The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has underscored a persistent challenge in Africa’s economic integration, revealing that intra-African trade costs approximately 20 per cent more than trade with other regions.
In a recent interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Okonjo-Iweala described the imbalance as “a structural problem” that continues to limit the continent’s capacity to capitalise on its own markets and resources.
“It costs 20 per cent more for us to trade with each other on the continent than with others externally. Something is wrong with that,” she said. “Only about 15 to 20 per cent of our trade is among ourselves, compared to over 60 per cent in the European Union. We have a long way to go.”
Her remarks highlight a long-standing paradox: Africa, despite being home to immense natural wealth and one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing populations, remains hampered by internal trade inefficiencies. According to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), intra-African trade represented just 14.4 per cent of total African exports in 2023, compared to over 60 per cent in Europe and nearly 50 per cent in Asia.
Okonjo-Iweala stressed that the accelerated implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could dramatically shift this trajectory. Describing the AfCFTA as “one of the best things we have going on trade,” she urged African governments to dismantle non-tariff barriers and modernise cross-border systems to strengthen regional value chains.
She questioned Africa’s continued dependence on imported goods that could be locally sourced, noting: “Why don’t we buy this $200 million worth of textiles within the continent? If we are spending $7 billion importing similar textiles, why should Lesotho have to struggle?”
The WTO chief emphasised that beyond trade policy, sustainable transformation depends on substantial investments in infrastructure, technology, and human capital. The continent’s limited transport networks, inconsistent energy supply, and digital gaps continue to inflate trade costs and impede competitiveness.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Africa’s economy is projected to grow by approximately 4 per cent in 2025, but such growth remains modest when weighed against demographic pressures. By 2050, the continent is expected to be home to 2.5 billion people, representing around 22 per cent of the world’s working-age population.
Okonjo-Iweala noted that the real economic dividend would depend not merely on population size but on the quality of education and skills development. “You can’t just say we have people, therefore we are rich. They’ve got to be skilled. We’ve got to be up with technology and artificial intelligence,” she stated.
Her comments resonate with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which envisions a unified, self-sustaining Africa anchored in innovation, industrialisation, and equitable trade. This approach departs from external dependency narratives, focusing instead on intra-African agency, innovation, and collaboration.
Despite systemic challenges — from inadequate logistics infrastructure to fragmented regulatory regimes — Okonjo-Iweala expressed optimism about the continent’s trajectory, citing the creativity of young African entrepreneurs in sectors such as fintech, agritech, health tech, and the cultural industries.
Her message to policymakers was direct: reduce trade costs, empower local industries, and invest in people. In her view, Africa’s future lies not in dependency on external trade partners but in nurturing the systems that allow Africans to trade effectively with one another.
