Africa’s single market ambitions could falter if governments fail to implement free movement protocols and practical trade reforms, Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has warned.
He said while the AfCFTA agreement has been widely ratified, critical supporting measures — including the free movement of people, residence and businesses — remain stalled.
“You cannot have free trade or a single market without free movement,” he said on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (10 February). “It is weird and unacceptable that we say we have AfCFTA, yet the protocols that make it work are not ratified.”
The campaigner is championing a “Make Africa Borderless” movement aimed at pushing governments to remove bureaucratic and regulatory barriers that restrict cross-border trade and enterprise expansion.
He also advocated continent-wide mobile money interoperability, arguing that digital payments could accelerate intra-African commerce faster than physical infrastructure alone.
“If a worker in Ghana can send money instantly within Ghana, why must she carry cash through borders to Burkina Faso?” he asked.
Otchere-Darko warned that failure to deliver tangible benefits within the first decade of AfCFTA could erode public trust.
“If the impact is not felt within the first 10 years, trust me, it becomes just another bureaucracy,” he said.
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