Abayomi Susan
Access Bank is calling for stronger collaboration among policymakers, financiers, and businesses to accelerate trade within Africa and unlock the continent’s economic potential. The bank’s Managing Director and CEO, Roosevelt Ogbonna, emphasized this need at the Access Bank Africa Trade Conference (ATC 2026) held in South Africa.
The conference highlighted three key priorities to transform Africa’s trade landscape: breaking down silos between policymakers, financial institutions, and businesses; building a trade ecosystem driven by reliable data and analytics; and developing systems that support both large corporations and smaller businesses seeking to expand across borders.
Ogbonna noted that Africa’s share of global trade remains relatively small, with fragmented trade corridors and structural bottlenecks hindering growth. He stressed that stakeholders must move beyond dialogue and take concrete steps to strengthen trade relationships among African countries.
The bank has already seen value chains emerging across agriculture, manufacturing, and services, with African brands crossing borders and building a global presence. Ghana’s Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ajare, emphasized that Africa doesn’t lack policy frameworks but struggles with harmonized implementation.
Ajare stressed that countries must adopt mutual recognition frameworks to facilitate trade, harmonizing standards and recognizing each other’s certification processes. Zambia’s Minister of Commerce, Trade, and Industry, Chipoka Mulenga, added that policy alignment among African countries is critical to unlocking trade potential.
Botswana is repositioning itself as a key trade corridor, with Tiroeaone Ntsima noting that the country is now “land-linked” rather than landlocked, creating opportunities for trade and economic growth.
Access Bank is committed to driving economic integration, with a network spanning 24 countries, including 16 in Africa. The bank has mobilized $2 billion from development finance institutions for long-term lending across Africa, aiming to close the continent’s estimated $81 billion annual trade finance gap.
The Access Bank Africa Trade Conference is a step towards realizing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) goals, promoting economic growth and development across the continent.
