The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is spearheading efforts to dismantle the financial and logistical barriers hampering cross-border trade.
Speaking at a webinar organized by LIMA Partners on Friday, April 25, 2025, Cynthia E. Gnassingbé-Essonam, Senior Advisor to the AfCFTA Secretary-General, emphasized that while AfCFTA promises immense opportunities for business expansion, many SMEs are still locked out due to lack of financial strength and transport challenges.
“We have started pushing for AfCFTA trading companies because we realized, from our guided trading experience, that transport and logistics are major challenges. Most businesses simply do not have the financial muscles to ship their products,” Gnassingbé-Essonam explained.
To bridge the gap, AfCFTA is promoting the creation of specialized trading companies tasked with aggregating SME goods and offering essential services — including warehousing, financial support, and collateral management — to facilitate seamless access to broader African markets.
“So now, with these trading companies, we are ensuring SMEs get the necessary backing to market their products across different countries,” she said.
Already, nine AfCFTA trading companies have been established in Ghana, Rwanda, Egypt, Chad, South Africa, The Gambia, and Kenya — a move Gnassingbé-Essonam says is already driving results.
“We are seeing increased connections between various markets and a noticeable rise in trade activities even among informal traders,” she noted.
The initiative marks a strategic shift from merely opening markets to actively enabling businesses to thrive across borders, positioning SMEs as vital players in Africa’s economic transformation under the AfCFTA framework.
