“I am certain that trade agreements alone will not create jobs or build industries… It requires roads, ports, and financial systems that connect businesses and people. Without these, progress will be uneven, and implementation slow,” he said.

Mr Boshe, the current Board Chair of TradeMark Africa (a trade facilitation firm), said this during a public lecture in Accra, calling on all African leaders to implement political actions to achieve intra-continental trade.

The lecture, attended by members of the business community and diplomats, formed part of Mr Boshe’s visit to the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

It was on the topic: “AfCFTA as a catalyst for Agenda 2063: Seizing opportunities in a changing world.”

He described the implementation of the free intra-continental trade agreement as the major pillar of making the African Union’s (AU) economic transformation through the Agenda 2063 a reality.

He noted that the implementation of the AfCFTA pact in the past five years has been characterised by global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, with trade seeing the lowest growth in the past five decades.

“We have seen the commitment of our leaders, as they have signed the agreements, meaning political will is strong. Now, the real work begins. We must also believe and champion a pan-African vision,” he said.

“So, to create lift-off for intra-African trade, we must invest in transport corridors like LAPSSET in East Africa, Abidjan-Lagos in West Africa, and the North-South Corridor in southern Africa; leverage public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure, modernise customs, and streamline trade facilitation and double down on digitalising trade processes to cut delays and inefficiencies at the borders,” said Mr Boshe.

Mr Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, the Secretary General, AfCFTA, indicated that the world was entering into an “era of me first, others last,” a situation for Africa to buckle up.

He stated that although President Donald Trump’s administration was expected to bring some “global battle” the intensity being experienced, particularly of the trade economic front, was least expected.

“What I did not anticipate is the intensiveness of economic nationalism, geopolitical threats, weaponisation of trade policy, investment nationalism and above all, the attempt to weaken the multilateral trading system and the rules that underpin the fairness of the multilateral trading system,” he said.

“This presents us with an opportunity to develop a domestic market, an inward-looking domestic market that focusses on building supply chains in Africa, building our own resilience and continuing to develop the AfCFTA market.”

He noted that the AfCFTA Secretariat would work with Trademark Africa to develop tools to enable Africa to navigate in the new geopolitical challenges by increasing intra-continental trade for economic transformation.

“Through joint initiatives, we are not only contributing to the success of the AfCFTA but also laying the groundwork for a modern, technology-driven trade ecosystem, strengthening Africa’s trade infrastructure and digital trade backbone,” he said.