By Dorothy Agyemang
Ghana’s Minister of Trade, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has called for pragmatic, country-led solutions to boost Africa’s trade integration. Speaking at the African Trade Conference 2026 in Cape Town, she advocated for a flexible approach to policy harmonization.
“Progress does not require all 54 countries to move at once. A few can take the lead and others will follow,” Ofosu-Adjare said at the High-Level Ministerial Panel on accelerating continental trade.
Key areas for growth include reducing trade documentation duplication, investing in cross-border digital infrastructure, and implementing AfCFTA commitments. “The path forward lies in building the political will to implement AfCFTA commitments already on paper,” ministers agreed.
Speaking at the High-Level Ministerial Panel on accelerating continental trade, Ofosu-Adjare made a pointed case for a flexible approach to policy harmonization — one that does not wait for consensus across all 54 African Union member states before progress is made.
“Progress does not require all 54 countries to move at once. A few can take the lead and others will follow” she said.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Minister short held bilateral discussions with her counterpart from Zambia, exploring concrete steps to reduce non-tariff barriers, harmonize standards, and align regulatory frameworks across borders.
Central to the discussions was how to meaningfully boost intra-African trade volumes — a metric that remains stubbornly low at roughly 15% of total African exports compared to over 60% in Europe. Ministers agreed that the path forward lies in reducing duplication of trade documentation, investing in cross-border digital infrastructure, and building the political will to implement AfCFTA commitments already on paper.
