Africa faces significant hidden trade costs that threaten to undermine the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with border delays, inadequate infrastructure and fragmented regulations continuing to restrict cross-border commerce, according to the Africa Export Competitiveness Report 2025.
The report estimates that non-tariff costs associated with goods traded between African countries average the equivalent of 292% of their value, highlighting the scale of obstacles facing businesses seeking to access regional markets.
The findings were unveiled by African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) Executive Secretary Mamadou Biteye at the Africa Think Tank Summit, held in Cotonou, Benin, from October 28 to 30, 2026.
Developed jointly by ACBF, Shared Value Africa and the Institute for Competitiveness, the report assesses 44 African economies, compared with 40 in its previous edition and 30 in the inaugural study.
The findings raise questions about whether AfCFTA can achieve its objectives of expanding intra-African trade, strengthening industrialisation and creating economic opportunities without addressing the practical barriers businesses encounter when trading across borders.
Infrastructure and regulatory barriers drive trade costs
According to the report, approximately 60% of Africa’s trade costs originate from behind-the-border constraints, including inadequate transport infrastructure, weak logistics systems, fragmented product standards and regulatory differences.
These challenges increase the cost and complexity of moving goods across African markets, limiting the ability of businesses to benefit from preferential trade arrangements.
The report also finds that trade policy accounts for approximately 30% of the variation in actual export performance, highlighting the importance of productive capacity, infrastructure, skills development, investment and institutional effectiveness.
It argues that reducing tariffs and signing trade agreements will not automatically translate into increased trade unless businesses can navigate customs procedures, meet product standards, access reliable transport networks and complete cross-border payments efficiently.
For AfCFTA, this represents a significant implementation challenge. The agreement’s success will depend not only on governments opening their markets but also on establishing the systems businesses need to participate effectively.
The report identifies three critical stages for successful implementation: participation, readiness and utilisation.
Participation establishes the legal framework for countries to trade under the agreement, while readiness requires functional institutions and systems to support implementation. Utilisation ultimately depends on businesses being able to access markets and take advantage of preferential trading opportunities.
Africa captures limited value from global exports
Beyond regional trade barriers, the report highlights Africa’s limited contribution to global merchandise exports despite its substantial natural resources and growing consumer markets.
Africa accounted for just 2.63% of global merchandise exports in 2025, while primary commodities represented 76.7% of the continent’s merchandise exports.
The imbalance is particularly pronounced in the clean-energy value chain, where Africa supplies significant quantities of minerals but captures little of the value generated through downstream manufacturing.
Although the continent produces approximately 75% of global manganese and 70% of cobalt, it captures less than 1% of the value generated from manufacturing clean-energy technologies and their components.
The report identifies industrial processing, manufacturing investment, skills development and stronger regional production networks as essential to increasing the value African economies retain from their natural resources.
For mineral-producing economies, this underscores the importance of moving beyond raw material exports towards domestic processing and participation in higher-value industrial supply chains.
AfCFTA implementation requires stronger business participation
During the report’s launch, Biteye linked its findings to broader efforts to strengthen South-South cooperation and increase African participation in research, economic analysis and policy development.
The report ultimately argues that Africa’s next phase of trade integration must move beyond securing market access towards ensuring that businesses can effectively use it.
Addressing infrastructure gaps, improving customs efficiency, harmonising regulations and strengthening productive capacity will be critical to translating AfCFTA’s ambitions into tangible economic benefits.
For African economies seeking to expand regional manufacturing, diversify exports and create employment, reducing these hidden trade costs could be as important as eliminating tariffs.