AfCFTA SG woos US to tap into continent’s market

By Merit Ibe

The Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Wamkele Mene, has urged the United  States private sector to tap into the opportunities of a 1.4billion-person market under a single, predictable, rules-based framework.

He made the call at the ongoing G20 Leaders’ Summit taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, under the theme “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.”

On the margins of the G20, Wamkele, who  joined a Qatar Business Forum fireside discussion on Africa’s trade momentum,also  pointed out that despite the current macroeconomic environment, intra-African trade reached 200 billion dollars in 2023, driven by growth in value-added sectors.

He said scaling this progress will require deeper investment in transport and digital infrastructure, expanded financing, and greater regulatory harmonisation across the continent.

“Africa is trading, innovating and is ready to grow more,”he said.

At the U.S. Chamber’s G20 side event on U.S.–Africa commercial partnerships,  Wamkele outlined key AfCFTA implementation milestones, noting that 50 state parties have ratified the agreement and committed to removing barriers to intra-African trade and investment. He stressed that the toughest stage—implementation—still lies ahead.

While acknowledging other challenges, he emphasized that success will depend on collaboration among investors, commercial banks, DFIs, and governments.

At the Bloomberg Africa Business Summit, Wamkele  underscored a critical challenge that Africa’s cost of debt remains up to 20 times higher, driven by outdated risk perceptions, with citizens bearing the impact.

The AfCFTA boss called for greater mobilisation of domestic capital, positioning SMEs as an investible asset class, investing in infrastructure, and strengthening African DFIs to better mitigate risk.

Despite progress made, the secretary general noted that major constraints persist, including high logistics costs, weak infrastructure and currency fragmentation.

He said the AfCFTA provides the legal foundation, and Africa must now scale investment and deepen trade.