Cynthia Gnassingbe-Essonam: AfCFTA is no longer a dream—it’s a trading reality for Africa

In a high-level webinar organised by LIMA Partners on Friday, 25 April, Cynthia Gnassingbe-Essonam, Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, delivered a comprehensive update on the legal, strategic, and operational progress of the agreement—making it clear that the AfCFTA is no longer a distant ideal but an actionable framework transforming trade on the continent.

“The AfCFTA is not a utopia at the moment. It is a reality,” Gnassingbe-Essonam said, emphasising that African businesses are already trading under the agreement’s protocols and tools.

From aspiration to legally binding commitment

Gnassingbe-Essonam detailed the evolution of the AfCFTA’s legal architecture, which spans two negotiation phases. Phase one included trade in goods, services, dispute resolution, and trade facilitation. Phase two broadened the scope to cover investment protection, intellectual property, competition policy, digital trade, and, notably, a groundbreaking protocol on women and youth in trade.

“For the first time, we have a legally binding agreement that ensures women and youth—especially informal traders—can participate effectively in intra-African trade,” she noted.

Key milestones

The AfCFTA Agreement was signed in 2018 and entered into force in 2019. In 2021, despite pandemic-related border closures, trade officially began. By October 2022, the Secretariat launched the Guided Trade Initiative to support early adopters of the agreement. As of 2025, nearly 30 countries have joined the initiative, and 23 have gazetted their tariffs—making their borders fully operational for trade under AfCFTA rules.

The agreement has 54 signatories, with 49 countries having ratified it. Eritrea remains the only African Union member state that has not signed the agreement.

Private sector at the core

Gnassingbe-Essonam emphasised the importance of engaging Africa’s private sector. Through the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund, businesses can access financial support via three dedicated facilities: a General Fund for infrastructure, a Base Fund for institutional capacity building, and a Credit Fund for commercial projects.

Furthermore, nine AfCFTA trading companies have been established across countries like Ghana, Rwanda, Egypt, and Kenya. These companies help aggregate goods from SMEs, manage logistics, and open access to new markets.

“We now see increased trade participation from informal traders and SMEs thanks to these support mechanisms,” she explained.

Priority sectors and market intelligence

The Secretariat has identified four key sectors to drive investment and develop value chains: agriculture and agro-processing, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and transport and logistics.

“African Trade Gateway”, developed by Afreximbank, and platforms like the Africa Trade Observatory also provide critical market insights, allowing businesses to evaluate trade opportunities and assess market conditions.

“Through our convening power, we want to unlock opportunities and pilot projects that tackle the continent’s trade challenges,” she said. “The private sector is central to AfCFTA’s success, and we are ready to collaborate.”

Also on his part, Ernest Amosah, Head of Transfer Pricing at LIMA Partners, highlighted Ghana’s legal and institutional landscape that supports investment under AfCFTA. He outlined the primary legislations investors should consider — including the Ghana Investment Promotion Act, Companies Act, Income Tax Act, Customs Act, and other sector-specific laws. He explained that the minimum capital requirement for foreign-owned enterprises is $500,000, but partnerships with Ghanaians reduce that threshold to $200,000. For trading enterprises, specific capital inputs must be made, which can be in goods or assets equivalent to the financial value required.

He further noted that Ghana’s regulatory framework provides investors with critical assurances: no expropriation, no discrimination, and clear guidelines on tax exemptions, free importation, and profit repatriation. These are bolstered by the Free Zones and Exemptions Acts, which align processes to promote investor confidence.

Amosah also discussed tax incentives, such as the five-year carry-forward of tax losses and reduced corporate tax rates for Free Zones enterprises — 0% for the first 10 years, then not more than 8%. Dividend income is taxed at a flat 8%. He emphasised that Ghana’s digitised business registration and tax portals ensure seamless processes for global investors.

Touting Ghana’s strategic advantage, Amosah pointed to the country’s pioneering role in AfCFTA implementation and its coordination through a national policy and high-level inter-ministerial committee. “Ghana has been heavy in trying to operationalise AfCFTA protocols,” he said, noting efforts such as the establishment of a trade house in Kenya and export successes of firms like Casapreko, Garando Cosmetics, and Ghana Ceramics under AfCFTA.

He listed key investment sectors — including cocoa, cashew, industrial salt, oilseeds, apparel, petrochemicals, and steel — while advocating for strategic market segmentation and local partnerships. “Ghana’s location serves as a launchpad to the Francophone economy,” Amosah concluded, underscoring Lima Partners’ capacity to provide end-to-end investment support through its Anderson Global network, including cross-border tax and legal compliance, infrastructure advisory, and public-private engagement.

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