Ogbonna made the call at the Access Bank Africa Trade Conference (ATC
2026) held in South Africa
LAGOS, Nigeria, March 16, 2026/ — The Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer, Access Bank Plc (www.AccessBankPlc.com [6]), Mr.
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 said Africa must address structural
barriers that continue to limit the growth of intra-continental commerce
despite its vast market opportunities.
Speaking during his opening remarks, the Access Bank Chief noted that
the conference was convened to continue conversations which 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.
His words, “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”.
Further speaking, Ogbonna explained that stakeholders at last year’s
conference agreed on three key priorities at transforming Africa’s
trade landscape. The priorities he listed include, (i) Breaking down
silos between policymakers, financial institutions and businesses, (ii)
Building a trade ecosystem driven by reliable data and analytics, and
(iii) Developing systems that support both large corporations and
smaller businesses seeking to expand across borders.
He noted that 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, since the last edition of the
conference, some progress has 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.
Speaking on the need for stronger infrastructure financing in growing
intra African trade, the Director General for Southern Africa at the
African Development Bank (AfDB), Kennedy Mbekeani, called for stronger
mobilisation of private capital to finance critical infrastructure
required to unlock the full potential of 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. The mobilisation of capital, particularly private
capital, is something that we need to work on”, Mbekeani said.
Opening up on African governments perspective to the drive for intra
Africa trade, Zambia’s Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry,
Chipoka Mulenga speaking during the ministerial panel discuss of the
conference noted that policy alignment among African countries would be
critical to unlocking 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. We should leverage our comparative
advantages, rather than competing with one another,” Mulenga stated.
Also speaking during the session, Ghana’s Minister for Trade,
Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ajare, noted that Africa does not
lack policy frameworks but rather struggles with harmonised
implementation.
“Africa does not lack policies; we already have many. Our challenge is
the implementation of these policies in a harmonised manner. That is
what we must focus on to make trade work effectively across the
continent,” she posited.
Ajare further stressed that countries must be willing to compromise and
adopt mutual recognition frameworks to facilitate trade across borders.
“If we insist on verifying every product independently, we will not
make progress. Harmonising standards and recognising each other’s
certification processes will allow us to trade more efficiently,” she
added.
Speaking in the same vein, Botswana’s Minister of Trade and
Entrepreneurship, Tiroeaone Ntsima, noted that African governments must
focus on creating enabling environments that allow businesses and
investors to drive economic growth.
“The governments of today are not like those of the 1960s where
everything was done by government. Our role now is to create an enabling
environment for businesses and investors to thrive”.
Ntsima added that Botswana is repositioning itself as a key trade
corridor within the region. “In the past we described 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 noted.
On his final notes, the Access Bank Chief 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 urged.
