The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has underscored the urgent need to scale up digital trade tools, deepen regional value chains, and dismantle barriers that continue to stifle intra-African commerce.

Delivering a welcome address at a farewell lecture for Professor Benedict Okey Oramah, President and Chairman of Afreximbank in Accra on Thursday October 2025 ,AfCFTA Secretary-General H.E Wamkele Mene said the partnership between the two institutions has laid critical foundations for Africa’s economic integration but must now move into a phase of accelerated implementation.

He pointed to initiatives such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the Adjustment Fund, and the MANSA due diligence platform, which he said are already lowering transaction costs and building trust across borders.

“These are more than programmes. They express a single vision: a self-reliant Africa that trades with itself, invests in its own potential, and shapes its future with purpose,” Mene remarked.

But he warned that sustained progress requires tackling persistent hurdles. “We must keep borders efficient, reduce non-tariff barriers, and make rules of origin work at the factory and at the border. And we must ensure women, youth, and small businesses are not left out of the AfCFTA market,” he said.

Meanwhile, Prof. Oramah used his lecture to highlight Afreximbank’s longstanding role in advancing intra-African trade even before the AfCFTA was established in 2020.

He recalled that the Bank launched its Intra-African Trade Strategy in 2016 with a commitment of $20 billion by 2022, a target that was not only met but exceeded. “More importantly, we made intra-African trade a bankable proposition,” he said.

He added that Afreximbank has backed the AfCFTA Secretariat with substantial financial commitments to support its operations, negotiations, and protocols, while also providing experts and technical assistance.
Through its African Trade Facilitation Programme (AFTRAF), the Bank has onboarded more than 500 of Africa’s 600 commercial banks, providing them with letters of credit confirmation lines and trade credit limits, with a target of $8 billion to support cross-border trade.

To date, more than $5 billion has already been granted, directly financing intra-African trade transactions.