long-standing barriers that continue to constrain intra-African trade and economic integration.
He highlighted persistent structural challenges including high logistics and transport costs, non-tariff barriers, weak infrastructure connectivity, and border inefficiencies, noting that these bottlenecks continue to slow the movement of goods and services across the continent.
Gnassingbé said Africa must move beyond policy declarations and accelerate the implementation of trade facilitation measures that enable the free movement of people, capital, and goods across regional and continental markets.
He further reaffirmed Togo’s commitment to positioning itself as a regional logistics and trade hub in West Africa, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), investors, and economic stakeholders in building a more resilient and competitive continental market.
“Togo reaffirms its calling as a logistics and trade hub in West Africa and its commitment to supporting African SMEs, investors and economic stakeholders in building an integrated, competitive and opportunity-generating continental market. Together, let us accelerate Africa’s economic transformation,” he said.
Gnassingbé also underscored the importance of strengthening regional value chains, improving private sector competitiveness, and ensuring inclusivity as key pillars for advancing Africa’s economic sovereignty under the AfCFTA framework.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is projected to become the world’s largest free trade area by number of participating countries, connecting 54 African economies with a combined GDP of over US$3.4 trillion and a population exceeding 1.4 billion people.
According to projections by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), AfCFTA has the potential to boost intra-African trade by more than 50% if fully implemented, particularly through reductions in tariffs and improvements in cross-border logistics and industrial linkages.
Currently, intra-African trade remains relatively low compared to other global regions, accounting for roughly 15–18% of total African trade, compared to around one-third in Europe and around 40% in Asia, highlighting the structural dependence of African economies on external markets.
Experts argue that this imbalance reflects Africa’s continued reliance on exporting raw materials outside the continent, rather than strengthening regional manufacturing and value-added production networks.
By contrast, successful regional blocs such as the European Union have demonstrated that deeper integration significantly increases internal trade volumes, industrial diversification, and resilience against external shocks.
The full implementation of AfCFTA could transform Africa’s trade landscape by creating regional production hubs, improving industrial competitiveness, and reducing the continent’s exposure to global commodity price volatility.
The Biashara Afrika Forum in Lomé brought together policymakers, private sector leaders, and development partners to discuss practical strategies for accelerating AfCFTA implementation, with a strong focus on infrastructure, digital trade systems, and private sector participation in Africa’s economic transformation agenda.
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