Africa Prosperity Network webinar: Turbocharge reforms now – Blue Skies founder pushes for urgent action on African trade barriers
At an APN webinar on transport and logistics, the Blue Skies founder argues that Africa’s biggest advantage is its youthful population and growing talent pool, stressing the need to nurture entrepreneurship and industrial capacity at home
Top industry voices at a high-level virtual dialogue on transport, travel and logistics infrastructure, hosted by the Africa Prosperity Network (APN) and the AfCFTA Secretariat, have emphasised how urgently Africa needs to align infrastructure investment with profitability, fight corruption and fast-track policy reform to unlock the continent’s full economic potential.
Speaking on Wednesday (9 April) at the webinar on the theme “The Africa We Want: How Should Africa Fund and Build the Infrastructure for Trade, People Movement and Prosperity?”, Anthony Pile, the founder and chairman of Blue Skies Holdings Ltd, shared the company’s 28-year journey from a Ghana-based start-up to a leading multinational supplier of fresh-cut fruit across Europe.
“We now have the largest market share in the UK and, we believe, in mainland Europe, too,” Pile said. “That is a Ghanaian success story.” The company employs over 4,500 people in Ghana alone and more than 8,000 across Africa.
Pile expressed frustration with the bureaucratic and protectionist barriers facing African companies which seek to expand across the continent. He highlighted particular difficulties with product registration, cross-border corruption and restricted access to key markets such as Nigeria.
“We cannot continue to be held up at borders or asked for bribes. We need to turbocharge the changes AfCFTA and ECOWAS have championed,” he urged.
Arguing that Africa’s biggest advantage is its youthful population and growing talent pool, Pile stressed the need to nurture entrepreneurship and industrial capacity at home.
“The average age in Ghana is 23. We have something the North doesn’t – youth, energy and potential. But we must act faster.”
Infrastructure without profit?
The webinar was part of an ongoing series of engagements which aim to advance the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with a focus on trade-enabling infrastructure, including projects in transport and logistics.
Also speaking at the event was the businessman Pierre Coussey, who focused on the food industry, processing facilities and the infrastructure to enable African producers to meet quality standards.
He pointed to the disconnect between infrastructure planning in Africa and real-world profitability – particularly in sectors such as fisheries and agro-processing.
“We need to align profitability with our development,” Coussey said. “There is money to invest in infrastructure, but we must create a climate where investors can see clear returns.”
Drawing on his experience in Ghana’s fisheries sector, Coussey lamented the poor logistics and weak enforcement of standards that undercut intra-African trade. He cited mishandling of tuna at Ghana’s ports and the absence of cold-chain regulation as barriers to value addition and market expansion within Africa.
“In Morocco, transporting unrefrigerated seafood is a jailable offence,” he said. “In Ghana, fish is tossed on top of cargo trucks bound for Paga. That cannot continue.”
Coussey called for regulators to implement enforceable legislation to safeguard quality and boost investor confidence.
Asaase Broadcasting Company airs on Asaase 99.5 Accra, Asaase 98.5 Kumasi, Asaase 99.7 Tamale, Asaase 100.3 Cape Coast, AsaasePa 107.3 (Accra).Affiliates: Bawku FM 101.5, Bead FM 99.9 (Bimbilla), Mining City Radio 89.5 (Tarkwa), Nandom FM 101.9, Nyatefe Radio 94.5 (Dzodze), Sissala Radio 96.3 (Tumu), Somuaa FM 89.9 (Gushegu), Stone City 90.7 (Ho) and Wale FM 106.9 (Walewale).
Listen online: asaaseradio.com, Sound Garden and TuneIn.
Follow us:
X: @asaaseradio995, @Asaase985ksi, @Asaase997tamale, @asaase1003, asaasepa1073
Instagram: asaaseradio99.5, asaase985ksi, asaase100.3, asaase99.7tamale, asaasepa107.3
LinkedIn: company/asaaseradio995. TikTok: @asaaseradio99.5
Facebook: asaase99.5, asaase985ksi, Asaase100.3, asaase99.7, AsaasePa107.3.
YouTube: AsaaseRadioXtra.
Join the conversation. Accra: call 020 000 9951/054 888 8995, WhatsApp 020 000 0995. Kumasi: call 059 415 7985 or call/WhatsApp 020 631 5260. Tamale: call/WhatsApp/SMS 053 554 6468. Cape Coast: call/WhatsApp 059 388 2652.
#AsaaseRadio
#AsaasePa
#TheVoiceofOurLand
