Pan-African Development Strategist | Global Convener
Africa has a continental free-trade agreement. It has ambitious entrepreneurs, world-class industrialists, abundant natural resources and a growing consumer market. Yet a fundamental contradiction persists: Africans can still encounter formidable barriers when trying to trade, invest and travel within their own continent.
The question is no longer whether Africa needs economic integration. It is whether African governments are prepared to make integration work in practice. When Africa’s own business leaders encounter closed doors
Consider the experience of Aliko Dangote, one of Africa’s most prominent industrialists. In an interview with the International Finance Corporation, Dangote expressed frustration over the visa requirements facing African investors. “How do I now invest, if I’m not able to move around?” he asked, explaining that he needed 38 visas to travel across the continent.
His concerns extended beyond immigration procedures. Dangote, Africa’s richest man highlighted the cost of intra-African aviation and shipping, observing that transporting goods from Lagos to Accra could cost more than shipping from Spain to Lagos. He also described the possibility of spending a week or longer waiting to move goods across the Nigeria–Benin border.
These are not merely inconveniences for a wealthy industrialist. They illustrate structural barriers that can discourage investment, disrupt supply chains and make regional expansion unnecessarily expensive. Source: International Finance Corporation — “We Will Open Africa: A Conversation with Aliko Dangote”.
Dangote is not alone. In May 2026, Abdul Samad Rabiu, chairman of BUA Group, recounted how he was refused entry into South Africa after discovering that his visa had expired. He accepted responsibility for the expired visa but questioned the wider disparity when passengers arriving on European flights were permitted to enter without visas.
Reflecting on his experience, Rabiu said: “I had an issue with being an African in Africa, being turned away because I do not have a visa, while foreigners from other continents were coming in and were allowed to enter without a visa. This must change.” Source: The Cable — Abdul Samad Rabiu on African travel barriers.
When leading industrialists and investors encounter these obstacles, we should pay attention. Their experiences reveal the gap between Africa’s aspiration for a unified market and the realities of doing business across national boundaries.
Five barriers Africa must confront
1. Restrictive visa regimes: Investors, entrepreneurs, engineers, manufacturers and business executives must be able to travel efficiently to explore opportunities, negotiate contracts and supervise investments. Legitimate security requirements matter, but they should be addressed through efficient, risk-based systems rather than unnecessary administrative obstacles.
2. Expensive and poorly connected air travel: In some cases, travelling between African cities is prohibitively expensive or requires routing through a third continent. Greater implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market, stronger competition and better regional connectivity could help reduce these barriers.
3. High transport and logistics costs: If moving goods between neighbouring African countries costs more than shipping them from Europe, regional production becomes less competitive. Efficient ports, roads, railways, shipping services and coordinated border procedures must become priorities.
4. Fragmented customs and regulatory systems: Different documentation requirements, inconsistent product standards and non-tariff barriers can frustrate businesses even when trade agreements are in place. Governments must simplify procedures, digitise documentation and make dispute-resolution mechanisms accessible.
5. Inadequate trade finance and payment infrastructure: Businesses need affordable working capital, reliable cross-border payments, export insurance and financing to fulfil orders. Without these facilities, the opportunities created by market access will remain beyond the reach of many small and medium-sized enterprises.
AfCFTA must become an everyday economic reality: The African Continental Free Trade Area provides a framework for building a more connected continental market. But agreements alone cannot deliver prosperity. Implementation requires governments to make measurable progress on mobility, logistics, customs efficiency, regional payments, standards and investment protection.
The African Union and AfCFTA Secretariat must continue supporting implementation. Regional Economic Communities must strengthen cooperation. Banks and investors must finance productive enterprises. Businesses must build competitive products and credible partnerships. African development institutions, diaspora networks and business platforms must also help connect entrepreneurs with markets, capital, technology and expertise.
From political ambition to economic transformation: Imagine an entrepreneur who can travel from Lagos to Cairo or Rabat to meet a prospective partner without unnecessary visa complications, transport products across the border without prolonged delays, obtain affordable trade finance and receive payment through a reliable regional system.
Imagine manufacturers sourcing inputs from neighbouring countries, agricultural processors supplying regional markets and African technology companies serving customers across multiple economies. This is the promise of genuine economic integration. Africa does not need to produce everything in every country. It needs to enable its countries to combine their strengths, develop regional value chains and create more value from their collective resources.
One continent. One market. Shared opportunity. Greater African prosperity. As Pan-African development advocates, we must insist that economic integration be measured by what African businesses and citizens can actually do—not simply by what our leaders announce.
The challenge is clear: African governments must make it easier for Africans to do business with Africans. A question for African leaders, investors and entrepreneurs: How can we credibly promote a single African market when the movement of our own people, capital and goods remains so difficult?
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