Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has emphasized the urgent need for structural reforms to dismantle trade barriers stifling Africa’s economic growth.
Speaking at the Crans Montana Forum in Morocco, the Effutu MP stressed key obstacles such as high port costs, logistical inefficiencies, and disjointed industrial policies, which he argued are undermining the potential of intra-African commerce.
Afenyo-Markin, who also serves as the Third Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, shared a firsthand example from a delegation to Morocco three years ago. A promising agribusiness deal between Moroccan poultry exporters and Ghanaian companies collapsed due to prohibitive port tariffs—a situation he says underscores the pressing need for policy harmonization and trade facilitation across the continent.
“What began as a cost-effective alternative to imports from Brazil or the Netherlands quickly became unviable after port charges tripled the total cost. The investors walked away, and a valuable opportunity was lost,” he noted.
This, Hon. Afenyo-Markin said, is not an isolated incident but a reflection of deeper, continent-wide dysfunction that continues to drive African businesses toward external markets instead of building trade within Africa itself.
Intra-Africa trade
The Deputy Speaker criticized the state of regional trade corridors—particularly the ones serving landlocked nations like Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso—as inefficient and insecure. Major ports such as Tema, Lomé, Abidjan, and Cotonou, he said, suffer from poor management, logistical bottlenecks, and a lack of investment in modern infrastructure.
“Despite our talk of regional integration, key transport networks, like those between Ghana and Nigeria, remain underdeveloped. Rail infrastructure is outdated, roads are unreliable, and trade is bogged down by bureaucracy and insecurity,” Afenyo-Markin asserted.
He stressed that while Africa is home to multiple regional trade blocs—ECOWAS, SADC, and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—their success depends on aligning infrastructure, simplifying tariff regimes, and coordinating policies.
He issued a clear call to action, urging African leaders to: Lower and standardize port charges and customs procedures; Prioritize investments in cross-border transport infrastructure; Harmonize industrial strategies to avoid harmful competition; and Build trust and policy coherence among member states
He also warned that the withdrawal of some Sahelian countries from ECOWAS introduces new challenges to regional trade governance, creating uncertainty around free movement, customs protocols, and economic cooperation.
“If we don’t create a seamless, predictable, and affordable trade environment within Africa, we’ll continue to push our entrepreneurs to seek opportunities outside the continent,” he warned.