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 held in South Africa, where he said Africa must address structural barriers that continue to limit the growth of intra-continental commerce despite its vast market opportunities.
According to him, the conference was convened to continue conversations started at the inaugural edition in 2025 on how Africa can expand trade within the continent while strengthening its participation in global markets.
He noted that Africa’s share of global trade remains relatively small, stressing that fragmented trade corridors and structural bottlenecks continue to hinder the growth of commerce 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,” he said.
Ogbonna explained that stakeholders at last year’s conference agreed on three key priorities aimed at transforming Africa’s trade landscape. These include breaking down silos between policymakers, financial institutions and businesses, building a trade ecosystem driven by reliable data and analytics, and developing systems that support both large corporations and smaller businesses seeking to expand across borders.
He said the 2026 edition of the conference is not a fresh start but a continuation of efforts to drive meaningful progress in intra-African trade. According to him, some progress has already been recorded across key sectors of the economy.
“We have seen value chains emerging across agriculture, manufacturing and services, and we are seeing African brands 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. He, however acknowledged that the gains remain uneven across the continent, with progress concentrated in a few markets and specific trade corridors.
He said several structural challenges still limit the pace of integration across African economies. These challenges, he noted, include limited access to finance, high cost of funding for businesses, fragmented payment systems, infrastructure deficits and inadequate access to reliable market information.
“We understand that access to finance remains a challenge and the cost of finance is still very expensive for many businesses. Payments remain fragmented and infrastructure gaps continue to create delays and costs in shipments across the continent,” he said.
Ogbonna urged stakeholders across the continent to move beyond dialogue and take concrete steps that will strengthen trade relationships among African countries, emphasising that Africa’s economic transformation would depend largely on the willingness of businesses and institutions to collaborate more effectively.
“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.
Ogbonna further encouraged businesses across the continent to deepen partnerships and build stronger trust in order to unlock new opportunities for economic growth. “Let us do more business with each other. Let us trust more in each other. Let us build an Africa that is not just open for business but uniquely open for African business,” he added.
He reaffirmed the commitment of Access Bank to supporting initiatives aimed at strengthening trade and economic integration across the continent. The Access Bank Africa Trade Conference brings together policymakers, financial institutions, businesses and development partners to discuss strategies for expanding trade, improving infrastructure and addressing key constraints affecting commerce across Africa.
