By Ayomide Otitoju
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Roosevelt Ogbonna, has called for stronger collaboration among policymakers, financiers, and businesses to accelerate trade within Africa and unlock the continent’s economic potential.
Ogbonna made the call at the Access Bank Africa Trade Conference (ATC 2026) held in South Africa, where he highlighted the need to address structural barriers limiting the growth of intra-continental commerce despite Africa’s vast market opportunities.
In his opening remarks, Ogbonna said the conference builds on discussions initiated during the inaugural edition in 2025 on strategies to deepen trade within the continent while strengthening Africa’s participation in global markets.
He noted that Africa’s share of global trade remains relatively small due to fragmented trade corridors and structural bottlenecks that continue to hinder the movement of goods and services across the continent.
“The reality is that Africa still controls a small share of global trade. The corridors are still fragmented and more aspirational than functional, and too many small businesses that aspire to trade across Africa remain constrained,” Ogbonna said.
According to him, stakeholders at the 2025 conference identified three key priorities for transforming Africa’s trade landscape. These include breaking down silos between policymakers, financial institutions, and businesses; building a trade ecosystem supported by reliable data and analytics; and developing systems that support both large corporations and small businesses seeking to expand across borders.
He added that the 2026 conference represents a continuation of efforts to drive tangible progress in intra-African trade. Since the last edition, he noted, progress has been recorded in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services.
“We are seeing value chains emerging across agriculture, manufacturing and services, and African brands are increasingly crossing borders and building a global presence,” he said.
Ogbonna also pointed to the growing role of technology platforms in reducing friction in areas such as payments, logistics, and market access, although he acknowledged that progress remains uneven across the continent.
Speaking on infrastructure financing, the Director General for Southern Africa at the African Development Bank, Kennedy Mbekeani, stressed the importance of mobilising private capital to fund critical infrastructure required to support Africa’s trade integration.
“The mobilisation of private capital remains crucial as many African governments are constrained by limited fiscal space and overstretched balance sheets,” Mbekeani said.
During a ministerial panel session, Zambia’s Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Chipoka Mulenga, emphasised the need for policy alignment among African countries to unlock the continent’s trade potential.
“Policy is very important in making anything come together. It must be consistent, resilient and coherent. If intra-African trade must be enhanced, we must deliberately craft policies that speak the same language across our countries,” he said.
Similarly, Ghana’s Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ajare, said Africa’s challenge lies not in the absence of policy frameworks but in the harmonised implementation of existing policies.
“Africa does not lack policies; our challenge is implementing them in a harmonised manner,” she said, adding that mutual recognition of product standards across countries would help facilitate cross-border trade.
Also speaking at the conference, Botswana’s Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Tiroeaone Ntsima, stressed the need for governments to create enabling environments that allow businesses and investors to drive economic growth.
He noted that Botswana is repositioning itself as a key regional trade corridor by strengthening connectivity with neighbouring markets.
“We used to describe ourselves as a landlocked country, but today we see ourselves as land-linked. By creating corridors that connect markets across the continent, we open up new opportunities for trade and economic growth,” he said.
In his closing remarks, Executive Director for African Subsidiaries at Access Bank, Seyi Kumapayi, urged stakeholders to move beyond dialogue and take concrete steps to strengthen trade relationships across the continent.
“This conference must not end as another talking shop. It must become the birthplace of a movement that contributes to transforming intra-African trade,” he said.
