By Mariam Abeeb
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have established a joint strategic blueprint to push intra-African trade past its historic 16 per cent bottleneck.
Announced at the 7th African Emerging Markets Forum in Abuja, economic leaders including CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso and WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala detailed actionable paths forward.
They emphasized that with global trade splintering into political blocs (“friend-shoring”), Africa must immediately optimize the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to retain wealth on the continent.
They suggested that through optimizing Cross-Border Payment Infrastructure, settling in local currencies to bypass dollar dependency and eliminate volatile currency-conversion fees. Also scaling up Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) integration across commercial banks to save the continent an estimated $5 billion annually in transaction costs. Expanding trade finance liquidity specifically targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) suffocated by capital shortages.
Disarm Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), standardize customs paperwork to stop lengthy, bureaucratic delays at international borders. Unifying product regulations, so goods cleared in one African nation are automatically accepted by others. Reduce the 20% trade premium caused by administrative friction that makes intra-African trade costlier than inter-continental trade.
Constructing Regional Value Chains. Processing raw commodities locally instead of exporting unrefined goods out of Africa. Establishing subregional industrial hubs focusing on high-value sectors like pharmaceutical, manufacturing and vaccine production. Harnessing renewable energy (solar and wind) to power local critical mineral processing zones.
Modernizing Physical Transport Corridors. Upgrade 60,000 km of roads to handle a projected 28% surge in intra-continental freight volumes. Funding transnational rail linkages and bridges to connect landlocked nations to coastal ports.
Similarly, the Olayemi Cardoso led CBN’s operational framework relies on monetary stability and seamless financial integration to support the real economy. Simplify KYC and AML/CFT compliance requirements for low-value cross-border transactions to maximize SME participation in the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).
Stabilizing the foreign exchange market and restore price predictability to reduce trade transaction costs. Using the CBN Regulatory Sandbox to safely test instant, secure cross-border payment solutions driven by financial technology. Catalyse specialized commercial products to help close Africa’s estimated $100 billion annual trade finance deficit.
Speaking at the forum, CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said shifting global geopolitical and economic realities have compelled many countries to reorganise trade and critical supply chains around trusted partners and neighbouring markets through nearshoring and friend-shoring.
“For Africa, this change is both a warning and an opportunity. With intra-African trade still accounting for only about 16 per cent of our total trade, we must build stronger regional value chains, produce more of what we consume and trade more with one another.
“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides the platform and opportunity to turn this global shift into an African advantage. But we must go beyond the agreements and remove the practical barriers to trade by improving transport networks, harmonising customs standards and making cross-border payments faster and more affordable,” Cardoso said.
He noted that global capital had become more selective and risk-conscious, making it imperative for African countries to strengthen domestic sources of investment.
“The era of abundant liquidity chasing returns regardless of risk is over. Investors now have more choices and less tolerance for uncertainty.
“Capital increasingly flows to markets that offer credibility, transparency, quality, consistency and strong institutions. For Africa, this means our development ambitions cannot depend solely on attracting foreign capital.
“We must mobilise more of our own resources, including pension and insurance funds, domestic savings and diaspora capital, and channel them towards productive domestic investment. It also means there is now a premium on the quality of Africa’s institutions. Investors must be able to trust our policies, understand our rules and plan beyond the next political or economic cycle,” he said.
On artificial intelligence, Cardoso said Africa must position itself as a creator of innovative solutions rather than merely a consumer of emerging technologies.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping economic activity. It is changing how goods are produced, how services are delivered and the skills required to compete. We must become creators, developing African solutions to African challenges and building businesses capable of taking those solutions to the World. To achieve this, Africa must invest in the foundations of an AI-enabled economy, including reliable electricity, affordable connectivity, digital infrastructure and, above all, a generation of AI-savvy young Africans ready to build solutions for the continent and compete globally,” he added.
Also speaking, Director-General of the WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Africa must move beyond exporting raw materials and instead focus on value addition and regional supply chains. According to her, Africa holds an estimated 30 per cent of the world’s critical mineral reserves.
“For Africa in particular, instead of the extract-and-export model that has been the source of so much volatility, economic underperformance and, let me be blunt, corruption, the goal should be higher value, higher productivity growth driven by the development of sub-regional value chains and integration into global supply networks.
“The time to seize this opportunity is now. As geopolitics exert demand-pressure for critical mineral supply-chain diversification, African countries must move quickly to add value to their critical minerals.
“These efforts need greater systematisation and harmonisation, including sub-regional approaches, so that countries are not picked-off one by one in suboptimal bilateral agreements.
“The continent can also seize green comparative advantages by harnessing its abundant renewable energy potential to power mineral processing,” she said.
The Founding Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Emerging Markets Forum, Harinder Kohli, said the gathering represented more than another conference on Africa’s development challenges.
“This forum represents more than another conference on Africa’s development challenges. It is a platform for strategic thinking, evidence-based dialogue and policy engagement at a time when Africa and the global economy are undergoing profound transformation.
“It reflects a shared conviction that Africa’s future must increasingly be shaped by African ideas and African institutions,” he said.
The Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele pledged to publish a detailed public breakdown of fuel and foreign exchange subsidy savings, defended the use of those funds, and reaffirmed a $1 trillion economy target.
Oyedele vowed that a transparent report in the coming days detailing how savings from subsidy removals were utilized, responding to public and World Bank concerns over citizens living conditions.
The Minister explained that funds went toward public debt servicing, the national minimum wage, and student loans rather than sitting idle.
He asserted that achieving a $1 trillion Nigerian economy by 2030 is a concrete target driven by reforms rather than a mere slogan.
Other stakeholders, including the World Bank, also urged African countries to strengthen regional trade, leverage available resources and increase domestic productivity to accelerate economic development.
The 7th African Emerging Markets Forum attracted policymakers, financial institutions, development partners and other stakeholders from across Africa and beyond.
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